It was 8:30 am on a very bright sunny day in a characteristically humid pindi september. I couldn’t sleep the night before due to the inevitable anxiety that was choking my heart. The anxiety was due to the “orientation day” that was being organized by my university .On this mighty morning I wore my army styled uniform , which pretty much reminded me of school , and began my journey of discovery . I went outside of my mamu’s house and started searching for the world beating ,world renowned university for which I had travelled so many miles , known as NUST . I asked a person to where exactly is NUST . He said “ Sir yahaan Nust ka pata nahee , lekan aik kooi center hai ithay chib plaza vich “ . I smiled , and thought how on earth can a pindi man not know a university of the stature of NUST . I constantly asked everyone in the scheme III main market about its locality but was getting mixed responses. Most of the people told me that “sir ye chib plaza mein kuch hai “ . Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to investigate this “chib plaza “ . As I came near the plaza and looked up , thoughts and visions started storming my brain. It was a moment I wished never had happened. My heart suddenly rattled , my lips shivered , and my eyes augmented with rage .
Sadly, Scheme III NUST
I saw the words “Nust institute of information technology” written on a shoddy old building for which I had travelled so many miles. I strongly felt at that particular moment that I had been made a fool , that I had been robbed of an award . I was left furiously confused and decided to go back to my house and ponder upon what just happened .
After moments of meditation , It became clear to me that this was not a nightmare , that this was really where I got admitted. Frustrated as I was, I still decided to go on to the university . As I went to talk to the administration in a very mature casual fashion , I soon realized that “casual” was not the favoured way of conversation at NUST , a place full of retired army professionals. Even the security guard was treating and looking at me as a notorious infidel . I quickly escaped this “army” ruled barracks and found a fellow who was going to the orientation ceremony and quickly jumped in his car.
These were to be the initial one-sided skirmishes between me and the administration which in the later part of my university life paved the way for balanced battles and wars. I did come to realize though that this was not the fictional university life portrayed in movies , rather it was to be a unique , a very unique experience which I felt , at that time , I was unlucky to have.
Street 14 and then Street 8
ReplyDelete