Blog 903: We are back !

Yes.
Scholars' Avenue is back.
Its hasnt even been a month since we were thrown out of business...
Somehow... seems like an eternity has passed since our last issue

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then
Here we go...


October 21st (probably)

Our first hint of a brewing chaos.
Reliable source tells us the Director is unhappy with the BC Roy article in the previous issue.
Also tells us there's a meeting of Presi, Dosa and Diro coming up to discuss Scholars' Avenue!
Presi asks Sandy and Rolly to meet him at 6pm on Oct 24th to know the outcome.

First reaction: WOW!
Second reaction: Shit!

Consider all possible things we can do before their meeting.
Nopes... nothing to do except bide our time.

Basant, Sandy and me sitting in Vegies.
Wondering...
"Surely they cant shut us down"
"Think abt the consequences"

We reassure ourselves...
"Nahin yaar... they wont shut us down"
"Probably ask for an apology..."
"Ummm... censorship??"

It goes on...future talk...
"We dont even need sponsorships... all it takes is 6k bucks a month... "
"Itna to hum log apne salary se hi de denge..."
"Imagine what happens when we have a sizeable Schols Ave alumni... :)"

Yeah.
Whats a story if it doesnt have a happy ending.

24th October.
Raman Auditorium.
Inter Hall WTGW in progress...

Have been preparing for a week for the event.
Thats the longest I've prepared for anything, whatsoever, in Kgp.
Not a good thing to say with end sems coming up...
Whatever.

Reach Raman at 5.40
Pretty close to the moment of truth.
Sandy and Dash present there.
Everyone's smiling.
We're laughing abt every other thing.

I guess thats how it is when you're on a precipice...

One by one, Schols Ave members start trickling into Raman.
Basant, Umang, Arish, Bafna...

Show starts...
Nehru off to a flier...
So are Patel and Azad and RP.

Our turn...
Clues passed... " Pass. Spit. Let"

"Spleen? Splendid? Splenderous? Splendour?"
It wasnt going to be any of these words...
Naween wouldnt have 'pass'ed otherwise :(

Splenetic.
Makhaoed.
The fuck its always us who get these crap words.
"This cant be happening again"

End of first round.
Two teams at the bottom of the pile...
RK and LLR.
Me and Dash in the two teams, respectively.
Bloody omen.
I hate Alchemist.

Sandy and Rolly arrive.
We all gather outside Raman.
"We've been shut down"

Disbelief.
Sandy narrates the events of the presi meeting.
We're out of words to express ourselves.
Yes... the event going on nearby was called "whats the good word"...

Second round... 5 secs
Third round... word was 'tenebrious'.
Trust the judge to give us these words.
Naka cracked it.
7 secs!

Third round... 3 secs!
RK third!
I think I was supposed to be happy.
At that moment, i was ready to quit WTGW if it cud bring Schols Ave back...


10pm.
Gymkhana
Schols Ave meeting.

We break the news to everyone.
Disbelief.
"This cant be happening"

Turns out... the Bcroy article wasnt the only troubling thing.
'Painting the campus RED' seemed to have piqued someone up there.
Things were finally starting to make sense.


Next day...
This is an sms I got from one of our fachhas... "regarding the unfortunate and illogical decision taken by the authorities, I can only say that we are all together into this and we should and will fight tooth and nail against this tyrany. You have my support for any endeavor in this context"
:)

We were told to clear out our blog.
And...
remove any references to our article from other sites we knew.
SF and Kshitij's site too had been shut down temporarily.

The floodgates had been opened.
People who we never thought even knew about the existence of Scholars Avenue started coming to us offering sympathies.
"Damned insti cant do anything by itself... and when you ppl started something good... all they can do is close it"
"Kgp sucks like anything"
"Koi nahin yaar... shit happens"

True.
Shit happens.

Arvind was first to put up an angry outburst against the insti on his blog.
Had to ask him to pull it back.
Dipanjan da vented his ire from the U S of A.
DSen wanted big time action.
Had to ask them too.

Oh btw... there was that threat of a DC as well.
Second DC threat in 3 months for me.
Good going.

In between, Illu happens.
Results send shockwaves in RK and RP.
Overheard: "Wish Scholars' Avenue was there now yaar"
Yeah... you can say that again :)

Meanwhile, Schols Ave approaches the issue from another angle.
Alumni.

Trust me... alumni rock!
And they rock BIG TIME!!

Stuff happens.
Correspondences.
Assurances.
Disapprovals.
Belief.


17th November.
Meeting with Dosa and Presi.

Blah blah...
Fix up a meeting with Director in half and hour.
Time to kill in Dosa's office.
You wouldnt want to know what we talked about.

Sitting outside Director's office.
Reading magazines.
Time to kill.

Diro calls Dosa and Presi inside.
Not us.

Sitting.
Time to kill.

Finally we're called.
Hear loud voices from inside.
Time to get killed?

Cool office.
Grand looking.

Director: " Haan boliye"
We: *silent*
Director: " Okay... so you were printing a newsletter called Scholars' Avenue... I've received very good feedback about it... so... *gap*... carry on with it"
WHOA!!

Alumni rocks !
received very good feedback about it, eh
Verbum sapienti satis est.

Director: "but please dont stick up the paper on the insti walls... we've just repainted the whole thing... and you are spoiling it by sticking up the paper... *smiling* Kalvey ji aap damage repair ka paisa inko charge kar dijiyega"
Smiles all around :)
No mention of Bcroy article.
Not much abt painting the campus red.

We're on seventh heaven when we leave the Diro's office.
Go to Harry's.
Whats a meeting if it isnt followed by a chai-paani session :)

Had a meeting yesterday night.
Back to gymkhana.
Back in business.
Back from the dead.

PS:
A little something...
Scholars Avenue, the road, runs between Bcroy hall and Bcroy hospital.
A couple of weeks ago someone made a wisecrack: "Scholars Avenue ends at Bcroy"

We beg to differ...
Scholars' Avenue begins at Bcroy :)