While in college, the beginning and the end are celebrated. Not that the stuff in between isn’t, but the beginning and end of every year, popularly referred to as ‘freshers party’ and ‘seniors farewell party’ are more of a norm; sort of like the Annual Day that schools toil over.
Contrary to popular belief,
the latter isn’t a singular dedicated day when classes are suspended (or in some cases, not) and the outgoing students are fondly fed and accorded with niceties. It is usually preceded by a period of time replete with activities, settled scores and the odd twinge of nostalgia – a ‘beginning of the end’ of college.
Except, two weeks ago when a group of students from Pachaiyappa’s College attempted to mark that day ‘their way’; it almost ended up in a riot.
This February was almost a repeat of the previous year as students who attempted to celebrate ‘Bus Day’ from a few city colleges, found the cops ‘unaccommodating’. Castes, clashes, cases and a court ruling later, the Madras High Court directed the Director General of Police and the City Commissioner of Police to come down hard on the ‘unlawful’ Bus Day, which has long been considered a public menace.
“More than a tradition, this is what lets the whole area know that our college year is going to end,” shrugs Meghanathan, one of the students injured in the clash. “If we had a college day that we liked or money to have a high class celebration, we would. Till then we embrace the bus,” he adds.
Prakash Murthi, a final year student of a college in Royapettah opines, “Bus Day was something that brought us closer to our seniors as they were leaving. Now our juniors are according us the same respect.”
A retired professor with the Government Arts College in Nandanam has a different story to the origins of Bus Day. He said, “It was to show respect, yes, but not to other students. It was to us (teachers) on the campus and to their ferriers (bus driver and conductor) in the bus.”
Be that as it may, what else do students do to mark the beginning of the end of the academic year? A lot of hard work. Sample this: “From elections to exams to organising a farewell party that is way better than the one last year, there is a lot of work that begins as early as February,” says Smitha Samant, a department representative in one of the leading women’s colleges in Chennai.
Almost every college in the city has a distinct way of sending their seniors off and gearing up to be the ‘big guns’ next year.
Officially, of course, the picture is very tame and ‘proper’. Says a student of a popular women’s college in Nungambakkam, “The college hosts a farewell for all final year students, apart from department level farewell events. These happen within college and usually involve a set of games and a gift for each student.”
Ditto in almost all other ‘reputed’ colleges around town: samosas, cola and songs that have ‘Oooooh Friendship’ as the chorus. Women students mostly cherish the opportunity to wear a sari on their farewell and need little coaxing.
Once college hours are through, some off-campus rites of passage begin. And they almost always involve liquor.
“One month before college ends, juniors push off to Puducherry to procure enough liquor for the many farewell parties that follow,” says the chairman of a men’s college students’ union in the city.
Liquids seem to be a constant pattern. “Though it is not a tradition, the passing out class of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering have made it a habit of jumping into the swimming pool together, before heading to the party,” reveals Anika (name changed), a student of an engineering-college-turned-university on GST Road.
In Madras Christian College (MCC), the last few months witness ‘Hall Days’ (Halls refer to the residential hostels) – the only occasion where gentlemen and ladies are allowed into each other’s hostels. Needless to say, the food and the frolic ensure some very good partying.
Another rite of passage that most students from MCC, Madras Institute of Technology and a few other colleges along the old Tambaram railroad subscribe to is the ‘last train ride’.
“Nothing official, but when we’ve been using the same trains, compartments, stations for four or five years, there is solid sentiment there,” says Siddhartha V who studies in a Chromepet college. “When the exam dates are announced and before the study holidays begin, we fill up the train and take a senti(mental) ride back.”
But eventually, for Chennai college students, all roads lead to the beach, the staple of many a youngster’s evening. So much so that almost every student says that their pre-farewell blast would include at least a drive by the Marina.
For Presidency College students, the tradition is an evening on the Marina once the farewell is done.
Meticulous planning with food and drink ensure an evening spent on the sands singing and dancing. Vignesh from the 2003 batch says that about 17 of his classmates meet near the Gandhi statue, every year, on the first of June.
Finally, there exists the other extreme: In a men’s college in Mylapore, both the beginning and end of the college year are marked with an hour of prayer, an instructional sermon by the patron saint and distribution of prasadam.
