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WHAT is the one superpower you would like to have when you are in the mid-30s and pretty much bored with life? I suggest going back in time warp and to relive the super-fun college days. Campus Cola takes you down the memory lane and helps you relive the most adventurous and carefree days of your life. It reminds you of the mischief and pranks that were an integral part of your being.
The novel brings out the contrast between the six Maniacs who drink, smoke pot and form the majority and the happening crowd and the seventh member of the group Rammy, a highly intellectual teetotaller who is in pursuit of higher purposes of life, and the Zeno philosophy leads him to that path. Hucky hero-worships and fits somewhere in between; he likes to have fun in the "normal" way, but is committed to his ladylove. He drinks often, but also ponders over the existential truth of life. The solidarity of the group can be adjudged by the frequent trips, standing by each other in rough times, "joints" sessions and group studies. It’s a story of friendship, trust and individual choices. Here friendship reigns supreme, but can they maintain the status quo through their individual goals and expectations from life? This is the story of coming of age of maniacs; their joys and merriment; trials and tribulations in the face of studies; and expectations of parents and society. The novel brings forward various youth-related issues like drugs, suicides and the sorry state of education in our country. Though a humorous novel, the author has held a mirror to the young generation, who not only gets high on drugs and liquor but can also vandalise a theatre protesting against blackmarketing of tickets and can go on strike against draconian rules soon to be implemented by the new Dean " who carried DNA that had percolated from illustrious ancestors like Hitler and Mussolini" to enforce the discipline of the armed forces. The novel may not strike one as a literary genius, but offers one a funny, light-hearted read. It reminisces about the "fun" beings that we were in college and brings peals of laughter through incidences like befooling the staff of a five-star hotel for free lavish dinner and entering a graveyard at midnight for proving one’s guts. At times, the author tries too hard to infuse laughter. "No book is ever complete without physical description of the main characters; and since you hate investing time and money in incomplete books, here goes... ." The notes about the slangs used take the fun out of using them in the first place. The merit of the book lies in recreating the magic of youth and love. It falters in between during the philosophical discussions. Taking a cue from Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone, the book is also called "what you should never do in a medical college". You may not boast about having this book in your possession, but you would be lying if you say that it did not make you laugh. Read on for a crazy, light-hearted, joyous ride.
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The narrator Hucky
reconstructs his college days at Defcoms, a medical college for armed
forces in Bangalore. He bonds with six more guys and they christen their
group "Maniacs" after many brainstorming sessions. They revel
in breaking rules and owning up to them. When nothing else works, they
bring Rammy, the persuasive and "brain" of the group, to talk
their way out of any blunder. Hucky says, "His (Rammy’s) words
usually had a cryogenic freezing effect on his audience, irrespective of
whether he was making any sense at all."