Recollections of Life - Engineering (Part 5)

SE Sem 2!!..it was going to be a tough one (MIT, DS, M-3 being the culprits!!). But well, eventually i realized that it was waaaaaaaaay more than tough!!...

I had started bunking more and my teachers knew me as 'The guy who never attends after the break!'. They also knew me by name. Major disappointment!!

Heres a tip : IF YOU WANT TO MAINTAIN A LOW PROFILE, MAKE SURE NO ONE KNOWS YOUR NAME...NO ONE!!

So getting on, i had friends who helped me out in 'THEIR' traumatic times...hehehe...(its not a typo!!). They helped me with my print-outs, notes and assignments. It was great to have them
around and im forever indebted to them.

This semester also made me realize that i was crazy about music. As in i was hooked on to it. Studying for long hours at a stretch would not have been possible without music. I would listen to really really loud music. So much so, that one day one of our neighbors, from the other building, came out wielding a BROOM and threatened me to reduce the volume (obviously i had to..what with the broom being brandished in front of me!!). But, as soon as she went in, i increased the volume again. She still thinks im one of those useless people who never listen (it might be true though).

Getting back to college. I had never witnessed such a flurry of activities. Abhivyakti, IntechXication, Inter-Dept Sports, Inter-College Sports...the list was endless. I was spell-bound!! But i was busy studying the never-ending IIT syllabus which resulted in my missing all these activities. I felt bad...but it was a choice i had to make.

But due to all the events, the college premises looked more like the venue for some concert...students and teachers thronged to the college (from various colleges), there were people all around. It was superb. It was a spectacle that i was to witness every year for the next 2 years.

But after all the festivities ended, we were reminded that we were supposed to pass the exams too, and not just fool around..Damn these exams!! The first step was the submissions. I copied everything from various sources and was the last to submit the files. One teacher was so shocked at the dismal quality of my work she made me tell her why im "not interested in doing anything properly in life!!!". So, i told her that i was going to appear for the IIT exam and thats why i dont have much time. The look on her face was amazing. First, she rolled her eyes, they became wide, and her mouth opened. I thought she was impressed. Instead, she says "Veda aahes ka tu?" (Are you mad?). Then it was my turn to be shocked.

The same thing happened with all the professors and one by one they scolded the living daylights out of me. Not a nice thing to happen 1 month before the JEE Mains. Anyway, in one such ncident, one prof said "Whats the difference between MIT and IIT!??...Just replace the 'M' with an 'I' !!". I was more shocked than ever and started laughing there itself.

Then exams came and went (badly as usual) and SE was over (finally!!). I was anxious for my Mains results and the SE results (both were bad) and more importantly, i had managed to step into the penultimate year (hopefully) of my engineering...with some subjects pending but nonetheless!!

- to be continued...

Recollections of Life - Engineering (Part 4)

Hi guys...writing after a long time...so here goes...

2nd year (SE) was an anticlimax from FE, for me. I had this idea that i should appear for the JEE again. Some thought that it was a weird idea but my friends and family were very supportive and after a lot of hard work and sincere efforts i flunked. But i did clear the screening exam and missed a rank in the mains by 1 mark!! Yeah, it was terrible to accept it. IIT was a dream, which had been crushed. But life goes on. And more importantly im here to tell you guys what happened in SE...

SE started on a great note. I got my friend kicked out of class for 2 lectures on the trot. I imitated my professor and he started laughing and was thrown out. But, that started a trend that continues till date. I still make fun of profs, imitate them and try and get people kicked out of class; the only difference being that there are about 5-6 people more who are my partners in this crime!

I always thought that though i have got into Computer Engg, i'll be in a room full of geeks, save a few of them whom i knew. But, it was supposed to be the worst judgement of my life. I was in a class full of people like me..everyone loved to fool around. I got to know new people in the first couple of days (and my belief in my ability to remember names returned). But soon, i realized the reason for my confidence. I got to know people like so...

Ashwin - really intelligent
Akshad - really intelligent
Paris - really intelligent
Jay - really really intelligent...

I had managed to fuse everyone together and condense them into one person. So i thought they were all the same anyway! But they were and still are all very different...

I dont remember much about SE 1st sem (I'm blessed with a horrible memory. I can't much besides names and numbers) except the all important STRIKE against the fee-hike, which started in our college and sent ripples through all engg colleges in the city! I was a passive participant. I never came to college, but fully supported the people who helped in keeping the college closed for a week or so. God bless them all!!

But about SE, I do remember some teacher shouting "AREY LIKHOOOO NA" (Write it!!) incessantly, meeting a guy with a girls name (HE is now one of my closest friends), looking at people staring at a really good looking teacher who taught us only for a week, getting to know new friends, last minute submissions, copying the notes, print-out that took ages, printers that were as old as (or older than) my grandmother, the ratio of printers to students being close to 1:18237482136 etc etc. And to my credit, the more important things (read : REMEMBER-ABLE THINGS) took place in the 2nd semester.

- to be continued...

Recollections of Life - Engineering (Part 3)

Continuing our tradition of harassing the teachers and making fun of them, we were heralded into the 2nd semester. The first day was, as usual, a laughter riot!! One of our teachers came in and said "Hello..im Mr. Rajan!!" and we collapsed. I made a comment about her having a gender-identification problem which she heard partially. She threatened to kick me out of the class if i did not stop laughing. But the worst part was that even when she was scolding me, i was smiling and trying my level best, not to laugh. That was a bad experience. But little did i know, the worse was yet to come..in the later years!

'Result time' approached and every day we heard rumors about the results being declared. Everyone was shitting bricks! People were really scared. Our first results!! And our seniors had already traumatized us by saying that the results are never good. Many of my friends lost their nails, owing to the constant chewing!! I tried to think what would happen if people start chewing others' nails ..hahaha ...would that be a sight!!

I remember the day of the results vividly. We were attending a maths lecture when one guy came and shouted "Results mil gaye!!" (The results are out) and without sparing a thought for the teacher, all of us left and the poor teacher was left standing alone in the class. After that it was assumed by one and all that the remaining lectures need not be conducted!

Some students came out smiling, some weeping, some totally devoid of any emotion and a few of them came out leaping and screaming that they had flunked only in 1 or 2 or 3 subjects. I got my marksheet and saw the marks. I expected my percentage to be mentioned...but there were numbers scribbled on it. Due to a total lack of skills required to calculate my marks (skills required = Maths!), i was blank and had no expression on my face!! I asked my friends to calculate my marks and got to know that i had done reasonably well. I was happy. The day ended in Pizza Hut with all of us fooling around and celebrating. Everyone had done well.

Second sem was to see many more incidents like that one i described earlier. This time too, it would be Ankit initiating the riot of laughter. We were on our way back to the classroom after eating a little more than was required. We were pretty late and wanted to reach as soon as possible. There were a lot of people on the stairs. Ankit decided that it was up to him to make way. There was a girl in front of us who refused to move. She was definitely going to be Ankit's victim, i thought. And she was. As soon as we approached her, she turned around. And Ankit being what he is, loudly burped, right in her face! The look on the girls face was prize winning. She shrieked "Eeeeeeek...YUCK!!" and moved away...making way for the kings...as Ankit put it. And we, the kings (of the empire of 'Belch'istan) went up the stairs laughing and guffawing. I have never been involved in any incident like that ever since. But, these incidents made engineering what it was, as Barney in 'How I Met Your Mother' would have said "Legendary!!"

The sem passed by in 2 months, the shortest FE 2nd term till date and it was exam time. Our routines changed from doing tomfoolery all day long to studying throughout the day (and night). It was time for all of us to slog our butts off which would prevent us from being in FE again. After a gruelling sequence of exams, thanks to the likes (or dislikes) of M-2, App-Mech, Graphics, Elex and App-Sci 2, i did not know if i'll clear or not. But nonetheless, the exams being a thing of the past, all of us started meeting again and fooling around even more. But we knew that after FE, all of us would be in different streams and classes and meeting each other would be infrequent.

The end of FE gave rise to ambivalent feelings in me...Happiness for stepping into the world of Computer Engineering and sadness for knowing that i wont be able to meet all my friends from FE as frequently. So, with a heavy heart i stepped into Second Year, not knowing that i would find friends who would change my life forever. But still, i maintain, 'FE IV Rocks!!' And on a more general note 'FE Rocks!!'

to be continued...

Recollections of Life - Engineering (Part 2)

Hello everyone...im back!!...after a short break of 2 days!

Back to engineering..FE started in all earnest with everyone of us trying to be as sincere as we could portray ourselves to be! The time span of our sincerity was analogous to the life span of a fruit fly (just for your information..its not too long!!).

So there i was, in a class full of people who came up with astronomical figures when asked how much they had scored in 12th. I seemed to be one of the few people who were lucky enough to get in. I got in on the basis of sheer luck (god bless the people who decided to conduct the 3rd round of admissions!!). The class seemed to be a perfect blend of students from all over India. There were people from Nagaland (Hi James..where the hell are you??), Delhi, Kerela, TN, Gujrat etc etc. It was going to be awesome.

The first person i met was a guy called Ankit, who is one of the most enigmatic people to have around. He comes up with the worst jokes ever cracked in the history of mankind and is great to be with to discuss all your problems. He was in my batch. I thought that atleast i wont get bored!! :)

Then there were Pranay, Kedar, Ajay, Ashish, Gaurav, Kunal, Pranil etc etc. Initially, there were small groups in the class. But then came the turning point. The inter FE cricket match. No one knew about it. Our class apparently formed a team on their own and the lost the first match. When we all got to know about it, we told ppl to have selections (which were held at 7:30 am!!!..WHO THE HELL WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT??) Anyway, the new team, comprising of people from the earlier team and a few new ones like Ankit, Kedar and me represented FE IV!! But after the matches our class really gelled together and from then on there was only one huuuuuuge group.

We all were always looking to trouble our teachers and took every oppurtunity to make them look like fools. We also got scolded a lot for that, but that was a price we were willing to pay! But all in all, it was great fun to trouble innocent profs who thought that they knew how mean and notorious we were...but they were wrong..as usual !!....

There were some incidents that i can never forget. I was going to the canteen with Ankit and there was a girl coming down from the canteen on her Scooty. She seemed to be a learner and both of us were quick to spot it. But Ankit was the first to react. He said "Just see this..." and with that he went and stood right in the middle of the road. Now, the road is pretty steep and the girl was coming downhill. With an idiot standing right in the middle of the road and laughing, she could not do much but keep honking. Ankit did not budge. She swerved off the road in an attempt to avoid him but in doing so managed to avoid the road itself entirely. The next instant we saw her on the ground, hands and legs flailing and muttering curses at Ankit while he stood there laughing and pointing fingers. It was hilarious. That was the first time i felt...IM GOING TO DIE LAUGHING!!

to be continued...

Recollections of Life - Engineering (Part 1)

Hi there readers...good to see that at least some people are reading my blog!!...that too without my telling them...hehehe...keep it up!!

Anyway, back to my recollections...the next ones are about my stint with engineering. After my 12th boards and an agonisingly long wait of 7 months, our college, MIT Pune, started on the 17th of Sept. 2003!!...For me, it started with a bang...literally. My bike (i had a Scooty back then) helped me a lot in creating the bang!! As i was going to college, a nail went straight through the front tyre, causing a really loud bang! Thats how my engineering started with a bang. After half an hour of waiting i finally reached college...just in time for the Principals address (i realized after the whole thing was over that it was called 'PRINCIPAL's ADDRESS' but everyone else spoke waaaay more than what the principal said).

Looking around, i saw quite a few familiar faces..but that was the problem. I only remembered their faces and not their names. I had always been proud of the fact that i don't forget names and faces, but that confidence had obviously left me when i needed it the most. It was scary. I went through a series of visions in which people came up to me and said "Hi, how are you?? Long time..." and then the most dreaded of all statements "Remember me!!??"...and then my face became red with embarrassment. But nothing of the sort happened...thankfully.

The first day was nothing great...some boring speeches, some prof saying "...the mighty MIT....", something being said about some 'WHALE IN THE OCEAN OF STUDENTS...' (or something like that...clearly i was not paying attention!!...but there was some whale somewhere...)

Then, college began in all earnest the next day. Finding my roll number in a list that spanned the whole blackboard and one more was a challenge. I thought "Is this the challenge they were talking about in the inaugural speech??"...but i was assigned to FE IV...nothing of any significance then. But when i went in the class, i saw 3-4 friends of mine. I was happy to meet them (and to remember their names). That day onwards began a journey that i'll never be able to forget.

Some people have a knack to be comedians, some to be leaders, some to be great at studies, some to make friends instantly. I had none of them. And no one in our class had all these qualities. But, together our class was great. We had our share of jesters, the goons, the reticent studious ones, the comment-passers etc etc. One thing we lacked was our share of girls. There were about 4 girls in our class...and 70 boys!!...it was going to be tough for the poor girls. 1:17.5 is hardly a ratio to be comfortable with. And more than the girls, it was going to be tough for us...and boy was it tough!!...

To be continued in the next blog...