Presidential Visit
Looks like the college has gotten a facelift since last week. The reason? His Excellency, the President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam is going to be present in the college tomorrow morning for about an hour. I don’t think anybody would have recognized the college had they seen it. Now, we have a helipad where our old cricket ground was, a new pathway to the auditorium instead of the usual roundabout route, sprawling lawns, and a huge entrance arch. The entire stretch of cement blocks outlining the greenery were painted white. One section of road was even relayed for the armoured car, which is rumoured to be weighing about 2 tons. The entire motorcade comprises of something like 25-30 cars.
The security for the president is unbelievable. There are at least a hundred cops all over the college, and for all we know, they’ll have snipers as well from the rooftops of the hostels. The president will arrive by helicopter tomorrow morning about 10 o’ clock. He will then come to the auditorium by car (or rather by the motorcade). The function will begin about 10.15 and should go on till 11.15-11.30. He will then leave for Kalpakkam, I think. For the visit, a select few of us have been assigned security passes which we have to show tomorrow along with our college ID card, otherwise we will not be allowed inside the auditorium, probably not even inside the college.
However, we still have a problem tomorrow. One, because of the security, the canteen will not function tomorrow. So we have to eat breakfast and come. Two, the buses will not enter the campus but will be parked outside. Three, for all we know, they will not provide lunch, but will provide some snacks. We have to make our own arrangements for food. Too much security is bad for us. But I guess I can mooch something from the hostel mess.