NEW BLOCK HOSTEL |
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New Block Day 2003 – “Punascha `03” 23rd
February 2003 is a special day in NewBlockians’ otherwise routine
life. As per the recent norm, where it is organized on the last Sunday
of February, the block day of 2003 is held on this day. There were many
novelties and surprises this time. A
huge welcome sign was posted at the volleyball court. Everyone was
welcomed with a red rose and T-shirt. Final year architecture students
specially designed the T-shirt with ‘Punascha’ logo on it. The
fountain came back to live with water columns dancing gently with music.
It was a tremendous atmosphere. It easily made people forget the present
and run down their memory lanes to reach “those” years. Those
years -- when there was no tension, no responsibility – the life was
full of fun – life was full of independence. Late rising, tea at
canteen, followed by Anandabazar or Bartoman at commons, hurried bath,
Spartan lunch and then a run to college. College, though was mostly an
excuse, it was a place to meet more people, it was a place to look at
more people, sooner or later there was a reason to walk past Amenities
Center towards gate no.4. Afternoon tea at Milan’da.. Evenings were
idle, some used to go for tuition, others enjoyed a nap. The TV at
common room never stopped in the evening. So do the debate, as to which
channel to watch. Then there was dinner. It was a holy affair. Large
groups went together and all managed to seat in a single table. On
ordinary days, piece of fish was of the size of a carom coin, the piece
of meat was of the size of a pawn. Generally there was no grief,
probably because one had the right to choose. After dinner it was time
to play bridge or carom. It was a serious affair, no distractions being
entertained. Occasionally, there were alcoholic gatherings, of course
secretly. Occasionally it was time to exchange pleasantries with Old PG
or New PG. Oh yes, before forgetting I should also mention that there
was studies, at appropriate time to dodge those class tests and
semesters. Back
to 2003. People started arriving around ten. After being welcomed
gorgeously they were led to breakfast. Radhaballavi, ghugni, rasogolla
and coffee were the menu. Next came the prestigious affair. A football
match was organized between present boarders and alumni. It was played
at the huge ground besides Aurobindo Bhavan. Everybody went there. The
match was close, both sides scored one goal. This year, there was arrangement of video
recording. Every important event was recorded. The plan was to burn it
into a CD and send to the alumni who could not attend. NBH reached an
important milestone that day. The first email from NBH premises was
sent. There was plan to have chat session with one terminal at NBH and
other alumni around the world. Unfortunately, due to some technical
problem, the dial-up connection to the BSNL server was going off
frequently and they could not participate. However, this one glitch could not put the
Newblockians down. There was excellent planning and arrangement in every
department. The lunch was illustrious. If known, many wedding caterers
will start envying! The menu was: plain rice, macher matha diye mug-er
dal, ponir er tarkari, salad, fish fry, patol er dorma, galda
chingri’r malaikari, murgi’r kasha mangso, chatni, chingri macher
gandho charano bisesh bhabe bhaja papor, sandesh, soft drinks, pan
masala ar cigarette. Mouth watering, isn’t it? That day was the India vs. Zimbabwe match at
World Cup. And Sourav was batting. People looked at it for a while. Then
there was a small quiz at the stage. As usual the stage was at the
volleyball court with back towards New PG. The quiz was for the
audience, anybody could answer a question. It was followed by a
competition for the smokers. With eyes closed, one has to identify the
brand of a cigarette with two puffs. It was interesting. Then it was
turn for the ex-boarders to speak something from their old days’
memory. It was titled, “Kichu Smriti Fele asa Dinguli Theke”. That
was touching. As the sun went beyond horizon, New Block
was all lighted up. It appeared as if a bride wearing jewelry top to
bottom. It shined amidst the general darkness around. Especially the
lighting at the fountain was wonderful When ‘shyam’ (evening) comes, ‘sura’
can’t be far behind. Plenty of liquor came in. By that time, the stage
was set up for the big event – the so-called “JHINKU”. Two young
beauties started singing. They played the popular tunes, people danced
merrily. In between, Suman Das Barman and Ranapratap Mukherjee, two
ex-boarders, sung for an hour. They also entertained the audience with
their melodious voice. The jhinku continued till one o’clock in the
morning. People enjoyed a lot. The atmosphere was of universal
brotherhood. Newblockians of all age drunk and dance together. Everybody
was relaxed and enjoying the moment as if there was no tomorrow. We hope such days will come back every year. A man is not a man unless he dreams. Let us all dream, let us all dream together. Long live New block.
Original
inputs by Subrata Basak.
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