Alma mater - 1

I loved my masters program in Manipal.It was my first experience in a professional institution and to hostel life.KMC campus is sprawling and beautiful.Although most of the architectural designs cater to the taste of NRI's,there still remains some old silent stone buildings,standing tall and proud as witness to years of progressing medical science.When I saw the campus for the first time,I thought I would definitely get lost(which I promptly did).See...the less said about my navigation and orientation skills,the better!!

MAHE loves building fountains everywhere and lots of them were built the year I joined.Over here I must mention that what MAHE hasnt realised is that they aren't too good at building fountains.They leak.So the architect comes up with the bright idea of laying a lawn around it to soak up the leaking water.This fountain now degraded to a common garden sprinkler experiences its first set back in life.Why?Because the lawn laid is at a very low level and the leaking water mutinously flows over the lawn and all over the campus.Now our architect comes up with the brilliant idea of setting up some drains around it,raising walls,and buildings.So you see,what started of as a beutiful bubbler is reduced to something akin a municipality pipe.There is a general opinion among the students that quite a lot of MAHE was built only to prevent a fountains from leaking.

But don't run away with a wrong impression.The campus inspite of its minor flows...err..flaws still is beautiful.I loved the library.In any medical college the library becomes second home.If we werent in class,we were in the library.Not always to study mind you.That didnt get done too much.It was a place where friends met,shared millions of cups of coffee,billions of hours of gossip,lots more hours of sleep and very few hours of actually studying.When I joined we were still using the old library.It had high ceilings,rows upon rows of desks and chairs,heavily grilled windows that wouldnt allow a wad of gum to pass through and plenty of fans,all of which worked at the same speed creating a sedative,calming,creaking noise.

I love the smell of old books.I always felt very smart when I entered the library not because I knew too much off the books but simply because there was so much knowledge around me.50 years worth collection of books,hundreds of thesis and desertations all proof of inquisitive,eager minds wanting to leave their first mark in this field,surrounded me.There were so many racks for books of all subjects,journals,back volumes of journals that took up almost an entire floor.The top shelves of several racks and sometimes entire racks hidden in the deepest corner of the library never got dusted.So years of dust and intricate cobwebs collected on them.It transformed into an enotmologist's paradise.

The source of lighting was several tubelights.It gave the library sufficient light,but during monsoons it was cold and eerie,silent like a tomb,the sounds of occasional hushed whispers,pages ruffling.Maybe I imagined too much out of it.I dont really know.I liked the older library for several reasons.It was homely,it had a history that gave me the confidence that I could march on too.It had lovely wooden furniture all of which had been carved over the years by students and I could spend hours reading all the messages on them.It made me feel proud that I was a part of the lineage that churned out excellent medical personnels.I have spent countless hours picking out books from forgotten racks and pouring over them by the faint light that washed over me.

Then towards my final year they built the grandiose MAHE building.A treat for newcomers and NRI's but for an old timer like me it was a loss of heritage.This building had the new library called "the science building" I think.As they closed down the old one I trudged into this one.It was a huge monstrous thing,exteriors made of glass,like all those software companies you see in Bangalore nowadays.Centrally airconditioned,entirely computerised.I felt like a country mouse walking into it.There were cubicles in them with colorful plastic chairs!!!oh my god!what fun is a library if you can't see your neighbors face,if you can't see how everyone else is equally struggling over their lessons as you are,if you can't make faces at your friend at the other table because you are getting bored studying grey's anatomy??

Everything was new.Nothing looked the same,smelt the same or felt the same.Even the books had new covers on them.The racks were shining and spotlessly clean.The silence here wasn't comfortable,it weighed down on me.Suddenly there were too many new faces to be seen.Where were all these people in the older library?or maybe I was so deeply hidden in its heart that I never noticed anyone else.

You know.....changes aren't so bad afterall.I hated the new library at first.I hated its pseudo atmosphere.I hated that artificial air from coolers around me.But with time it seemed ok.This library was meant for serious studying (I needed to get a lot of that done as I was in my final year).It was meant to encourage focussed learning.It was a building which admitted people with serious goals and made sure they achieved it.Now,as I look back,I am glad that changes were made and I moved on with it.I achieved what I set out for that year.I topped my class.