AN UNAPPRECIATED ENIGMA

BY ARMAGHAN AYUB (1^st 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

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

I literally have a near miss with bikes, rickshaws, ‘khota rairis’ and all sorts of traffic every time I cross this chowk (along with the unasked for comments of the drivers : ‘Bhaiya dekh kar nahi chal sakte?’) and this makes a near miss twice or thrice a day and there are 365 days in a year and 1826 days in five so if we calculate the probability of being actually hit by something, it turns out to be quite high 😂 And I can't understand why there can’t be street lights there or any warden be assigned there. This has always been and will always be an enigma.

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,

                    ‘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’

We : ‘Bhai 40 mein le jao’

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