There are vibrations of a distinct importance now. The little college emblem on the left side has a formidable value. The weight emerges not just from three days of standing in slow moving queues in the afternoon heat, sweating profusely, but in distinguishing it’s holder. The association that the Card creates becomes an association for life. It is a testimony of your merit, that you are member of a fraternity by virtue of being one cut above the rest.
When I understand this, I understand also that to some an ID would limit to a document for a SIM card or for entering into a Cyber Café. To lose it callously is an uninvited trouble for some, toiling in offices, scribbling applications and paying the penalty fee; but to the sentiments attached with the association, there is a mighty mass. Losing your card could amount to more than just callousness; it is not another Shopping Mall membership after all. Few of us got school I-cards. The Officer’s kids had dependent cards, before college opened there were a lot of us who came of age applied for driving licenses and PAN cards. But this one has much in contrast. The significance of the I-card is in its very existence – the archiving of your qualifications: the marks you scored, the cut-offs you jumped, the place you reside, the ragging affidavits you filled, the entirety of your credentials. It is a collective effort. Pride in your college is what alone grants you admission, the right of entry to a wider world. The spirit of belongingness entices you to fall in love-with the place and its people.
ID-cards are flaunted too. For two consecutive days, we had bravoed each other. The passport pictures are an insight of what we were just two months back. After checks and rechecks, the misspelled ones were returned for corrections. It might be just a small card, but to restless spirits it is a lot. The substance in it is reflective of your ventures, your daring to go beyond Academics too. And if you are somehow tangled in the cityscape of Delhi or lost in a remote corner (though not very likely) - your I-card comes to your rescue again. There is a lot to it, than just the small rectangular card and permission to enter your College grounds. And yet, the underside of your Identity might just be a personal opinion.
The fee-slips have tattered and torn with overuse. It is a healthy respite to bear the new Identity Cards, the novelty, the shine glistens in the afternoon Sun. Lectures too have started on a regular basis. I had started to think College is for one Lecture in one day. When I arrive for Evening classes now, the I-card slips out of my pocket. It feels important to gain entry with the cards….. College has just begun to be more happening.
Image Courtesy: Google Images
KNOW FROM FRIEND FROM DU
After completing his schooling from MVM, Guwahati, Tonmoy Barua spent the five most glorious and beautiful years of his life at the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun. Being a war enthusiast he had an ardent desire to join the defence forces, but before he could gather the technical skills of war and strategy his keenness to serve the nation and don the star-studded uniform came to a halt when he was rejected on medical grounds. But as life goes on, he is now pursuing B.A. (Hons) Political Science from Moti Lal Nehru College, New Delhi and yearns to serve the country on different fronts.
