BY ARMAGHAN AYUB (1st Year MBBS)
Being Kemcolians, we all must have witnessed
the ultimate beauty of the university and must have relished the charm of being
a Kemcolian. But there's something which has always been undiscussed and would
always have been if it wasn't for today.
When we got admitted here, everyone had
his own definition of difficulty (why I’m only using ‘his’ and not ‘her’,
you’ll know shortly). Some thought it would be the strenuous routine of the
hostel while others thought it would be the burden of the medical studies but
no one knew what it would actually turn out to be.
Not wasting much time, it’s time to reveal
the enigma that is within itself :3
May he be a freshie, a Final year student,
a post graduate or a house jobian, the most difficult thing in everyone’s stay
at KE, I believe, has always been to cross the ‘Chowk’ leading from the Boys
Hostel to the university which due to its unique shape, multidimensionality, heavy
and uneven traffic has been named as ‘The BC Chowk’ by
many :D
many :D
May he be a freshie or an old alumnus, he
has been through the misery of crossing this chowk daily in the morning and every
time one has to go from hostel to the university or vice versa.
Now it's very clear that why I’ve been
using only ‘he’ and not ‘she’ because it is only the males which are destined
for this misery. Well the name given to the chowk itself shows that it could
only be boys :3
This chowk which is formed at the junction of the Napier Road with the Hospital Road and two Links of the McLeod Road is part of every boy’s routine and there's no day one can save himself from the ultimate effort of looking both ways, oh I mean FOUR ways :p
Despite being the most difficult thing
between the hostel and the university and probably the sole hurdle between the
students and success for ‘Yar bas ye na hota tou bhai ki distinction paki thi’
students; there once used to be one good thing too about this enigmatic chowk :
‘The Shortcut Gate’, which used to be a blessing for the burdened students as
it used to save probably 15-20 precious seconds of our morning :D And now that
it's closed for un-announced reasons, it has become the number 1 excuse for the
students late for lectures : ‘Yar bas ye jo gate band huwa hai na, bhai ko isi
ne late karaya hai’. Bhai tou subah 5 baje ke uth kar, namaz parh kar, subah ki
sair kar ke, nashta kar ke, 7 baje se university jane ke liye ready baithay thay jaise . Kher I’m still in
shock that we may have to spend the rest of our stay here without this heavenly
gate.
If this gate is miraculously opened again I may once again not be the one on
whom the door of the Anatomy Lecture Theatre are closed daily 😠But at least we are lucky enough to see
this gate
open and I feel sorry for the coming batches who may never know ‘The feeling’. But yes they can still enjoy the ever-tasty ‘Rairhi Wale Baba Jee’, because,
open and I feel sorry for the coming batches who may never know ‘The feeling’. But yes they can still enjoy the ever-tasty ‘Rairhi Wale Baba Jee’, because,
‘Pehle Pait Pooja Phir Kam
Duja’
(P.S : Yes I’m from Gujranwala xD)
More so, this chowk is the link to literally everything which makes it even more significant and annoying at the same time. Whether you’ve to go to the historic ‘Anarkali’ bazaar or the ‘Camera Market’, the route passes through it. I remember once going to Anarkali and it took me more time to cross this chowk alone than it took me from the hostel to the bazaar itself and probably even back 🙄 Besides, you need so much concentration to cross it that if the students give the studies even half as much concentration, they would probably get distinctions in every subject :3 You have to look both ways after every step you take and every step seems like a big leap forward towards your goal. One wrong move and ‘Game Over’.
Of course I’m not letting the massive
amount of rickshaw drivers go undiscussed who leave no chance to crowd the
already crowded chowk :3 Everytime someone passes by, their mouths drip like
they have seen a ‘botty’ they're going to vanish from existence in a few
seconds. When asked the fare to the university’s main gate,
They, unhesitatingly ask: ‘200’
They: ‘Chalo baith jao’
Like seriously?
And they would align in lines like they are there, waiting
for someone to get hit so they may fire up their rockets and be able to take
him to the hospital.
I Request the
authorities to do something, either have some warden appointed there or traffic
signals installed. And if nothing can be done, at least have a replica of the
chowk in front of the girls’ hostel too (#Achasorry) because this is the only
way to stop them from scoring so much every year 😂
Nevertheless
‘panch saal ham bhi idhar hein aur ye chowk tou hamesha se tha aur hamesha rahe
ga’ so there's no reason to complain. It’s perfect how it is. It’s part of the KemHeritage
and we are now a part of it. We should just be happy that we are fortunate
enough to cross the same chowk to the university which alumni like Dr. Najeeb,
Dr. Asad Aslam and Dr. Younus Butt used to cross 😇 Yes that was sarcasm if you’re still
wondering :D