SASTRA - Surely a place to be!

(A post which should have come a few years ago; left it here.
Counselling season will being soon - thought you guys might use this for reference!
"Social Service! Enjoy! Apologies for chronological errors. Rewind two years and read!)

The name says it all! I went to SASTRA University this year for the Colosseum'11 and I got to say 'Sastra rocks!' Being a student of SRM, we are so used to stuff like Fast foods, EMOs, Java Greens, freedom among other more obvious stuff. But Sastra is completely different. Being a Tamilian myself, I have longed to see 'tamil people' and eat 'tamil food' for a really long time now. Chennai DOES NOT represent Tamil Nadu these days. I hope many friends will agree with this view! Coming to the main thing, what makes Sastra tick?

Above everything, the KRISHNA Canteen rocks!

This is it!

When you order idli or dosa, you get a real idli or dosa, compared to all the tasteless ones you get back home in Java greens and food courts! The sambhar has no odour at all in Chennai. In Krishna Canteen, you get a really pleasant-smelling sambhar for all the dosas and idlis! :D I tried 'Pongal' also in one of the mornings! அதுவும் நன்றாகவே இருந்தது! The canteen has a wonderful juice counter inside. Everything is good there. The best thing about this canteen is that it represents Tamil Nadu as such! And I have never seen any canteen in a 'good' college do that!

Inside 'The Canteen'!

There is an eatery called 'Canopy' that is right next to Krishna canteen. But whenever I crossed it, there was no one there and hence I was not motivated to go inside at all! And wisely so :)

"I am not recommending Canopy - a good place always has population!"

This is where we stayed!

As far as the grounds are concerned, there were no problems at all for the Cricket and other outdoor events. Everything was wonderfully organised and more importantly, we could watch the matches without walking a lot of distance. This is precisely what we missed in a place like, say, IIT Kanpur, where everything is so far and away! Also, there is always a huge audience for every event - be it Volleyball or Basketball or Cricket. I think I even saw a professor playing in an event (I think his name is Swami and he played Basketball for the home team)

Cricket Ground

For our event, Chess, we got an AC hall to play. Unfortunately when the inauguration started, AC did not work and it became a non AC hall! "என்ன வாழ்க்க டா இது! எவ்வளவோ ஹால் இருந்தும் இங்க வந்து ஏன் மாட்டினோம்?" Anyway, we won the event for the first time. Finally, for once, we managed to defeat SSN in SASTRA, but I am in final year now! :D

Being a grown up fourth year student has its advantages. We get to know a lot. About this college however, I heard creepy stuff. Hostelers have a brown tag for their ID cards and others (day-scholars) have blue tag it seems. Hostel people (I got this news from a girl so I am not so sure about boys) can go to their homes only twice during a semester, that too, their parents should 'fax' the college! What a shame this!

"And they say we are free after the age of 18 and INDIA is independent!"

And if the student is not able to return on time during the first 'permission' the second permission is cancelled. (!#@!#@#!!!!) And many other stuff!

All in all, I can well say that SASTRA is really cool for a 'Colosseum' but I will never study there as a hosteler! Day-scholar? May be! I can recommend that! :)

It's a wonderful campus! You can have my word for it!

HITS:

1) Nice playgrounds

2) Good Canteens

3) For boys: Yeah you can study here ( :P )

4) For girls' parents: This is a very strict college, you can send your wards here! Fully safe!

5) It's so good when it rains here!

6) Mess food is good, compared to other few good colleges!

View from The Chess Hall corridor

MISSES:

1) Not many holidays and 'OPEN' holidays! (OPEN holidays anyone can leave the campus, not a problem. Holidays are different from OPEN holidays)

2) STRICT!

3) In summers, walking inside the campus can get really tough!

4) Try as much as possible to be a day-scholar. Hostel life can get monotonous!

Until next time,

Keep Smiling!

ak :)