I would like to thank specially Mr. Kuldeep, Bhanu, Hitesh. At JNU depends on two things: The course you are studying in and your political aspirations.
If you are a BA/ MA or MPhil FY student, the classes typically start at 9 am and last till 1 pm. If you are a serious student you attend all classes since missing even a single class means that you will fall behind and not be able to cope with surprise tests, mid sem exams and End sem exams. Once you get back after class, a quick lunch followed by a short siesta of about an hour and sports/ walk/ time with friends in the afternoon. By 5:30 in winters and 6:30 in summers you queue for the library or your Centre Study Room/ laboratory to finish the class reading assignments. Back by 8:30 to have dinner and then after that you complete the book reviews/ other academic assignments till as long as it takes. For MPhil SY and PhD scholars the routine is almost same with the difference that they dont have to attend classes but meet their guides, organise Centre activities like Seminars, Film shows etc, take classes of BA/ MA whenever required or proctor exams. And then they have to write their thesis updates, so they spend much longer in the library/ laboratory. The pressure is higher on students of Science than on Social Sciences as they have to maintain records/ lab work etc. And if you are a good Research Scholar you will be directed by your Guide to “help” some students of the Political type……..
The above schedule is applicable if you are a normal student who just attends classes, studies and whose political participation is limited to showing up at the political meeting which your teacher tells you to attend for just so much time as to register his presence and be able to tell the teacher that you were there and impress him/her that you follow his/her ideology and thereby prevent getting less marks in the subject.
However if you are a political student (a.k.a poor in academics/ exhausted all attempts at UPSC CSE and now unable to cope with pressure of studies) then your typical day starts at around 11 am (why so late?? It will be self evident shortly) and then you visit the Centre and show your face to the Professors to whom you are politically affiliated and give them a report of all that you have done politically for the “People’s Revolution” (Left), “Desh/ Hindu Rashtra” (ABVP), “Emanicipation”(BAPSA) or “Party” (NSUI), depending on which party you support. The Professor then tells you which classes you must attend and which of his classes you can miss. You also collect the old assignments submitted by previous years students on the topics assigned by the Professor to your class as class assignment and are repeatedly warned not to copy Verbatim but change enough so as not to make it apparent that you are copying the answers. You may get some pocket money (Rs. 50–500 depending on the magnanimity and mood of the professor) and in case you are a Research Scholar you are told who is the Senior Researcher who will be giving you “help” (an euphemism for ghost writing your thesis, while you slog politically). You return to have lunch and meet with your other Comrades/ Hindu Bhai/ Dalit Bhai/Party Member (depending on which party you support) where you discuss strategic moves against the other parties and sort your own internal party politics over the staple Revolutionary Ganja from Munirka/Swadeshi Budha Baba somras/ Anti Savarna peanuts from Bittu Bhaiya’s shop/Gandhiji’s favourite Domino’s Pizza (depending on which party you support). Nights are spent organising, attending political meetings or long discussions on “Democratic Socialism and Revolutionary Maoism”, “Pseudo Secular Minority Appeasement”, “Savarna Discrimination and Exploitation of Dalits” or “Rahool or Preanka: who is better for Party” (depending on which party you support). You go to bed typically at 4:30 am.
Sometimes one gets to go out of town to meet the leaders (Kolkata/ Nagpur/ Lucknow/ AICC “its in Delhi but feels like home” Office (depending on which party you support). On some days the pressure is high and protest demonstrations have to be organised, buses hired, placards/mashals made and crowds accumulated. You keep a list of all the students attending your political mentor Professors classes and call them up to be sure to attend the meetings. Ask them to donate old clothes for the Putla that you will burn (Sweaters dont burn well, cotton Tshirts and Shirts burn well, So most of the enemies in Putla form have T Shirts on when consigned to the flames). But these events allow you to pinch some money on the sly by inflating the bills of purchases (3 litres petrol is enough fuel for mashaals but God knows why they want 5 litres……) for personal expenses (fair enough ….. after all the expenses of mobile phone recharges for late night coochie coo talks with the beau must also be met, isnt it?)
Life is Good for the Political students, unpredictable but never a dull moment.
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