Secunderabad Life at the Hostel (4)

Note : Railway Diaries follows the Number on the Post Title

Our room was on the first floor and my room mates were Anand Rao, Jay Prakash, Seshagiri Rao and Ravi.I had taken a bed at the centre of the room and all luggages were unpacked and arranged in the cupboard. Life at the Hostel was luxurious with a separate study table for each, canteen on the ground floor and an open balcony from where the view was wonderful of the Centre, playground and also a top view of the kitchen. We had Times of India newspaper delivered to our room at 0500 Hrs and we could happily take a 30 minutes nap after lunch.

Couple of days passed and we had to get serious about our studies on G&SR (General & Subsidiary Rules). The marks what you score in the final exam at ZTC is what decides your seniority for promotions when you hit the job as a Diesel Asst. I was reading rather than studying the Manual given and spent most of my time drawing signals and warning boards and coloring them.

Saturday evening to Sunday midnight it was just fun and travel and the places that I visited during my stay in Moulali were Birla Mandir, Charminar, Salar Jung Museum, Tank Bund Road, and Golkonda Fort. We did watch a couple of movies and I used to travel everyday to Secunderabad for a good cup of tea.

Had forgotten to mention about my study table – creativity is something some people are born with and cannot live without. I would cut all the beautiful pictures from Hyderabad Times and with Seshagiri’s help paste it on my table.

December passed and it was New Year 2003, a time for celebration, time to shed all your inhibitions, sing and dance to your own tunes and any tune that people around you play. It so happens that the entertainment is the same but the faces change when compared to the past. Room mate Ravi had left Railways as he had got an offer from BHEL in Chennai.

On Jan 04th 2003 we left for Vijayawada for an educational tour , we studied various signals, walked over Krishna Bridge and also took time off to visit the book exhibition where I had purchased a book on Pencil Sketches and that unleashed a hidden talent which was unknown to me until then.

After our return from Vijayawada it was serious study time and we would stay awake until late in the night but half the time would be only laughter and jokes cracked by JP (Jay Prakash) or by “O Hansini” a song which was Debjit Roy’s favorite and later became everyone’s favorite.

On 21st Jan 2003 we had the final exam and on the same day we bid good bye to Moulali and boarded the Train no.Kacheguda-Dharmavaram express to Hubli.