Journey towards n thro the first yr of Independence .... Engg first yr......

well i always wanted to be an engineer, no reasons behind it, just cos every tom dick n harry in the town was huntin for an engineerin seat.... well to be honest, i wanted to work in computers from as early as class 4 (just cos i heard somewhere tht it pays u a lot of money and you can happily sit in an AC room).... n was really good in C++ programmin in 11th n 12th.... so i was inclined towards computer science.... the harder bit comes now...

i was very gud in maths and computer science in school, i was totally the opposite in physics and chemistry... hence physics n chemistry acted like the iceberg for my titanic... i hardly passed in those subjects and the only marks tht are counted for an engg seat are physics, chemistry n maths... cudnt score much in the pre engineerin test as well... so i was all set for a Bcom course... had infact bought forms from a local coll as well for Bcom... then one day dad suggested tht we can try thro a friend for a management seat in karunya, coimbatore.... i had been to kaunya b4 as a tourist and liked tht place.... so i said okay... n soon we were in the Jesus Calls office in Chennai sitting opposite to two guy who were allocating departments (one of them was dad's friend)... he asked me which department i wanted, without hesitation i said computer science... he saw my marks and said tht for my marks i wud have to pay 3 lakhs for a computer science seat as it was sellin like hot cakes in 2000... i knew dad couldnt have afforded that much, but still he said tht he will try to get some money from somewhere if i m really interested... i thought for a sec, my marks reflected to those of a looser and i perhaps was low in confidence to confidently say yes to my dad... with a deep sigh, i could see my long time dream slippin from my hands... n finally with a heavy heart i said no... i was also told tht i wont b given a free seat... so my min expenses for a yr wud b a lakh includin everythin... i had no other option and dad was willin to pay tht amt... the only positives i had in my marksheet was that I had fantastic marks in maths and i was from CBSE schoolin background... CBSE students r considered to be sharper than state board students... n my dad's friend finally gave me 2 options.... either electrical & electronics or mechanical... now, never ever in my life can understand these electrical circuits... i dont understand the logic y always current flows from positive to negatove when the electrons flow in the opposite direction... see the base itself wasnt clear, so there was no point in building a career over a week base... also i liked mechanics in my school days... so i finally opted for mechanical...

i was very happy and i promised my parents tht i will do my best and wont let their go waste... so here i was with an engineerin seat, b4 even the counselling started for a lot of my friends who had loads n loads of marks in their marksheet... God was gracious... he was the one who saved me... it was a long wait and finally my date of joinin came as the 21st of august.. .parents helped me in doin a lot of shoppin... n dad came to drop me in college, mum couldnt make it... I left home on the 19th of August '00 and prob tht was the last day in my home, after tht day i was just a visitor....

we reached coimbatore on the 21st and headed straight to karunya, got refreshed at the guest house and headed straight for registration... we were very hungry, so had our lunch, must tell u the lunch was fabulous (this is the way colleges impress parents, by servin them fabulous food when they come to college, but usually 95% of the times Karunya food was good, just used to hate those sticky idlis)... nyways we finiched our lunch and headed towards the registration desks... n there she was!!!!!

call it love at first sight or lust at first sight (she always said tht it was lust, tho i believed it was love), she was simply fabulous... nyways, i consciously tried to control myself... i told myself again tht i m not goin behind any girl in college, i have come here to study and parents are spendin a lot of money for me here... so i m no more goin behind girls and no more loosing marks.... so i put my head down and waited for my turn, it was even more difficult for me as she was sitting just ahead of me in the queue... then i thought i will look at her for 2 secs n will never look at here again, guess wht, she was like an angel, but then i again controlled myself consciously.... i was bein a good boy then, i thought i am never ever goin to see that girl again cos i was simply loosin control on seein her.... i finished all the procedures and I was told that i have to gives measures for my lab code and then i went down to the tailor... n u can guess wht happened then.... there was this tailor in a room takin measures of this girl and no one else in the room, now i was trapped, i didnt wanna look at her, but how to control myself... finally i decided tht i am not goin to control myself anymore... n I was noticin her all thro the time she was there, but think she didnt even notice me...

nyways, it was confirmed that i m gonna stay in the Sundararaj Block, the block where usually all the first yrs stay, no seniours allowed inside the securely guarded hostel... i got all my daily need stuff from the store inside the hostel, prob this guys was selling everything at 1.5 times the usual rate, but there was no other option as well... so here i was in a 4 seater room, a typical hostel atmosphere, one bed stacked on top of the other, 2 of such beds, making it 4 beds in all, 4 tables, 4 chairs and 4 shelves... met my first roomy Joel Arun from Delhi, was quite surprised tht there were ppl from north india as well, my impression was tht i m gonna forget hindi soon as there will b no north indians... but Joel wasnt goin to stay in the room the first day... so i was all alone, dad did offer me tht he can stay with me if i m afraid, prob tht hit my ego... how can i be afraid!!!! so i turned down his offer... so he left to the guest house.. n was alone in tht 4 seater room... must admit didnt sleep well tht nite.... the windows of my room faced the hills and it was a beautiful sight... next day i woke up early, and came out of my room at abt 5 in the mornin and i saw a guy standin outside, prob he also didnt have proper sleep tht nite... we shook hands and introduced ourselves, he was George (Kollam George) from CSE... when he said CSE, my heart trembled, there he was in my dream department...

nyways, i got ready, had my b'fast and was headin out for my first day in college... when i came out of the hostel, i saw guys were standin in queue, 3 in a row and security guards all around... i was like this is worse than school... but anyways, this also meant tht no senior can dare to rag us... so i as very happy as i had heard nightmares of getting ragged... we were taken to a huge auditorium, parents were also invited at the auditorium for the first day I guess, not sure... n then after tht the regulars, pricipal ka bhashan, director ka bhashan n wht not!!!... bein a christain college, we were given a 10 min sermon each day... n then each day's counselling ended with the college anthem, must admit i liked the college anthem.....

went thro the first day in college and it was cool, came to know tht only the students who came thro the management gateway have joined now, it will take another month for the students who come thro the merit basis... so basically there were only half of the studends and whtever classes used to happen was just a revision of the school portion. the first day i came bac from college and dad was waitin at the hostel, he had to leave the next day and prob wudnt b able to meet me after tht evenin.. he was quite emotional i guess, i certainly was.... after chatting for sometime, he left and i was standing at the gates of the hostel till he disappeared.... was quite a tuf evening for me... i was very emotional and prob wanted to cry, but i didnt... it was the first time in life i was goin to be away from my parents... i was broken but didnt show it out........ all i cud do tht time was to bid goodbye to my dad and promised my parents in my heart tht i will do well and study well and stand first (similar to the dominance i used to have in school till class 7th)... and will never ever be a looser again.....

to be contd....

PS: i cudnt fulfill tht promise, i was never ever first in my engg life... i was always second, but i think tht was much much better than bein a looser.... n guess my parents didnt mind it tht much, they were happy tht i m doin well......