There was a little town..

WOW!You're from Manipal!!!!

Oooooh...so you're from 'Manipal'!..i seeeeeee!!!

Manipal...uhmmmmm....i think iv heard of it...it's some place in the East right?

So...how much did you pay??????

Over the last 4 years, these are the only reactions I have got from people on telling them that i study/studied in Manipal.
What is it about Manipal that elicits such reactions???I somehow dont find any of them normal and always find the need to
probe and clear the doubts of people who most definitely harbour some misconception about the small town called Manipal that
i have come to love.

Gone are the days when only the super rich could afford Manipal. Gone are the days when 'donations' were the only way to get
in unless you happened to belong to the 2% super-duper-ultra-brainy population. Gone are the days when being a 'konkani'
speaking person would come to your advantage where admissions were concerned (I mean no offence to them. Konkani's have a
charm about them that i simply admire...infact I think they should have just reduced the quota rather than abolishing it
altogether). I do agree that not everyone can afford to send their children here...but atleast those who can arent paying
money under the table. Most of it (if not everything) is in black and white.

Then come the people who think i spent 4 years in Manipur. "Bechari kaise rahee hogi vahan", quips one aunty. Im sure she thought my parents were bonkers to send me to some place like that. Until i corrected her and explained to her that Manipal was near Udupi. But in most cases, even that didnt help. People eat Udupi food and yet, dont know what or where Udupi is. So with a look of 'here-i-meet-another-ignorant-aunty' I dive into a detailed geographical explanation of the place (my
geography teacher would be so proud!!).

Next are the skeptical, doubtful ones. Silently they think, "Hmmmm...Manipal!!God knows wut this girl's done there and come..", little knowing that their silence speaks volumes about the doubt that lingers in their minds. Then they diplomatically ask me, "So how are you doing there??Ive heard that a lot of bad things happen there..?".(Pardon me for the attrocious English but that's exactly what i get to hear!). I really wish I could make these people understand that bad things happen everywhere, that probably the 'safe' place that they've sent 'their' kids too is worse than Manipal and that I and nobody else cant think of a college, be it an engineering, medical, commerce or arts one, where you wouldnt get sutta, daru and gaanja. Hell, even the IIT's havent been spared, so why dont you take those rose-tinted-aviator-goggles off your eyes and get real for a change. Iv managed to stay four years without doing any of these three (at this point all of my Manipal friends will say "Farah, thats not something to be proud of!!") and if anyone has the willpower they could do the same too. As is with most people, a few extreme cases of drug overdose or an enrollement for an AA session, makes them brand Manipal as a bad place to live in. But if that were true, then I would be able to point tens of other places as 'bad' as Manipal.

And finally I come to those who think Manipal is this awesome, hip, hep and happening place to be in. Well..I wouldnt disagree with you there. But it aint as heavenly and blissful as the Manipal ad shows it to be (for those who havent seen the
Manipal ad, you could search it on Google video). It is a beautiful, picturesque and vibrant place with students from so many different countries staying here, but its neither mauritius nor does it replicate an American Uni Campus. It simply is Manipal.

After meeting students from other engineering colleges at my workplace I realise that the kind of freedom and opportunities we get/got, are perhaps found at too many other places. This town of education has its own pulse and feel and a culture that
is unique to it. It is this culture coupled with the right companionship that ex-Manipalites miss so much and it is this spirit that you will find many of us carrying around with us wherever we go. Manipal...I will always miss you...