The flood of Surat in 1968 had marooned our Servant Quarter immensely.The russet & hazy skyline meeting horizon in all directions observed from long corridor ,landing space of staircases or widows were giving a look of vast sheet of flood waters with tiny waves walloping every nook & cranny visible . Every hibernating species must had been fighting for their survival for sure ! Only ,the copse of trees, shrubs ,groves & foliage of far & near forming their silhouettes were coming in between the skyline & vast sheet of flood water . But, all looked still , forlorn darkish & in a state of abject submission .
Buzzing of our stomachs had ended & now the churning of stomachs had started & some times cramps felt . Mere three or four slices of Modern Bread was not able to replace the staple food of rice or bread (चावल या रोटी). One or two cups of tea, that too without milk was repulsive . Fortunately , I was a smoker so, one or two sticks of cigarette were there for time-pass ,but it was for few minutes only & always I was counting the remaining sticks of my beloved cigarette packet BERKELEY.
Fellow boarders were now feeling hungry & foraging for provisions was out of question because every other room was having very poor provisions & buddies were more smarter compared to me . There was two option left to me , put a thin sheet (चादर) over the body & try to sleep or search for buddies & folks who were interested in playing cards .What happens when one faces hunger. Gradually the numbness comes in the whole body & move on the face . The whole body becomes debilitated. Night passed & in the next morning perhaps at 10 'O' clock five or six musketeers of senior batch were seen to negotiate flood water & going towards Hostel no 1 in search for some food. I was looking at them but never had the heart to negotiate flood water!
The boys shown above in the photograph is of the flood of 1968 & now it is 2017 . The time elapsed is about 49 years & watch the glee,the exuberance & exhibition of nervous energy oozing out from their face . All these persons must be in late sixties or touching seventies becoming senior citizen & respected alumni of S.V.R now NIT, Surat. But how this transformation of beating hunger & bout of nervous energy came, I will tell the story .
I didn't know ,what to do . The only solace , I was having that that every body was suffering from the pangs of hunger so be part of the crowd & face what is destined . The vice of playing cards came very handy to us in forced confinement . I, with the folks & buddies tried every game of cards but it was fruitless & I waited with fatigued somnolence for the flood water to ebb .
Just between 1 or 2 'O' clock in the afternoon some folks knocked the room & handed over food item of breads & vegetable telling food has come from Piplod . First the buddies & folks were stunned & afterwards comprehended the meaning of this gesture .
When in retrospect ,I think over it I had ,1st & last time had the pleasure of manna. What is manna ! I will not go in detail ,but as per different English dictionaries ,it is depicted that in Hebrew Bible when Israelites were driven out from Egypt , their band were wandering in the wilderness of desert & they were tired ,listless with thirst & hunger .Angles provided them from sky the breads, sweets etc & Israelites shouted Manna! Manna!
We were hungry from last 36 hours & it was manna for us . But during eating , I was able to observe the wild glint in the eyes in two or three folks grunting in sharing the food with canine gestures. Again when I think in retrospect ,the attack of Kuwait by Saddam Hussain's Iraqi forces ,forcing Indians working there to go hungry for more than 48 hours. The description of these events coming in newspapers of that time depicting the episode of a CEO fighting with a worker of that very company over the relief food packet . Hunger brings real animal instinct ! Recent film 'Air Lift' is based on the same story of mass evacuation of Indians from Kuwait.
The photograph of revelry shown above is after the food sent from Piplod. When the food & water goes in the stomach , who can stop nervous energy popping out at this age ! I must say we had mixed feeling for Piplod but warmness of heart of Gujratee people can be matched only by few other ethnic groups of the country comprising various other states of India.
In the photograph shown only four buildings of various department including administrative building existed . Vicissitude of time has changed the whole landscape of campus but soul remains the same . Floodwater were started to recede but on the next morning I awoke by the commotion heard on the corridor & the news was ,two of the hostelers were drowned in the flood water & third person among them miraculously survived . The whole hostel community was dazed after hearing this news !
Buzzing of our stomachs had ended & now the churning of stomachs had started & some times cramps felt . Mere three or four slices of Modern Bread was not able to replace the staple food of rice or bread (चावल या रोटी). One or two cups of tea, that too without milk was repulsive . Fortunately , I was a smoker so, one or two sticks of cigarette were there for time-pass ,but it was for few minutes only & always I was counting the remaining sticks of my beloved cigarette packet BERKELEY.
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| Folks enjoying flood water in Servant Quarter in 1968( courtesy Anil Saxena) |
Fellow boarders were now feeling hungry & foraging for provisions was out of question because every other room was having very poor provisions & buddies were more smarter compared to me . There was two option left to me , put a thin sheet (चादर) over the body & try to sleep or search for buddies & folks who were interested in playing cards .What happens when one faces hunger. Gradually the numbness comes in the whole body & move on the face . The whole body becomes debilitated. Night passed & in the next morning perhaps at 10 'O' clock five or six musketeers of senior batch were seen to negotiate flood water & going towards Hostel no 1 in search for some food. I was looking at them but never had the heart to negotiate flood water!
The boys shown above in the photograph is of the flood of 1968 & now it is 2017 . The time elapsed is about 49 years & watch the glee,the exuberance & exhibition of nervous energy oozing out from their face . All these persons must be in late sixties or touching seventies becoming senior citizen & respected alumni of S.V.R now NIT, Surat. But how this transformation of beating hunger & bout of nervous energy came, I will tell the story .
I didn't know ,what to do . The only solace , I was having that that every body was suffering from the pangs of hunger so be part of the crowd & face what is destined . The vice of playing cards came very handy to us in forced confinement . I, with the folks & buddies tried every game of cards but it was fruitless & I waited with fatigued somnolence for the flood water to ebb .
Just between 1 or 2 'O' clock in the afternoon some folks knocked the room & handed over food item of breads & vegetable telling food has come from Piplod . First the buddies & folks were stunned & afterwards comprehended the meaning of this gesture .
When in retrospect ,I think over it I had ,1st & last time had the pleasure of manna. What is manna ! I will not go in detail ,but as per different English dictionaries ,it is depicted that in Hebrew Bible when Israelites were driven out from Egypt , their band were wandering in the wilderness of desert & they were tired ,listless with thirst & hunger .Angles provided them from sky the breads, sweets etc & Israelites shouted Manna! Manna!
We were hungry from last 36 hours & it was manna for us . But during eating , I was able to observe the wild glint in the eyes in two or three folks grunting in sharing the food with canine gestures. Again when I think in retrospect ,the attack of Kuwait by Saddam Hussain's Iraqi forces ,forcing Indians working there to go hungry for more than 48 hours. The description of these events coming in newspapers of that time depicting the episode of a CEO fighting with a worker of that very company over the relief food packet . Hunger brings real animal instinct ! Recent film 'Air Lift' is based on the same story of mass evacuation of Indians from Kuwait.
The photograph of revelry shown above is after the food sent from Piplod. When the food & water goes in the stomach , who can stop nervous energy popping out at this age ! I must say we had mixed feeling for Piplod but warmness of heart of Gujratee people can be matched only by few other ethnic groups of the country comprising various other states of India.
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| Persons standing in waning flood water |
In the photograph shown only four buildings of various department including administrative building existed . Vicissitude of time has changed the whole landscape of campus but soul remains the same . Floodwater were started to recede but on the next morning I awoke by the commotion heard on the corridor & the news was ,two of the hostelers were drowned in the flood water & third person among them miraculously survived . The whole hostel community was dazed after hearing this news !
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