Confession

It was yet another boring day in the campus.i was back in the hostel as there were no classes in the afternoon session.my frustrations always increased inside the four dull walls of our hostel room.time passed by, we guys went to have evening coffee from the mess hall.me and my close friend ,ajay,who is my 'comrade' for all the mischevious activities,went to the side of our hostel where the outside village of amrita campus is visible.while i sip down the coffe i looked at the non-amrita world through the grills.a student in amrita can got out only once in a month from the campus,that too clearing hectic formalities.while i was looking outside thrugh the steel grills,the free bird inside me was urging to flee out from our lifeless campus.without asking too much questions to myself,i asked ajay "i'm fed up sitting inside this hell,can we jump out and free ourselves??"
after a long stare through the grills,he gave me a positive wink,and that was the thumps up for the operation.
we observed the paddy fields outside the grill and watched the way farmers are moving ,to make out our path clear in minds.
the plan was fixed at 7'oclock at night,beause its the time when wardens and attenders go to mess hall.while we were gearing up for the operation so many thoughts passed through my mind.for students in ther colleges,jumping out of hostels may be walk in the park,but for an amritian its like prison break.if caught,a minimum of two week suspension is guarenteed with a good amount of fine.the other thing that came to my mind was that ,there is nothing we can do if we jump outside,as the campus is situated in a village area.there are only paddy fields and a small railway station.the only hang out near by is a 'dhaba' where we get non veg dishes and cigarettes which are taboos in amrita.so dhaba was the aim.
both of us got ready,some of our roommates warned us not to go.as it was our final decision they couldn't argue much and gave money to buy food and cigarettes from dhaba.
we folded our pants upto thigh height and wore dhotis to get a look of farmers.at around 7'o clock,we went near the grill and made sure no one is watching,then both of us climbed up and got out of the campus.just outside the giant grill,there is a hut of a farmer.so we have to move very carefully. there were no lights around,all we could see is the light from the hut.we slowly walked through the fields,we passed by wild bushes and trees in the darkness.that time,the only fear in our minds was snakes and scorpions which can show us the way to hell with one bite.the way was long,unlike we thought as the fields were large in area.as we moved on we heard the stray dogs barking and howling.the barks of dogs became closer.we threw some stones in the direction of the barks.nothing bad happened as we moved further to find the ettimadai railway station.we removed our dhotis and unfolded our pants before we crossed the railway station.after that the road was smooth with street lights on.but every time a vehicle passed by,we hid our selves in the road side bush fearing that it may be some one from the campus.after a five minute walk we reached dhaba and ordered eggrolls for roommates and for ourselves.the reason to buy egg rolls is that it is cheap and is a stomach filler.both of us lit a cigarette and enjoyed the freedom from our "prison" college.altough we smoke frequently inside hostel bathrooms,a smoke from outside is a huge relief as there is no need to be afraid of crooked wardens.we packed the egg rolls and started walking back to the college.we crossed the railway station and found the place were we left our dhotis.we wore it again and started walking back through the paddy fields.but this time the barks of dogs were louder and clearer.as we both reached the middle of a field the barks was so clear and we could see the sparkling eyes of stray dogs.this time we lost every grain of our guts and started to threw evrything that came in our hands.this worked and the dogs with drew to the darkness,but there were barks and howls all over the place.after crossing three big fields we reached near the back of our hostel.we could then see the lights in our hostel rooms .may be becuase of the noise made by the dogs, a man came out from the hut and switched on the flash light on us.
in a split second ajay seized my neck and made me lay on the bare ground.at that point we were virtually laying on that paddy field. i could smell the moist soil as we saw the flash light searching on the bushes near to us.we could hear our heart beats during those seconds.after few minutes lights went off and we called our roommates through mobile phones and made sure no one is near the grills.after we got the green signal from our friends we climbed back and got inside the campus.
every one was curious to hear about our venture. we shared the eggrolls and didn't really mind the small bruises caused by spines of bushes.the eggrolls were tastier that day,dont know why.
the very next morning ,while we were on the way to college we glanced throught the giant grills and looked each other with smile in our face.
the reason why i gave the title as 'confession' is becuse,as we were journalism sudents we were supposed to write a campus story.our ma'am will decide the topics we select.me and ajay was in one group,and we slected a topic on the students jumping out from the college illegally,like we did.our ma'am was afraid to proceed with that topic, so she said a big 'NO'.but i insisted a lot to take that topic,after all we are doing it,not her.she challenged us that if we have the spine to write down a confession letter about our jump out with signature,she could allow us to take up that story.think she doubted our genre ,any how i wrote the whole operation in black and white with siganture and gave it to her.but she still couldn't allow us to take up that story.....cowards die many time,but a valiant only once.