My first college life experiences

  I had lived in village and some in city but not 'advanced city' like Lahore until joining College.  I  joined my older brother who had a House Officer's quarter allotted to him  (2 rooms) Each quarter had 4 rooms  (2 upstairs and 2 downstairs) a kitchen and a lavatory. "servants quarters" were separate.  Originally there used to be 8 house officers (for the newly built Mayo Hospital) so 8 quarters were built at that time.
 I started in Islamia College (Railway road) my first year studies (premedical). The road going from Mayo Hospital had to go through "gwalmandi" which early morning was full of bullock carts and other vehicles for sabzi market and there was lot of dust mixed with dried up excreta material of various animals of the carts and tongas. During rain this would change into a huge muddy road from which there was no escape and I had to bicycle through it with my shalwar or pant smeared with mud.
 Next is something familiar to you but was new for me so please forgive me for slightly immodest  descriptions.

     On all my previous places of stay in cities I had not seen any "flush system" water-closets but was familiar only with 'desi tatti' on which you sit on feet. So when I saw this "sarkari tatti" (a name given to me by my sis-in-law, a well-educated lady who "learned" it from her 'less-educated' or less sophisticated neighbor women); with a chain hanging down from a tank near the roof, I studied the structures and tried to make out the functions. I had to figure out what was for what purpose and sure enough as I pulled the chain the flushing act of water was witnessed by me with a relief that I had figured out correctly the functions (feeling proud of myself)
Before the classes begin, every morning, there was P.T. for an hour-- running in the grounds for half to one mile and other exercises. On standing in line according to heights I being hardly 5 ft. (in my first year, yes, and I gained six inches in the following 18 months) ended up standing in the last part of line along with others of my height fellows. That is how most of 'friends' turned out to be 'shorties'


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