It was the last exam of my sixth semester – Shakespeare – that would spell closure of my Undergraduate programme at my dear Madras Christian College, a college unique in every sense. My sister Christine (a student of Zoology) and I, reached our Pallavaram station which we had come to love in the course of the three years we were commuting to MCC from the St. Bridget’s Hostel, when to our dismay, we discovered the station overflowing with an ocean of folks who were forced to detrain there as there were six, yes, six suburban electric trains (that’s what we were told), one behind the other on the same track. Must’ve been much more than one hell of a glitch I must say! 

 The sea of students, mostly MCC bound, anxious yet thinking on their toes, decided to avail of the roadways service. Now tell me which bus would/could stop in the face of such a deluge of girls and boys when the buses themselves were already bursting at their seams! A few friends barely managed to get a toe-hold on the footboard, but there was still a surging sea of us struggling to flag down passing vehicles, but to no avail. Some of us went to the police station nearby asking for help and a policeman came along to aid us in our efforts to reach college. Remember, we had an exam to take, and by the looks of it, were already late, and still nowhere near Tambaram! I’m sure dear God was so rattled by all the Prayers going up to Him, that, at long last, a lowly lorry lumbered into sight (ever heard of the God of the eleventh hour).

That was it. We MCCians formed a human chain (this was in the early 1980s) across the road bringing the lorry to a halt. And, would you believe it if I told you that it was empty too! Our boys apprised the dear driver (God bless him) of the circumstances and he readily agreed to give as many of us a lift in his lorry. While some of the boys climbed up, others stood on the road, and together, these dear boys helped the girls carefully climb into the lorry. Even as I recall this unforgettable moment (typing this nugget even as I am travelling to Chennai by Vande Bharat on the 26th of August 2026) in my life – hitching a ride on a cargo lorry on the Grand Southern Trunk Road that runs parallel to the railway line, I cannot but salute with gratitude, my dear MCC for the immeasurable values it imbued in each of us, young minds. That our MCC boys were gentlemen was non-negotiable. Little wonder then, they were (and I’m hoping still are) regarded by all as the “Gentlemen of MCC”. 

When all of us had piled in – thankfully, other vehicles too, by then had followed suit in giving other students a lift – we were, what you could call, “a lorry load of lads and lasses” now well on our way to college. Once inside the ever-loving embrace of our evergreen environs that was the Madras Christian College, we were greeted by our beloved professors who at once put us at ease, thus allaying our fears of being late. The college had received information about the situation and at once took the decision to defer the exam by a few hours. What a relief! And what “Understanding” on the part of the College! 

 My journey, which began in absolute chaos that day on the back of a cargo lorry on a hot April morning in the 1982 and culminated in my Doctoral Degree years later, is a love letter to a Golden era of higher education. MCCians then and now are sure blessed with mentors who know that true education isn’t about filling a bucket, but rather, lighting a fire. By treating us students with deep respect, my dear Teachers taught us something far beyond books – they taught us how to navigate life with grace … and how, but through their own lives! It is with great pride and joy that I say, “I was part of MCC; now MCC is part of me.”