Shekhar....... Daroga Shekhar

I don’t think anyone except my batchmates in Patel Hall of Residence, IIT Kharapur knows why I am called Daroga. Many have asked me and its time now to oblige. But before I begin, let me caution you…. If you read the content below hoping for a mystery a la The Bermuda Triangle to be revealed, you will certainly be very disappointed. So my advice is… read it… just read it…. without any kind of expectation whatsoever.
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20^th July, 2004
I entered Patel Hall of Residence at the beginning of my 2^nd year. ‘I was terrified’ would be an understatement ‘coz Patel Hall is the most notorious and therefore infamous Hall in Kharagpur. Any Kgpian would testify that. After the initial week of peace as in calm before the storm, all the 2^nd years were subjected to what is called ‘Orientation Programme’ (the Kgp lingo for you-know-what). I am not going to divulge the details here…. you people are smart enough.

So as part of the ‘OP’… we had to play footer in the evening. The whole batch was divided into two and 7-8 players were selected to play. The rest cheered for their team… and bullied the opponents and their supporters… all verbally. And the seniors would watch the fun from the 1st n 2^nd floors, occasionally pouring buckets of water on the supporters to enhance the fun.
It was one of those evenings. I was happily (?) cheering my team when one of the seniors asked one of us to ‘invade’ into the other camp.

“Kaun Jaayega??” (Who will go?)
We all looked up and my eyes met with his.
“Tu jaa. Abe... isko ghusne mat dena” (You go. Don’t allow him inside)
So I went. I mean… I had to. After few seconds of hustle and bustle, I decided to use gravity to my use. However strong a guy might be… if you let ** kgs of weight on him just like that…. he will fumble. I did just that…. the weight was my own. The 4-5 guys in the front fumbled and I was in………victorious.

“Bahut sahi. Ab udhar se.” (Very good. Now from that side)

The poor guy from the other side failed.
After the match we were all lined up. That senior asked me to pull down the shorts of any one of my batchmates !!! Again …. I had to. I looked around for a guy who would not thrash me up later… and I found one. With great hope that he had an extra layer of protection on, I closed my eyes and…………….

“Sorry yaar” (in whispering mode)

“Abe bahut sahi. Tu aaj ka champion hai. Aaj se tera naam Daroga.” ( Excellent. You are today’s champion. From today your name is Daroga.)The name stuck….just like that.
Today I am known as Daroga in Kharagpur. It feels strange if someone calls me Adarsh in my Hall. (Abe… naam nahin pata kya) (Don’t you know my name)
So that’s it. This is how Daroga captured Adarsh.

P.S. ---- For all those who don’t know…. Daroga means Inspector.