back in the college campus at CMC, vellore for a few days. a beautiful green place with lots of walks, it always gives me a sense of peace and tranquility and continuity. the tamarind trees outside the anatomy department are the same ones that were there when i joined this college in 1981. the college store has a new look but the stones outside it on which we used to sit and talk are still there, with a new generation of students frequenting them. the first and second gates have not changed, nor has the chapel and the sunken garden. the huge stone buildings housing the biochemistry and physiology and pharmacology departments have lots of happy memories for me: thankfully the nightmarish events of pharm exams have faded from memory.
most of my teachers have retired, and my batchmates are now the "senior" staff in some departments. many of the students here on campus were not born when i joined college.
it has been a haven for so many of us, and those who live here do not realise how fortunate they are to be in a place like this, a cocoon from the world outside.
indeed, it is easy here to forget that another outside world exists.