It was the time of Antaragni in IIT Kanpur. The campus was unusually noisy
and full of beauties when I happened to see one incident which seems to come
straight from facebook funny videos. Two girls were walking down the campus
roads when someone on a bicycle stopped by and "Boom!" For a second
all curls of the girl were in air and I wondered how do they manage it, the
other moment a scream turned me to the man on bicycle who had sort of spanked
her head and run off! In the campus, I came to know about someone names Ashyup,
a man you must be terrified from, a man we had heard of only in stories, a man
who does not exist.
21 years ago there was a tree in the campus, a tree with long curls. It is
said to be a banyan tree. Reportedly a student in lack of company and companion
made friends with the tree. Souring relationships with academics, lab
experiments and Professors forced Ashyup to turn to the curly tree and share
his plight with it. Later he fell in love with its curls and treated it as his
gal. As with any tragic story this one was also not going to last. The romance
of Ashyup was shaken the day he found that a new hostel was to be built on the
site and the tree would be cut. Curly Tree had only few days left and Ashyup
gave all of his time to her (Her!...yes the relationship had become pretty
serious in last two months.) He would swing with her curls, narrate tales and tell
her how it would be okay and all.
The judgment day of the Curly arrived and it was being cut from the bottom.
Ashyup could see it no more. He ran and took the tree in his arms. The
construction workers tried to console him then request him then forced him to
leave but he didn't. So they decided to continue cutting the tree while it was
in Ashyup’s arms...and suddenly, THUD!!! The tree with all its curls swinging
in the sky fell on the ground. Every worker around ran towards the site to look
for Ashyup but he was nowhere to be found. With the life of curly Ashyup had
disappeared too.
Many theories have been proposed since about what happened but the most
accepted theory is that in the last moments of Curly, Ashyup became one with
her and disappeared with her soul. Later on that site GH2(Girls Hostel 2) was
built up and ever since curls of the girls is being swung by Ashyup every now
and then.
Some say that Ashyup does not like the curls of the new girls at all and so
he comes to make fun of them. Others say that Ashyup comes to remind the world
of Curly's curls who had to sacrifice her life for GH2. Anyways to honour the
martyr Ashyup was and his love for Kesh (Hair or curls) he was later
rechristened to Keshyup (Kesh-up).
Hope everyone in IIT K would let their curls free once in a while to honour
the man.
Up, up Keshyup!
