STUDENT PRANKS

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J. Vasanthan recalls student life


WHEN I came to Madurai in 1951 to study at the American College, the streets of the city were a delight to walk on. There was little traffic, mostly bicycles and a few jutkas and rickshaws.

The city buses were half the size they are now, and less in number. The air was fresh and the dust was almost non-existent. So we enjoyed long walks, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city.

Arresting Movement

Our favourite road was the Town Hall Road, which was all hustle and bustle night and day. Even after midnight people were scurrying about on some business or the other. Every one was hurrying; no one strolled or sauntered, except us of course. We wondered where these people were rushing off to and whether they could be stopped for a while. One day four or five students stood in the busiest part of Town Hall Road and kept looking at a fixed spot. Soon a crowd gathered around them and everyone was looking up at the same spot. A couple of students slipped off to the edge of the crowd, and one of them asked a man ``what's going on?'' ``There's something up there, but I don't know what'' the man said, and continued gazing upwards. The students walked off, very pleased with themselves. When we learnt some new word in the classroom, we tested it on the shopkeepers. There were three big shops in East Chitrai Street. Some students would go to one of these shops and ask, ``Do you have any metronome?'' (or synecdoche or tarantula).

The shopkeeper never revealed his ignorance but always gave an answer like. ``We are out of stock. May be will be getting fresh stock next week!''

Signboard Shenanigans

When I went on to Madras Christian College, I found the student pranks there more innovative but not quite as harmless as the Madurai variety. Students filched all kinds of signboards and brought them back to the campus. Once they brought a doctor's signboard and fixed to a lavatory door. The board gave the doctor's name and his degrees — M.D., MRCP. At the bottom was an adjustable sign — The Doctor is in / out. Those going to the lavatory pushed it to `in' and pushed it back to `out' when they came out. So the doctor was in and out throughout the day. Two days later the doctor's assistant traced the board and took it back. Later when I became a lecturer I continued to live in a hostel and when I went to take roll-call in the nights I was surprised to find one entire wall of a student's room decorated with various signs like `No Trespassing', `Keep off the grass' and so on. This student, Mathew Abraham, and his friends took a photograph of themselves, which I eventually got to see. The entire bunch was posing without clothes with just signboards held in front to cover their nakedness. Mathew himself was giving a back view with a board held behind him. It said `out of order'. And another very plump student Anil Kumar Bandhari held a small circular board before him that said `Private.' The photo showed a lot of inventiveness and made one burst into spontaneous laughter.

A surprise Gift

The popular eatery at that time was the Buhari Hotel on Mount Road. Gangs of students frequented this place and very cleverly lifted cutlery and crockery, never once getting caught. When I got married Bandhari and his friends brought us a wedding gift — a complete dinner set with twelve plates, twelve quarter plates and a dozen spoons, forks and knives. But on every item was the inscription `Buhari Hotels.'

It must have taken a lot of time and several visits and careful planning to steal so many items. We appreciated it, but refused to accept the gift. Whereupon the students bought us a new set from a prestigious shop. They were affluent enough to do so. These student pranks may have caused some inconvenience to a few people. But they were useful outlets for the creative energies of the young men.

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