In Christian Medical College, Vellore, the Men’s Hostel Union had it’s fair share of fisticuffs. That is only natural in an all male environment with pressure of studies, raging hormones and other factors. Three  incidents which I witnessed were, two over something as innocuous as a game of carroms and the other was when one felt slighted by the other in front of the girls in his class.

Wine did not contribute to much of the violence, though it did contribute to destruction of college property. One such incident was a party on a weekend in D block first floor in MHU. After everyone was suitably charged, the next move was to go to the other side of the road and make our presence felt. On the other side of the road dwelled the fairer sex. What’s the point of partying unless the residents of the other side of the road are not brought into confidence? This completed the trilogy of Wine, Women and Song. The Song was  provided by the blaring tinny music our cassette players and our own raucous singing. Luckily I choose to pass out on a convenient bed rather than join the trip to the other side of the road. I fell into a  peaceful slumber only to be awakened by polite but persistent knocking on the door.  I realized it was morning and got up and opened the door. I was surprised to find Dr.  Dilip Mathai, our Hostel Warden standing there. He smiled and asked me the whereabouts of the host of yesterday’s party.  To which I pleaded ignorance. He muttered something about destruction of a college monument and walked off. Only later did I learn what had transpired last night. There was a Community Health Conference going on in Scudder Auditorium and strung between the necks of the swans at entrance was a banner declaring the Conference motto, “Health for all by 2000 AD. Way back in the 80s, 2000 seemed too far away! Far enough for people to promise the Kingdom of Heaven in 2000 AD. As I later learnt the inebriated gang spotted the banner and coveted it as a decoration for the MHU. Standing under the banner one of them jumped and caught the banner, however the nylon rope stringing it across the swans refused to snap. Immediately the remainder of the gang lent their weight on the banner. The rope didn’t snap but one of the Swan keeled over and collapsed with the combined weight! The guys immediately ran helter skelter but in the general direction of MHU. Just recently I visited Scudder Audi and saw that in order to preempt future such misadventures they have placed poles on either side for stringing banners. 

There was a senior in the third year who was not very popular with his Batch mates. Let’s just describe him as being different. Perhaps because he had spent his earlier years in West Africa.  He was a regular in the MHU gym with an impressive upper body poorly supported by spindly legs. Thus the Mr. Men’s Hostel title eternally evaded him. Another favourite past time of his was playing carroms and he spent  a lot of time in the common room on the  carrom board. He was good at the game and I remember many closely fought Men’s Hostel Tournaments. During a crucial decisive shot in these tournaments the spectors would choose to sneeze explosively, drop a pencil box or laugh loudly to startle him.
One afternoon he was playing carrom with one of his Batch mate who must have weighed close to a 150 kgs. An impressive person, dark, tall, and equally wide. There was a dispute regarding a shot which progressed from a shouting match to shoving and punching. The senior flexed his muscle but was unable to displace 150 kgs.150 kgs merely gave him a hard shove which caused him to lose balance and fall backwards. He then sat on him which immobilized him and compressed the living daylight out of him. It was a real funny sight, seeing him pinned down helplessly.

Our friend however did not learn his lesson, few months later he had another dispute with a final year student again over carroms. And again matters turned ugly, the final yearer was fairly fit himself being a hockey player but didn’t stand much chance against the brawn of the third year so he ran to his room in D block and locked the door. The third yearer was in hot pursuit and then began banging the door challenging him to be a man and come out. We all trailed behind and watched as mute spectators waiting for events to unfold. Then suddenly the door opened and out came the final yearer with an equalizer in his hand, a hockey stick. It is taught in self defense lessons even a stick can tip the balance to your advantage. The hockey stick was already upheld ready to swing and and swing it did in a short arc and connected with the  left parietal region of the head of the third year. And  the door was promptly closed and bolted. The third yearer collapsed and we quickly transported him to CHAD Hospital. He had a lacerated wound on the scalp which required suturing, luckily the skull was intact and no other permanent damages. But he went around swearing vengeance. We did not witness that part of the saga. Perhaps he believed in Don Coleone’s words, “revenge is a dish best served cold.”

But the most memorable was the rumble in the  Bagayam Oval. We had an immediate senior who also spent a lot of time in the Men’s Hostel gym. He loved roaming around the hostel shirtless displaying his torso. He had managed develop a ‘V’ shaped upper body but his muscles lacked definition.

One day we were heading for the SA Hall to study and took the route via the appendix. This senior had a room in appendix ground floor and was standing in front of his room punching a makeshift punching bag. To prevent his knuckles getting abraded with the punching he had got the Men’s Hostel cobbler to make leather straps which would fit around his fingers covering his knuckles. He was pounding the bag shirtless as we passed him. “That____I’m going to thulp him today as soon as he gets off the last bus from college.” He was referring to one of his classmates who was an African national. We asked him what happened? To which he responded “that *%'” :* he insulted me in front of the females” and then he went on to tell us how he got slighted in front of the girls in his class. I felt the provocation was extremely trivial and not something worth  getting ballistic about, but not something you could explain to such an opinionated person. I pondered on staying back and witnessing the action but I decided studying was more important. So I proceeded on to the SA Hall to study.

When I returned at around 10:30pm, curious to know what was the result of altercation I retraced my path via the appendix. His door was open and he was lying on his bed applying an ice pack to his face. I came close to him and saw he had a left black eye and swollen left side of his face. I asked what had happened? To which his reply was, “I gave him as much as I got. And ultimately we declared a truce.” Somehow this explanation didn’t really ring true and I asked around and got this version of the story from eyewitnesses. The last bus reaches Men’s Hostel at 9pm, came around the drive and halted in front of the mess. Our friends was waiting near the mess, shirtless and lightly  punching his left palm with his right strapped fist . As soon as his enemy alighted from the bus he accosted him and said “if you are a man enough come to the Bagayam oval we will settle our differences there in a mano a mano fight.” His opponent was a more mature person. He had escaped civil war in his country and had seen a lot of violence. It was even rumoured that he served in the militia during the Civil War. He reasoned with him that nothing can be settled with violence. He was even willing to apologize for any transgressions he had wittingly or unwittingly committed. But our friend was adamant to settle the score in the Bagayam oval.

I am not much of a gambling man but if I had to put my bet on a side,  then it would definitely be the African.  He was at least half a foot taller and though did not have a bulky frame but he was muscled.

So they trouped down via the gym onto the Bagayam oval along with the spectators in tow. Again the African tried to reason with our friend but instead our friend  swung out without connecting. The African punched him straight on the face and KOed him, draining all the fight in him. He then helped him back on to his feet and helped him stagger back to his room.

On reaching his room friend requested another classmate and neighbour to do a fundoscopy and check for retinal detachment and head injuries. Luckily there were no permanent damages.