Students of Jamshedpur Women?s College. Picture by Bhola Prasad Students greet each other. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Name one phase in life when anything goes ? politically incorrectness, impolite, and often, obscene behaviour. For those who are still scratching their head, it?s college life, boss. Take for example the often nasty pranks that one plays. As Madhusudan a student of St Xavier's College said: ?We had stuck gum on a prof?s chair once. As soon as he started with the class we fell silent, waiting for him to sit down. We kept waiting for 30 minutes, while he just refused to sit down. He sat after he finished with his lecture and then started making faces, which made every one laugh. Thankfully even our prof shared the joke.?

Shivendu, a student of B.Sc (IT), St Xavier's College said often the pranks are a pastime. ?We decided to play a prank with our friend Kunal. We asked him to come over to the War Cemetery near Kantatoli Chowk, where we were hanging out, to talk to his ex-girlfriend. We targeted a girl, who was sitting right behind us with her back to us. When Kunal arrived we told him that his friend was there and pointed out the poor girl sitting on the bench. As soon as he put his hand on her shoulder, she got up and slapped him hard. By that time we had already left the place,? said Shivendu.

And these are not singular incidents, Vishal?s new bike was towed away by his friends and was reported ?stolen?. When an almost tearful Vishal decided to lodge a police complaint, the grinning friends ? if one may call them so ? told him all was fine. And keeping true to college traditions a relieved Vishal chose to treat the same friends. Friendship becomes a wacky concept in college as we see.

Students, St Xavier?s College, Ranchi

Sports talk & trivia

2Moving away from routine sessions on human anatomy and ailments and from an hypochondriac?s paradise, we the first year students of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, organised a seminar on sports physiology. Divided into several groups, the students made presentations on topics related to sports, fitness and physiology that dealt in depth with matters such as how sports affects different aspects of life and advantages of exercise. Though the lingo was medical, the entire seminar had an element of fun, as it was not related to the syllabus and was initiated by us.

Meera Pillai,

First year,

Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Hospital, Jamshedpur

Canteen; a hub

2Who says a plush canteen is a must to have fun in college? For us, a handful of so-called regular students at Jamshedpur Cooperative College, the small dingy room in the campus that sells oily ?samosas? and stale ?vadas?, is perhaps the best place to hangout whenever a lecture gets too boring.

Just the fact this small room is situated in a corner protects us from the constant and prying eyes of our college professors. And to keep the spirit of an original canteen alive, we have also named it the ?Canteen?. For all those who look out for some extra fun, the small Chinese joint China Town and the small ?paan? shops close to the XLRI Campus are perhaps the ideal place not only to hang out but also to stay away from the prying eyes of the public and officials. May the canteen force be always with you.

Anirban Chanda,

First Year,

Jamshedpur Cooperative College, Jamshedpur

Filming magic

2Being a student of mass communication obviously has its own magic. For us the world of glamour is a part of the syllabus and interesting facts ? nitty-gritty of camera handling, script writing ? are also a part of the curriculum. One project that was given to us recently was to film the beauty of Jubilee Park. From writing the script to shooting the garden, it was a learning experience. For each one of us Jubilee Park was not a new destination, but looking at it through the lenses was a new experience altogether.

Sreshta Ghosh, Karim City College, Jamshedpur

Bandh debate

2Are ?bandhs? ways to express a view or are they just a nuisance? Well, the debate was hot and raging at the Nirmala College recently as students geared up to fight for their opinions. Though there was no clear consensus at the end of the day, I spoke about the chance that bandhs give to political parties to put their views before a public.

Bushra,

Intermediate (humanities), Nirmala College, Ranchi

Fashion fundas

2So newspapers are for the news, right? Wrong. We, students of NICC Fashion Institute, showed the world that dresses and attires may also be shaped from the papers. There was also a bit of experimentation as we used fur and leather, along with the paper. Five students got selected during the fashion camp. The next camp selection will be on June 25. Good luck, guys.

Dev Jaya Ghosh,

NICC, Ranchi

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