Campus Cola

At forty-three, Hucky''s life is torn apart. He''s jilted (his young lover doesn''t fancy him anymore), jobless (his boss wants him to take a break and recharge), totally messed up, and is battling the blues. Since nostalgia is therapeutic, he decides to pen a book on his fun-drenched salad days at Defcoms, a Bangalore-based medical college that churns out doctors for the armed forces. He recalls a journey pulsating with adventure, ragging, grueling regimen, romance, road trips rustication, dares, foreigner babes, power politics, drug addiction, gang warfare, academic gloominess, comical events, draconian rules, a Zen master, philosophy, God-consciousness and rebellion. What''s more, the delightful campus romp is energised by an eccentric genius, an avid bettor, two brawny dudes, a war cry shouter, a planner of wild schemes (all part of the ''Maniacs'' gang), and a few mushy lovers who make life unbelievably colourful. Seen through the right prism of seven maverick minds, it''s as psychedelic a journey as the LSD trips Hucky loves. Just when he'' getting numbed again by melancholy, Hucky and Paddy, a nephew he''s shacking up with, drink a death cocktail, meet God, and find their lives racing towards a magical, delightful new beginning.