Those Benches beautifully drenched, shelter to all our coffee-tea laughs🍃

I could still picture myself sitting on one of those benches beneath that vibrantly green Mulberry tree, sipping my coffee that is either bought from the canteen or the Nescafe outlet nearby (though the Nescafe outlet doesn't taste like Nescafe anymore). It is one of those perfect spots in the campus to sit for a while, sip your coffee and enjoy the surroundings, as it lets you stay away from all the university hustles but still be a part of all that like a lone muser observing everything from a cranky corner. Every other minute, a passer-by would stop at you, a friend or an acquaintance, wave or greet as they rush to the academic block, mess or to nowhere (those people always seemed to be in a hurry which is yet a mystery to me, who lived in the mundane, nothing much to do- days of a university life). 

It was mostly in the evenings that the place got crowded, otherwise the benches remained deserted as if they were totally reserved for me, my coffee or for my tea-coffee talks with my friends. Can one count on the infinite number of topics that have been talked over and over again there?, from the oily bread pakoras of the tuck shop to anything in the universe and back again to our ordinary random matters. 

Sometimes, someone unexpected would turn in with a coffee and sit beside me, we would talk and then the conversation would go on for hours and to walks around the campus later, and that's how the place gave me some unintended yet beautiful friendships. 

There are umpteen numbers of Mulberry trees in the campus, around the end of spring or towards the early days of summer, the Mulberry season arrives and fills the campus with plenty of mulberries, no matter how much you eat, still there would be plenty. And this Mulberry tree turned out to be my favourite, not only because it gave me such a subtle, serene place to spent most of my days, but also because it's fruits are only for the birds or the squirrels or other little living things, the fruits stood tall and high that you could see these little creatures taking over the place then. Tiny little squirrels wandering here and there around the benches and the tree, the endless chirping of the birds, that all together I, myself felt as an intruder at times and that was oddly beautiful too. 

I have seen laughters, people passing and gathering around in groups, arms over shoulders and making fun of each other. Tense faces, hurry faces, lost faces, people who walk towards the gate pulling hard on their luggage on a friday evening, people who walk around and over the campus, hugs, in-gang celebrations, people who walk aimlessly deep in thoughts. Faces, all those have become familiar faces to me that came and left as I took each sip of my coffee.

This Mulberry tree, the benches beneath its shade, the tiny squirrels and birds wandering around, the pieces of sky I could see through the branches, the passer-by faces, I add all these to a favourite chapter of my university life named "shelter to my tea-coffee laughs". And I could still picture myself, going back to campus, sitting on one of those benches, wearing an early winter sweater, taking a sip from my hot coffee, enjoying the weather, getting lost in those surroundings and all the hustles around.🌸