My College Days.

College days-----------------
College days for me bring very bitter sweet memories to my mind. For first few days it was very weird feeling. Nobody to guide you and you had a lost feeling. Fortunately for me one boy, Vilas Tamhane, was enrolled in the same college but he belonged to commerce faculty. He came from my school, Subhedar wada school, Kalyan. The nearest college was SIES College, Sion. So we had enrolled in that college. I had enrolled in the science faculty as my father wished to make me engineer. The professors were brilliant but lectures were incomprehensible as we were from vernacular medium. So naturally we turned our attention to extracuriculler activities such as hockey and gossip. Sitting in college canteen we passed hours together in gossip. I picked up two habits which did not leave me until long---smoking and reading. I had to travel everyday by local train to Dadar and then to catch slow train back to Sion. Many time I went directly to CST and wandered around to Marinelines and water front. Many times I played chess in the university gymkhana or hockey on BHA stadium. In first year I attended college nearly half days, rest of the days I wandered or played some games. I had tremendous curiosity in red light areas. So I seized this opportunity to visit to red light areas in Kamathipura, Forase road and khetwadi lanes. I used to hang around radio talkies or Minarva for hours together, aimlessly. One humorous incident I rememebeered of childhood. I was eight years old then. A friend and my elder brother were discussing these matters in low voice. When I came in, friend said F. road, so that I should not get inquisitive. “Are you talking about Forasse road?” I directly enquired. Remember, eight year old to know all these things was just impossible. The friends were duly shocked but to support the argument friend said, “no no we are talking about Ferozehsah Mehta road.” I immediately retorted. Pherozeshah’s spelling begins with P not F”. how astonished the friends were you can imagine. The conversation was taking place in Marathi.
So my interest in these matters was from childhood.
The effects of these roaming and playing was obvious. I miserably failed in first year exam. It took four years for me to complete my inter science course, which the normal students do in two years. Thereafter I said goodbye to college life.