On The First Day at JU

Being a brand new college student, and also being a part-time whacked-out blogger, I intend to start this blog with a judicious mix of awed respect for JU itself, and my almost-copyrighted trademark of flippancy; or as many like to call it, downright cussedness to the nth degree. Therefore I shall begin with a tactful description of yesterday's orientation programme, and later progress to descriptive accounts of life at Joo, and deep and meaningful insights into the purpose of existence - most of which will be completely and utterly irrelevant to your life, but you'll read it anyway because it's just plain fun to watch someone else struggle like that.

Yesterday, the first year undergraduates were herded into an AC room and told to sit and stay there. Noting the marked resemblance of the seniors' general behaviour to us as compared to that of the trainers to puppies at a canine obedience school, some of us soon grew restless and ventured outside to the ledges. No sooner had the first of us started imitating lemmings, however, than we saw a distinguished looking gentleman heading towards the room we had just vacated. As he passed along the corridor, it became rapidly clear that many of the senior female students have been gently crushing on him for years. Ignoring the languishing sideways glances, he strode in and the orientation started.

Possibly the coolest thing about JUDE, that is to say the Jadavpur University Department of English, is that the teachers look like the composite characters from any given season of CSI Miami, CSI New York, or possibly Bones. There's the authoritative team leader, the two to five responsible departmental seniors, the wacky younger guy who is restless and appears to be a misfit but really isn't, the nerdy female character who is not only brilliant but can also kick ass on the field, and an assortment of consultative experts. JU students will know who I mean, but in the meantime I'd rather not be sued for slander or defamation by an angry student body who are all part of 'Follow-that-professor' cults. There is also a sage/wise man/son of unknown divine entity, who is frickin' well awesome.

The campus is big-ass, naturally, and there are more turnings and ponds and landmarks than a mall architect ever dreamed of. I greatly appreciate the open spaces to breathe, and the library is of course stupendously well-spoken of, but my favourite part of the grounds are the shady walks that look like verdant nature fading into the distant horizon. As a lover of nature, skyscapes, and peace and quiet, I will now take this opportunity to swoon with delight at the very thought.

The academic load is challenging rather than daunting; thankfully I'm as competitive as hell, or I might be crying forlornly at the size of the syllabus and the semester exam system right now. The book shop Worldview is also rather interesting. I will leave in about ten minutes for the first day of classes, where the pressure will be bloody well ON; but hopefully I'll have time to explore further and get back to you.

In the meantime, good day to you all. I'm a Judean now, so I'll have far more fun today than I possibly ever had before; but I don't want you to feel left out, so here's a smiley face :-) and thoughts of chocolate cake to you. So long.