Fifty years has gone by since Kasturba Medical College admitted its first batch of students.The progress and changes have been significant.
The majority of us who attended the Golden Jubilee celebrations in December (18-21st Dec 2003) can only speak for the transformation that was evident ,from our tenure as students ,15 to 20 years ago.Changes are aplenty. The outcropping of various buildings ,be it administrative blocks,hostels or new hospital wings housing a myriad of specialties and research facilities.The once dusty Tiger circle is now a bustling confluence of wide carriageways filled with the latest in motor vehicles be it two or four wheelers.Cafes and trendy restaurants and hotels have replaced shanty breakfast joints and the ubiquitous coffee carts.
Visiting Manipal would not have been complete without checking out some old haunts like Iceland with Mr.Kini still at the helm.He still welcomes most if not all by names and treated each who visited him to a complimentary meal.Remember the poori bhaji and buns,well they still taste the same.For all you nocturnal revelers ,Bacchus is alive and well. So is Hotel Usha in Udupi with its butter chicken that will stain your fingers red and fish ‘naked fry’.Yes, there are many more shops,food outlets and hotels ,both in Manipal and Udupi but the evergreen favourites still exist.
Similarly inspite the extensive growth in the Campus ,you can actually imagine the KMC that we knew as students.The old buildings stand strong and remain repositories of all those memories that we left behind.
As I leave ,I try not to look back but in my mind replay the images of old mingled with all the new ones that I had been able to record on this visit.
It’s a further 7 years after this article and there has been even more tremendous changes in Manipal. Most of the old haunts mentioned still exist, some have taken new names under new managements. Nostalgia anyone!!
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