I have always thought that going through all the lectures is a feat by itself and I deeply respect those who achieve it. In the first semester there used to be a kind of enthusiasm about attending lectures. For MTH 101 we used to line up at L1 gate. There used to be a Theory of Machines class for Mechanical Engineering students of the Y2 batch in L1 before the MTH 101. Professor Shunmugraj used to take MTH 101 for Section A but his style of teaching and the never fading mustached smile on his face attracted the students of Section B as well so much so that the L1 used to be packed to its capacity with junta filling the floors as well as the teachers’ chair. Hence the junta used to lineup at the L1 gate so as to get in as early as possible and the rest their posteriors on the chairs before anyone else could. During one of these line-up drills yours truly was nearest to the gate and some devil of a batch mate pushed the line and before I could realize what was going on, I was on the floor, out flat and in the legs of Professor Mallik who was taking the Theory of Machines class. He took me by the collar and as I stood up, I did something which was to turn the next ten minutes into a full-fledged nightmare: I grinned! That simple toothy smile was enough to enrage Mallik Sir. You can think of what must have followed. To the best of my memory, it proceeded as below:
ME: [grinning] Ehh…
MALLLIK SIR: [enraged] You are laughing! You are laughing! How dare you laugh after doing this. You disturbed my class and you are laughing.
He pushed me in front of the class. Everybody was looking at me. If it had been some other place and some other time, everybody would have found this funny but with Mallik Sir teaching, things always become a bit different. So here I was, a fat boy in his first semester scared out of his wits with his seniors and a very senior professor giving him murderous looks. I didn’t know what to do or to speak. But Mallik Sir knew:
MALLIK SIR: [to his class, pointing at me] Look at him! I don’t know what has happened to the students these days. [To me now] You don’t deserve to be in this place. Are you listening? You don’t deserve to be in this place. Grinning after doing mischief.
I could as well have been in hell. But I don’t blame him. After having been to his classes for two courses now I now realise the reason for his anger. He must have thought that me or me and some of my ‘similar’ mates had pulled off this act thus disturbing the whole study environment to create which he takes so much pains.
I was standing there sweating all over when he directed me to a seat lying vacant in the front row and he went back to teaching. The period bell, which rang the moment he turned away from me couldn’t have been more welcome. My friends, who had been standing outside cosily all this while came in as the Y2 junta went away. They all looked at me as if I were a museum artifact on display what with my sweaty forehead and shivering body. I will never forget those ten minutes. However my ordeals with Mallik Sir were far from over. In some other post I will describe two more incidents which involve me and Sir. Bye.
