KOZHIKODE: Group selfies and lively student chatter brought the buzz back to the college campuses, which reopened after a gap of over one-and-a-half years on Monday, as students expressed their excitement of meeting their friends after the long suffocating pandemic-induced break.
At the Malabar Christian College, final year BA Malayalam students Ardra K, Rinsha M M and two of their classmates took a selfie beneath the trees to mark their return to campus life and meeting each other in person. “We have all been waiting for this day and are glad that at least we could salvage the final year of our campus life. Virtual chat rooms and meetings can never match the warmth and feel of the one to one conversations that we are having now after a long break,” Ardra said.
Small groups of students were seen gathering in corridors during the class break with giggles and chit chats even though students were seen adhering to Covid appropriate behaviour.
Many students were coming back to the campuses for the first time after March 2020, when the pandemic shuttered the campuses, except for attending exams. However, some were concerned of travelling daily in crowded public buses to reach the campuses.
“We are very happy about being back on the campus. When the pandemic struck, we were in our second semester, and now we are in our fifth semester. Sadly, the pandemic took away more than half of our campus life. The campus will take time to get back to its full vigour as the number of students is less. But still, it is a welcome relief,” said Thasreef EP, a fifth-semester student.
College authorities had split students in one class into two batches and have scheduled classes for each batch on alternative days to ensure social distancing.
Malabar Christian College principal Godwin Samraj said that only students who had taken at least one dose were granted entry to the campus, and as of now, around 95% of the students have taken the first dose. “We had formed a Jagratha Samithi to ensure that Covid guidelines are adhered to, and students have been provided a copy of the guidelines,” he said, adding that both students and teachers were upbeat on the commencement of offline classes after a long gap.
