Sorry for being soo late with my 4th chapter...was a bit busy(being lazy :P )..Hope to keep this blog updated regularly frm now on..N btw ppl who manage to read my post r requested to giv me feedback :)
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It was a rainy day.BIT campus looked awesome while raining.We travelled thru d narrow roads wid tall trees lining the borders.After travelling in d car for sm 2 kms, there came d climax...The narrow roads opened to the wide rectangular loan space and beyond that there stood the prestigious BIT main building.It looked smthing lyk this ..I.. It was a wonderful sight !!
As we entered d main buliding we saw a lot of security personnals carrying barrels(don know whether loaded or fake) as if it was sm VIP's office.For first year students this sight is sure to give a proud feeling that they are among the privileged few who got admission in BIT ....Hmmm...Privileged or Damned !! Will hav to c to dat..Coming back..There wer posters here n there wid instructions for Ist year students to proceed to CAT,a small auditorium.After d formalities at CAT we proceeded to sm ED room.Filled up some forms there and submitted the cheque and documents as necessary.Frm the ED room I got a slip written BE/1392/06.That time I didn know that,that was my roll no. for d rest of my college lyf n itz going to be most famous roll no. of ECE section B :P
So after registration there is this small vacation 4 me....stretching 12 days frm July 12th to 24th...me n Joks got a small house to stay just next to Jok's aunty's home...
Our dads left within 2-3 days.So finally we wer left alone in "Ranchi".Itz time to start new lyf @ Ranchi.12 days was d time period we got to convert ourselves from pakka mallus to 'Ranchi' compatible mode....and our guide was the 'Aunty nxt door'...everyday she made us different North Indian dishes...n all of them tasted soo good...So we thought we made a right decision as far as d food was concerned (Never expected the hostel fud to be so bad...4 years fud in hostel..don wanted to be reminded again)...
Meanwhile we started exploring Ranchi wid d little Hindi we knew....One day we went out to buy a bag to a local shop.Joks picked one bag n enquired itz price..The shopkeeper said sm Rs.225 n all....wow wow..dats much more than that deserves.......well now its time 4 sm bargaining. Apparantly we r new to this bargaining world...atleast in Ranchi...But we never find ourselves less....'Hum kisi se kam nahi'..Wid all confidence and courage Joks started d bargaining...First call...Rs.75 !! Just after he uttered those words....There was a sudden change in the shopkeeper's facial expression..It never looked positive frm any angle..in fact that was one of the scariest I looks I ever got...As soon as his facial expression changed we handed over d bag to him..n jus turned n started walking....wait a minute..dat was not actually walking..it was smthing at d border of walking and running.....We kept moving at d same pace 4 almost 3-4 mins n never dared to turn back...That was Ranchi - Lesson 1 !!
Another adventurous day was not far away.The house we stayed in Ranchi was a small villa which was at a lower level frm d surrounding areas.A perfect running water destination.The geography around seemed to utter loudly,'During heavy rains u r going to be in big trouble !!'..Aunt too told us d same thing...But no options..Had to take dat risk.For d first 4-5 days things went well.There was no such heavy rains n all.But finally all d rain of those 4-5 days came pouring on us on the 6th day.It started raining heavily in d evening....n it continued n continued...after 2 hours of heavy rain aunty came n warned us:'If it continues to rain 4 one more hour..all d dirty water outside is gonna get inside.So start praying 4 d rain to cease'.Uffff..We started smelling sm big trouble.All we could do was sit on our beds watching d rain outside...n pray 4 sm mercy.But the rain Gods didn show ny mercy on us n it continued to rain heavily.After abt an hour d water level was jus at d door gap level.There was no place to run..Aunty's home didn hav space enuf to accomodate 2 of us 4 d nite.Now all we could expect was sm miracle to happen..But it didn happen.All d last moment trials were done in order to keep d water frm entering,placing watever we found at the door gaps.Before long, the dirty rain water started to extend it's kingdom inside our rooms.We got on to our beds helplessly watching. .Rain's strength never weakened..infact it kept on increasing.....now d water level started rising below us !! wat d hell...we can't keep our legs on floor ..Rain kept on pouring.. water level rose sm 20 cms below our beds n it was already 11 30 pm.....Now wat !! Keep watching d dirty water below is not an option...Soo wat nxt ?? Finally we came to a conclusion..We r gonna sleep...Rest we left to God..So we switched off d lights n slept off..brave,huh !! But we expected to be woken up in d middle of d nite by d water below...Well,it didn happen...Next morning we woke up c d no water below us.The only thing we found ws sm dirt and a lil bit of stagnant water spread here n ther....Thank God !!..the water went back d way it came...Sigh of relief..Cleaning the rooms was a half-day job.
Our Ranchi explorations continued....in between I got a call frm a aunty one day saying that her son got admission in BIT...n she added they wer already in Ranchi n she was leaving that day...so wanted to introduce her son to us be4 she left....Ohhh...I ws a bit excited..now itz 3 !!..I enquired wer he was staying ?? She had a very interesting answer,"wid seniors"..What d hell is he upto !! Staying wid seniors in their hostel...Such a courageous guy..staying wid the lions in deir Den :P ..a real life Rajnikanth :P :P.She added he's staying wid d mallu seniors n they r very helpful !! I jus gave a long 'Hmmmmmmmmmmm' in reply.
Anyways place n time wer decided 4 d meeting...It was infront of one of the hotels near to the railway station..one of the few places I knew then...I reached d place on time..Wen I reached there I noticed a dark-skinned guy wid a weird hair style standing there....Is he d guy ?? More tragedies !! I looked out for an aunty..There was no one...Hmmm..So he's not d guy..They must be on their way...But this guy started staring at me....Seemed he was also waiting 4 sm1....There was qualis in between us...After a moment he disappeared behind d Qualis n soon was back wid an aunty...From d first look itself I figured out she was a mallu...n standing nxt to her..our handsome guy..Yaa..He's vinu !! He smiled at me now(looked better wid a smile :P :P)..n aunt asked me,'George ??'..waiting 4 d obvious answer...'Yes'..n d link was established wid a shake hand...Vinu introduced himself....He seemed very friendly n humble !! I tell u guys he's one of d best examples of 'Never be guided by one's looks'(btw his looks r not so bad except for the complexion).He's a very sweet guy..n turned out to be a very sporty one too..Plays almost all games wid gr8 skill !!
After seeing aunty off at the railway station I took him to our small villa....Joks,all ill,was enjoying a nap there...As soon as we reached our home..I showed Vinu Joks sleeping in a corner..He himself went there n woke him up n asked,"How r u ?'...But he should hav taken the surroudings into consideration before doing soo..The light was not switched on which means the room was already dark....n Joks has not met him before n no idea he's soo dark..n most importantly he's sleeping now..Now u ppl can imagine wat was joks state-of-mind wen he saw vinu's face in dat dark room as soon as he woke up....Yaaa..He did shake a little..But jockey -d brave guy-gained back his composure soon...n answerd 'I'm ok' wid a puzzled face n gave me look which said,"who d hell is he ??"...Understanding d situation Vinu introduced himself..So d triangular link was established there..Me joks n then Vinu...We had a chit chat for sm time which mainly included detailed introduction...n then I went to c him off at St.Xaviers.Before he left he invited me to come to BIT as he was d only 2k6 guy der then..I said....yaa..sure I'll come with no intention of going der before class begins..I'm not dat courageous :P But when I told abt this to Joks he was ready to go !! But I refused.Actually I had met one of the Seniors before coming to BIT as he stayed near to my home...So wen he was back to BIT for 3rd sem, he too called me n asked me to come over n he offered to introduce me to other seniors.But common sense was enuf to understand wat that introduction was.But Joks, always interested in adventures ,wanted to go n meet them face to face !! Courageous,huh..We'll c..Pressure frm Vinu,senior n Joks made me agree to this stupid idea.So went to St.Xaviers to catch a bus.When we wer abt to get into d bus..Joks asked,"Should we go ?"...I replied,"How many times I told you..I don like to go"..He replies,"Hmmm..So letz catch a auto back home".After 10 mins we wer bak home :P :P.Called my senior n Vinu n told a series of lies y we didn come..Don remember wat wer they...
Days went by quickly n finally July 23rd arrived..The day to leave 4 BIT hostel no.6 to start 4 years hostel lyf.Aunty arranged a Bolero 4 us.She accompanied us to our hostel.We got down @ Hostel no.6..felt little excited .Vinu was waiting der for or arrival.Finally from dat day onwards he's gonna live with his batchmates .We got ourselves registered in d hostels.All d students in d hostels were busy cleaning d rooms they got.Well, d lobby looked ugly with all d dirt accumulated. But for me d room was already cleaned... how ?? My roomy did it for me..Nw whom ?? Vinu Kumar M S....Yipeee...I got a Mallu roomie !! Yipeee Becoz he was among d few guys I knew at BIT...n I m not completely converted to Ranchi compatible mode...Wid a mallu as roomy I get sm more time !! But wat abt Joks...He has not roomy for nw.Dat was made possible by a special request from a Mallu staff we approached during admission time.We r expecting more mallus to occupy d vacant seats :) :) .Me n Vinu after adjusting my luggage went to c joks room...Ghrrrr...very dirty...he too got a guy to clean d room...After a lot of effort frm 3 of us,the room was worth living.
In between news came that all students needs to register in d mess...Otherwise no dinner..OOps...We got ourselves registered soon not knowing the the type of food we r running for :P :P ..Well, we understood that the first day itself.Well,that was our first day @ hostel..We slept off to the first day @ college.......
Monday, June 7, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Chapter 3 - The Journey
So itz now time for some serious decisions,starting with whether to accept or reject the allotment offer.Though I was ready,which is d most important part,parents got the final say...The part 'me getting ready' had two reasons....first n foremost...BIT is supposed to be a very prestigious technical institution,one of the best in India...Secondly students from allover India come to BIT as it has state quota..So itz an oppurtunity to interact wid different cultures n get an wider exposure to the outside world..These two factors lured me so much that all the deterrent factors like climate, food etc got almost nullified.Ny ways..daz how a young mind thinks..But for my parents...they needed to make sure that their pain in sending me far away is worth it in all respects..So they started collecting information about the college from everyone possible..btw..Who can give better picture of the college than the students currently studying there.So dad collected the phone no.s of my seniors..n started calling them up...They encouragd me to come over there(They wer happy that they got a prey to rag :P) .So not long before the final decision came...
'I am going to BIT'
So nxt step was to contact others who r accompanying me.He had already collected their no.s frm NITC.So dad started calling them up one by one.He was at his office then.After calling my so called future 'batchmates',dad called me back... My ears didn receive d gud news dat I was expecting...
Dad said,"None of them are coming !!"....I was really shocked to hear that...No one !!..I couldn't believe it..
He added,"I don think going all alone to Old Bihar is a gud Idea.."...
Understanding the implied meaning I shouted in silence,'I want to goooooo'...But my mind retorted back..'You hav to go all alone..dat sucks..dat too to such a distant place!!' Now even I started to think the other way..My heart all broken...meanwhile dad was telling smthing over phone.I didn pay attention....But he got all my attention when he said,"There is one guy left...But he has got biotech..Sooo...I don think he'll be coming.."
Damnnnn......For a moment I felt my shattered dreams n hopes rearranging themselves back..But soon enough they shattered back wid more energy...Understanding the despair in my voice,he asked,"Shall I call him also...Itz jus a call..we'll giv it a last try .."
Now how much can d news dat biotech guy is not coming hurt me when I already know that better rank ppl are not coming...I gave him a passive 'Yes'..I had already surrendered myself to despair.
After a small interval phone rang........I answered expecting the obvious answer..
Dad said,"He's in !! "
Out of surprise I asked,"He's coming ??
Dad replied,"Yaa,Datz wat he said...You call him up and talk to him !!"
Now slowly once again my dreams started healing themselves....But then I thought... guys who got gud branches like CSE,EEE are not coming and Biotech-wala is coming.. Strange !!! Then I asked dad,"What's his name ??"
He said,'Jockey"..
I asked again,"WWhatt ??"
He said,"I think 'J-o-c-k-e-y'.
I chuckled..'Jockey !!",I thought...That makes him 'More strange'...No..No..Dad must hav got it wrong..Smbdy's name jockey !!..It must be Rocky or sm thing..
He added,"He's from Wayanad"..now thats "Most strange"...Biotech..Jockey..Wayanad!! (itz one of the most beautiful places in Kerala...dominated by hills n forests)
Ny wayz now I called him up...
As soon as smbdy answered d phone I asked,"Jockey's home ?"..restraining myself from telling Jockey loudly, thinking it is wrong.
The answer was."Yaa..n Itz me Jockey"...I took a back on hearing that( I mean d name)..trying to believe that I didn hear it as 'Jockey'..
Well we continued our talk...hoping in between sm wher he'll correct me abt his name..but you know wat...he didn't..His name is Jockey..Whaddupp !!.
But d way he spoke was not strange..He sounded a cool guy.(trust me he's super cool..datz why I m daring to write so freely).All of a sudden the strange factor faded away !!He was firm in his decision to join BIT n he had hopes to shift to Mech as others r not coming..So finally I thought I found smbdy like me...n I'm going to Ranchi wid...Joc...wait for it......key :P !!..
Date was fixed for my first journey to Ranchi,a harbiner to many that are to follow..9th of July was d journey date...Reporting date was till 12th...but the classes start from 24th.So almost a 12 days gap der...but 4 days(it takes 2 days frm Kerala to Ranchi :( ) travel between those 12 days is a tough call..So we(Me n Joks) decided to stay der acquainting wid d place.....
Atlast 9th of July arrived and me n my dad boarded Aleppy Dhanbad Express for d first time.We met Jockey,his dad and his Uncle at Shornur station 45 mins frm Thrissur.We didn hav much difficulty in identifying them.After I met him I completely forgot d Strange factor,though his jeans was a bit strange :P..So we started our journey together to Ranchi,Captial city of Jharkhand !
As the journey started I started talking wid Joks,initially it was sort of formal.But it found itz way to informalz soon !! First day of journey went smoothly.Train entered Andhra Pradesh on the second day.Gruelling summer sapped our energies.More over,after train entered Andhra Pradesh even local passenger trains started overtaking our train...WTF !! We felt as if we boareded d wrong train..Couldn't believe by any chance that we r travelling in an Express train.
After a red hot afternoon who knew that worse things wer to happen in the evening...you know wat..electricity got cut in d train !! Now that was horrible the train still being hot and complete darkness surrounding us !! These one and half days of journey in Aleppy Dhanbad was enough for passenger to say,"That's it..I'm nt travelling in this train anymore"..But I can't say it..you know why..Thatz the only train connecting Kerala & Jharkhand :(
After sm half an hour things got repaired in the next station...sigh of relief !! ...
So finally came 11th of July.At about 9 30 ppl nearby started preparing to get down.I heard ppl here n ther speaking out 'Ranchi'.After getting my luggage ready I looked out through the windows to catch my first glimse of Ranchi.But it was a real let down..The scenery didn look so impressive.Infact looked dirty !! I tried to pacify myself by thinking that it was the wastage area.Atlast I got sight of the yellow board with inscription 'Ranchi Junction'.Then I walked towards the door to get down.After passing the luggage to dad I landed my foot(right or left..I don remember..From the rest of my life here I think left :P )for the first time on the Jharkhand's Captial city !!
Me n dad took a room in one of the hotels nearby while Joks,his dad n uncle proceeded to one of their relatives home in Ranchi.After sm time Joks n family came to our hotel in a Maruthi Omni, which his uncle arranged from one of his old friends in Ranchi.In that Maruthi Omni we set out from Ranchi to Mesra, a 30 mins drive.
The the bad impression I got from the first glimpse kept on worsening as we travelled through Ranchi city.It was too dirty...n more over the way vehicles went abt in the city gave me an impression that traffic rules are not applicable in Ranchi.With much great difficulty Jok's uncle drove through the busy streets to BIT mode.In between, sm local guys stopped us.Joks uncle gav them sm money...
I asked him,"what's going on ??"..He replied,"Gundas"..AIN ???
Jus a lil before BIT mode we stopped to ask for BIT mode.The guy we asked replied..
"It's very near...ther's a board written BIT,Mesra showing the way to BIT from der to the right.."..So as per his instruction we drove slowly forward ..but even after 5 mins we couldn't find the board.So we stopped again to enquire abt BIT.This time the reply was that we already passed BIT mode...What the hell !!....We drove very slowly looking for a sign board to the right, still we didn c it !! So we drove back,this time more careful...Yes..we found it ...A small dirty cement board with inscription,"Birla Institute of Technology,Mesra".As per my expectations the board must hav been much more impressive.Now I realised that there has been a lot of difference between my dreams n reality.So based upon my experiences till now I modified(or 'lowered) my expectations.I changed the expectations to 'Ranchi style'.
So we took our turn and continued our journey.On the sides I found a polytechnic..then a Navodaya vidhyalaya.....and after that sm slums too !!..After seeing the beauty of the place-Ranchi city n itz surrounding places-I clearly understood why ppl call Kerala,"the god's own country'.Finally, at distance I could see an entrance n the entrance matched my modified expectations..Not the big Arch entrance of my earlier dreams.But a normal gate entrance with BIT written over wall on one side of the gate.So I hav finally reached my destination ....n many of my earlier dreams hav already reached a anti-climax ...So I tried to delete the rest of my dreams to avoid more tragedies!!
Through the wide open doors I entered BIT for first time......
'I am going to BIT'
So nxt step was to contact others who r accompanying me.He had already collected their no.s frm NITC.So dad started calling them up one by one.He was at his office then.After calling my so called future 'batchmates',dad called me back... My ears didn receive d gud news dat I was expecting...
Dad said,"None of them are coming !!"....I was really shocked to hear that...No one !!..I couldn't believe it..
He added,"I don think going all alone to Old Bihar is a gud Idea.."...
Understanding the implied meaning I shouted in silence,'I want to goooooo'...But my mind retorted back..'You hav to go all alone..dat sucks..dat too to such a distant place!!' Now even I started to think the other way..My heart all broken...meanwhile dad was telling smthing over phone.I didn pay attention....But he got all my attention when he said,"There is one guy left...But he has got biotech..Sooo...I don think he'll be coming.."
Damnnnn......For a moment I felt my shattered dreams n hopes rearranging themselves back..But soon enough they shattered back wid more energy...Understanding the despair in my voice,he asked,"Shall I call him also...Itz jus a call..we'll giv it a last try .."
Now how much can d news dat biotech guy is not coming hurt me when I already know that better rank ppl are not coming...I gave him a passive 'Yes'..I had already surrendered myself to despair.
After a small interval phone rang........I answered expecting the obvious answer..
Dad said,"He's in !! "
Out of surprise I asked,"He's coming ??
Dad replied,"Yaa,Datz wat he said...You call him up and talk to him !!"
Now slowly once again my dreams started healing themselves....But then I thought... guys who got gud branches like CSE,EEE are not coming and Biotech-wala is coming.. Strange !!! Then I asked dad,"What's his name ??"
He said,'Jockey"..
I asked again,"WWhatt ??"
He said,"I think 'J-o-c-k-e-y'.
I chuckled..'Jockey !!",I thought...That makes him 'More strange'...No..No..Dad must hav got it wrong..Smbdy's name jockey !!..It must be Rocky or sm thing..
He added,"He's from Wayanad"..now thats "Most strange"...Biotech..Jockey..Wayanad!! (itz one of the most beautiful places in Kerala...dominated by hills n forests)
Ny wayz now I called him up...
As soon as smbdy answered d phone I asked,"Jockey's home ?"..restraining myself from telling Jockey loudly, thinking it is wrong.
The answer was."Yaa..n Itz me Jockey"...I took a back on hearing that( I mean d name)..trying to believe that I didn hear it as 'Jockey'..
Well we continued our talk...hoping in between sm wher he'll correct me abt his name..but you know wat...he didn't..His name is Jockey..Whaddupp !!.
But d way he spoke was not strange..He sounded a cool guy.(trust me he's super cool..datz why I m daring to write so freely).All of a sudden the strange factor faded away !!He was firm in his decision to join BIT n he had hopes to shift to Mech as others r not coming..So finally I thought I found smbdy like me...n I'm going to Ranchi wid...Joc...wait for it......key :P !!..
Date was fixed for my first journey to Ranchi,a harbiner to many that are to follow..9th of July was d journey date...Reporting date was till 12th...but the classes start from 24th.So almost a 12 days gap der...but 4 days(it takes 2 days frm Kerala to Ranchi :( ) travel between those 12 days is a tough call..So we(Me n Joks) decided to stay der acquainting wid d place.....
Atlast 9th of July arrived and me n my dad boarded Aleppy Dhanbad Express for d first time.We met Jockey,his dad and his Uncle at Shornur station 45 mins frm Thrissur.We didn hav much difficulty in identifying them.After I met him I completely forgot d Strange factor,though his jeans was a bit strange :P..So we started our journey together to Ranchi,Captial city of Jharkhand !
As the journey started I started talking wid Joks,initially it was sort of formal.But it found itz way to informalz soon !! First day of journey went smoothly.Train entered Andhra Pradesh on the second day.Gruelling summer sapped our energies.More over,after train entered Andhra Pradesh even local passenger trains started overtaking our train...WTF !! We felt as if we boareded d wrong train..Couldn't believe by any chance that we r travelling in an Express train.
After a red hot afternoon who knew that worse things wer to happen in the evening...you know wat..electricity got cut in d train !! Now that was horrible the train still being hot and complete darkness surrounding us !! These one and half days of journey in Aleppy Dhanbad was enough for passenger to say,"That's it..I'm nt travelling in this train anymore"..But I can't say it..you know why..Thatz the only train connecting Kerala & Jharkhand :(
After sm half an hour things got repaired in the next station...sigh of relief !! ...
So finally came 11th of July.At about 9 30 ppl nearby started preparing to get down.I heard ppl here n ther speaking out 'Ranchi'.After getting my luggage ready I looked out through the windows to catch my first glimse of Ranchi.But it was a real let down..The scenery didn look so impressive.Infact looked dirty !! I tried to pacify myself by thinking that it was the wastage area.Atlast I got sight of the yellow board with inscription 'Ranchi Junction'.Then I walked towards the door to get down.After passing the luggage to dad I landed my foot(right or left..I don remember..From the rest of my life here I think left :P )for the first time on the Jharkhand's Captial city !!
Me n dad took a room in one of the hotels nearby while Joks,his dad n uncle proceeded to one of their relatives home in Ranchi.After sm time Joks n family came to our hotel in a Maruthi Omni, which his uncle arranged from one of his old friends in Ranchi.In that Maruthi Omni we set out from Ranchi to Mesra, a 30 mins drive.
The the bad impression I got from the first glimpse kept on worsening as we travelled through Ranchi city.It was too dirty...n more over the way vehicles went abt in the city gave me an impression that traffic rules are not applicable in Ranchi.With much great difficulty Jok's uncle drove through the busy streets to BIT mode.In between, sm local guys stopped us.Joks uncle gav them sm money...
I asked him,"what's going on ??"..He replied,"Gundas"..AIN ???
Jus a lil before BIT mode we stopped to ask for BIT mode.The guy we asked replied..
"It's very near...ther's a board written BIT,Mesra showing the way to BIT from der to the right.."..So as per his instruction we drove slowly forward ..but even after 5 mins we couldn't find the board.So we stopped again to enquire abt BIT.This time the reply was that we already passed BIT mode...What the hell !!....We drove very slowly looking for a sign board to the right, still we didn c it !! So we drove back,this time more careful...Yes..we found it ...A small dirty cement board with inscription,"Birla Institute of Technology,Mesra".As per my expectations the board must hav been much more impressive.Now I realised that there has been a lot of difference between my dreams n reality.So based upon my experiences till now I modified(or 'lowered) my expectations.I changed the expectations to 'Ranchi style'.
So we took our turn and continued our journey.On the sides I found a polytechnic..then a Navodaya vidhyalaya.....and after that sm slums too !!..After seeing the beauty of the place-Ranchi city n itz surrounding places-I clearly understood why ppl call Kerala,"the god's own country'.Finally, at distance I could see an entrance n the entrance matched my modified expectations..Not the big Arch entrance of my earlier dreams.But a normal gate entrance with BIT written over wall on one side of the gate.So I hav finally reached my destination ....n many of my earlier dreams hav already reached a anti-climax ...So I tried to delete the rest of my dreams to avoid more tragedies!!
Through the wide open doors I entered BIT for first time......
Monday, February 22, 2010
Chapter 2 - Dream On...
The counselling day was a saturday.The next day being sunday,I woke up early in the morning to attend holy mass at church.As usual I struggled to get concentration during the holy mass...but whenever I realised that I am in church I looked at the the huge idol of Jesus Christ on cross and requested him,"Give me one chance,a NIT admit..plzzzzz..even BIT will do.....plzzzzzzzzz".
My sister and brother-in-law were in Kerala for two days to attend a marriage function.We(me dad and mom) went their home in the afternoon.I detailed to my brother-in-law the options that I gave during counselling and also told him the chances abt BIT,Mesra.He told me that he had a friend working with him graduated from BIT,Mesra.He called him up and enquired abt the college.
The feedback he gave was really engaging.100% placements...gud reputation all over the world...better than most of the NITs except a few..(like Trichy,Warangal)..2nd best private college...fully residential college...n so on...which implied it was totally worth the extra money we are paying.Hearing all these ,I found myself standing infront of very prestigious college...with all
well furnished infrastructure...a lot of huge buildings.....and I was roaming around the college wid a lot of north indian friends....checking out some cute babes...and speaking English in western accent..and sometimes in Hindi too...and as I was completely enjoying the moment there came in between some weird Malayalam...which made me realise that I am still at my sister's home..I was teleported back....But my mind wanted to return to that wonderland..but I resisted..I told to myself,"I don deserve all these...not even in dreams..so stop dreaming"...and I put restain to my mind's north-Indian tour.
We returned home in the evening.As soon as I reached home,I switched on the computer without even bothering to change my clothes,as I couldn't restrain my overwhelming curiosity.While computer booting was going on, phone rang.Mom attended the phone and called out,"Joju(my nickname) its for u"..."Who the hell is calling me now",I thought...'May be the allotment is done and it's one of my friends on phone to enquire my status"...I rushed towards the phone...It was one of my close friends on phone.He was my hostel-mate and classmate for 2 years...His counselling fell on the same day as mine and he had an AIEEE rank much higher than mine(staterank around 200)..But I didn c him der on counselling day..and in the whole BIT thing I forgot to call him up.
With great curiousity I answered the phone,",Hello,wassup..?.didn u come for the counselling ?"
He said he came early and left early as smthing important had turned up.But I was sitting dere, right from the beginning staring at the stage waiting for my turn.But even then I
didn c him !! Then he asked me abt my counselling.
I told him the details.I stressed the point that I gave BIT,Mesra.
"Ooh..you too gave BIT,Mesra...BIT,Mesra-ECE is my first option"
I was shocked for a moment..His opting for BIT,Mesra meant that the probability of me getting into BIT was reduced by half.That too it was his first option...Which means he is gonna get it 90%.....nobody else wid such a high rank is gonna give such a distant college as their first option.
And then he started telling me that BIT has statewise reservation and all those things which I thought only few people knew.I tried to soothe myself by thinking still CSE is left.
Trying to hide my disappointment,I enquired abt the options he gave.He told me that he was very prudent abt the options and gave only nine of them.
I replied."Nice, any ways u r gonna make it to the first option itself".
"May be u too will end up in the same college...may be we can do our engg. also together",he said.
I replied,"Maybe...Ny ways c u tomorrow at NIT"..n I hung up the phone.
Mom asked me,"What was he telling abt BIT ??"..
I said,"BIT is his first option..which means my hopes....",I didn bother to complete my sentence..
I walked towards computer,this time with much less excitement.Ny ways I decided to check the allotment status.I connected the dial-up connection and went to AIEEE site.It displayed 'Seat Allotment'..wth a superscript 'new' blinking..Now,that means the allotment was done.Now my heart beat shot up.
Being a dial-up connection it was taking time to load.'Damn this connection'...I told myself..When you don have even a trace of patience left...u start cursing watever that make you wait.....Atlast the page loaded completely..and I entered my ID and watever was necessary...The page disappeared and new page started loading...I was staring at the tube like thing at the bottom of the browser which gets filled up corresponding to the % of page loaded..As it started increasing towards the end so did my heart beat...Atlast the page loaded with my details..I scrolled down to see my fate ...
OMG !!....that was BIT,Mesra ECE....."Ammmmeeeeeeee(Mom)...I shouted out....What happened ??...She shouted back as if sm thing bad had happened to me..
I ran to her bedroom....she saw me gasping..She asked,"What happened ??"..catching my breath I told her,"I got ECE @BIT,Mesra"...
"Thank God",was her response...Then followed a series of phone calls to my relatives and sm of family friends who already wer at NITs...They all congraulated me...They all said in one voice"You are very lucky mann...BIT is a very gud college better than most NITs...but sm of them even added.."Hey thats very far away..Do u plan to take up the offer ??"...But I was determined..I gave them a strong "yes"..
But then I remembered,"What happened to my friend ??"..He told he gave this option only....may be he was confused abt ECE and CSE..may be he got CSE and may be we are together again..I called him up to confirm his allotment..
He replied,"No..I didn check my allotment"..
I asked him,"Do you have internet at home ??"
He replied,"Nooo"..
"Ok then..do one thing give your AIEEE roll no...I'll check it up and call you back",I said..But he declined the offer flatly..May be he wanted to know the allotment himself !!
"Ok...call me up wen u confirm ur allotment "..I told him...he consented and hung up...But he never called back...
The next day early on I left for NIT calicut wid my dad....This time my dad didn't accompany me to NIT..upon reaching calicut, he went to office...So I went alone to NIT..Upon reaching there..I started looking for my friend...But I think he never came..The attraction of the day was the distribution of allotment letters to the concerned students..I wasn't so late..though the distribution had already started...When I heard my name called..I went upstage..a little proud..thinking of the earlier question"Are you sure you want to go upstage for couselling ??"..I said to myself
"Yeah man...I am damn sure"..
There was a panel on stage,consisting 2 ppl, distributing allotment letter after signing and applying seal...After going through my documents one of them looked at me n asked,"BIT,Mesra,huh ?...Thats a good college..n gud reputation all over the world !! "
I smiled.He then signed and handed over me my allotment letter and wished me 'all the best'..
I took a good look at my allotment letter as I walked down the aisle.After reading my allotment letter I had a special feeling-a mixture of happiness and satisfaction and don know wat else-which is inexplicable !!
After coming out of the hall I looked at the notices put there...to check who were the others who share BIT with me....My friend's name was not there.....I felt a little disappointment....I checked other names...there were no familiar ones....Just next to that notice was a list displayng all India rank of Engg. colleges by some survey...I went through the list to c whether BIT was dere ...Wow..It was ranked 17th..I felt a little proud.."I am going to study in the 17th best Engg. college in India",I said to myself...
As I was going through other notices I overheard a father and son, standing nxt to me discussing abt BIT ....I dared to approach the guy and ask.."Hello, did u get allotment in BIT ?"
He replied,"Yes....Why??"
I said,"Me too got allotment in BIT....I'm George"..and shaked hands with him...and his father too..He told his name but I don remember..He possessed a very attractive personality...and from the way he spoke it was quite clear that he was an NRI ..We discussed a little abt BIT,Mesra....A college abt which I didn even have any idea 2 days before...and now I am going to spent nxt 4 years my life there..This is how life can change in 2 days!!
I caught a bus back to home after lunch(Again Chicken biriyani..I can't stop myself from having chicken biriyani from Calicut).As I sat in the bus enjoying the beautiful scenery outside my mind wanted to resume it's north Indian tour..As usual the a natural response triggered from the back of mind immidiately..."I don deserveee..";this time I stopped it....and said to myself.."Now ,who cares I deserve or not..I got it and I'm going der..Thank God"...and I resumed my dreams...the big college....north Indian friends...babes n ......
My sister and brother-in-law were in Kerala for two days to attend a marriage function.We(me dad and mom) went their home in the afternoon.I detailed to my brother-in-law the options that I gave during counselling and also told him the chances abt BIT,Mesra.He told me that he had a friend working with him graduated from BIT,Mesra.He called him up and enquired abt the college.
The feedback he gave was really engaging.100% placements...gud reputation all over the world...better than most of the NITs except a few..(like Trichy,Warangal)..2nd best private college...fully residential college...n so on...which implied it was totally worth the extra money we are paying.Hearing all these ,I found myself standing infront of very prestigious college...with all
well furnished infrastructure...a lot of huge buildings.....and I was roaming around the college wid a lot of north indian friends....checking out some cute babes...and speaking English in western accent..and sometimes in Hindi too...and as I was completely enjoying the moment there came in between some weird Malayalam...which made me realise that I am still at my sister's home..I was teleported back....But my mind wanted to return to that wonderland..but I resisted..I told to myself,"I don deserve all these...not even in dreams..so stop dreaming"...and I put restain to my mind's north-Indian tour.
We returned home in the evening.As soon as I reached home,I switched on the computer without even bothering to change my clothes,as I couldn't restrain my overwhelming curiosity.While computer booting was going on, phone rang.Mom attended the phone and called out,"Joju(my nickname) its for u"..."Who the hell is calling me now",I thought...'May be the allotment is done and it's one of my friends on phone to enquire my status"...I rushed towards the phone...It was one of my close friends on phone.He was my hostel-mate and classmate for 2 years...His counselling fell on the same day as mine and he had an AIEEE rank much higher than mine(staterank around 200)..But I didn c him der on counselling day..and in the whole BIT thing I forgot to call him up.
With great curiousity I answered the phone,",Hello,wassup..?.didn u come for the counselling ?"
He said he came early and left early as smthing important had turned up.But I was sitting dere, right from the beginning staring at the stage waiting for my turn.But even then I
didn c him !! Then he asked me abt my counselling.
I told him the details.I stressed the point that I gave BIT,Mesra.
"Ooh..you too gave BIT,Mesra...BIT,Mesra-ECE is my first option"
I was shocked for a moment..His opting for BIT,Mesra meant that the probability of me getting into BIT was reduced by half.That too it was his first option...Which means he is gonna get it 90%.....nobody else wid such a high rank is gonna give such a distant college as their first option.
And then he started telling me that BIT has statewise reservation and all those things which I thought only few people knew.I tried to soothe myself by thinking still CSE is left.
Trying to hide my disappointment,I enquired abt the options he gave.He told me that he was very prudent abt the options and gave only nine of them.
I replied."Nice, any ways u r gonna make it to the first option itself".
"May be u too will end up in the same college...may be we can do our engg. also together",he said.
I replied,"Maybe...Ny ways c u tomorrow at NIT"..n I hung up the phone.
Mom asked me,"What was he telling abt BIT ??"..
I said,"BIT is his first option..which means my hopes....",I didn bother to complete my sentence..
I walked towards computer,this time with much less excitement.Ny ways I decided to check the allotment status.I connected the dial-up connection and went to AIEEE site.It displayed 'Seat Allotment'..wth a superscript 'new' blinking..Now,that means the allotment was done.Now my heart beat shot up.
Being a dial-up connection it was taking time to load.'Damn this connection'...I told myself..When you don have even a trace of patience left...u start cursing watever that make you wait.....Atlast the page loaded completely..and I entered my ID and watever was necessary...The page disappeared and new page started loading...I was staring at the tube like thing at the bottom of the browser which gets filled up corresponding to the % of page loaded..As it started increasing towards the end so did my heart beat...Atlast the page loaded with my details..I scrolled down to see my fate ...
OMG !!....that was BIT,Mesra ECE....."Ammmmeeeeeeee(Mom)...I shouted out....What happened ??...She shouted back as if sm thing bad had happened to me..
I ran to her bedroom....she saw me gasping..She asked,"What happened ??"..catching my breath I told her,"I got ECE @BIT,Mesra"...
"Thank God",was her response...Then followed a series of phone calls to my relatives and sm of family friends who already wer at NITs...They all congraulated me...They all said in one voice"You are very lucky mann...BIT is a very gud college better than most NITs...but sm of them even added.."Hey thats very far away..Do u plan to take up the offer ??"...But I was determined..I gave them a strong "yes"..
But then I remembered,"What happened to my friend ??"..He told he gave this option only....may be he was confused abt ECE and CSE..may be he got CSE and may be we are together again..I called him up to confirm his allotment..
He replied,"No..I didn check my allotment"..
I asked him,"Do you have internet at home ??"
He replied,"Nooo"..
"Ok then..do one thing give your AIEEE roll no...I'll check it up and call you back",I said..But he declined the offer flatly..May be he wanted to know the allotment himself !!
"Ok...call me up wen u confirm ur allotment "..I told him...he consented and hung up...But he never called back...
The next day early on I left for NIT calicut wid my dad....This time my dad didn't accompany me to NIT..upon reaching calicut, he went to office...So I went alone to NIT..Upon reaching there..I started looking for my friend...But I think he never came..The attraction of the day was the distribution of allotment letters to the concerned students..I wasn't so late..though the distribution had already started...When I heard my name called..I went upstage..a little proud..thinking of the earlier question"Are you sure you want to go upstage for couselling ??"..I said to myself
"Yeah man...I am damn sure"..
There was a panel on stage,consisting 2 ppl, distributing allotment letter after signing and applying seal...After going through my documents one of them looked at me n asked,"BIT,Mesra,huh ?...Thats a good college..n gud reputation all over the world !! "
I smiled.He then signed and handed over me my allotment letter and wished me 'all the best'..
I took a good look at my allotment letter as I walked down the aisle.After reading my allotment letter I had a special feeling-a mixture of happiness and satisfaction and don know wat else-which is inexplicable !!
After coming out of the hall I looked at the notices put there...to check who were the others who share BIT with me....My friend's name was not there.....I felt a little disappointment....I checked other names...there were no familiar ones....Just next to that notice was a list displayng all India rank of Engg. colleges by some survey...I went through the list to c whether BIT was dere ...Wow..It was ranked 17th..I felt a little proud.."I am going to study in the 17th best Engg. college in India",I said to myself...
As I was going through other notices I overheard a father and son, standing nxt to me discussing abt BIT ....I dared to approach the guy and ask.."Hello, did u get allotment in BIT ?"
He replied,"Yes....Why??"
I said,"Me too got allotment in BIT....I'm George"..and shaked hands with him...and his father too..He told his name but I don remember..He possessed a very attractive personality...and from the way he spoke it was quite clear that he was an NRI ..We discussed a little abt BIT,Mesra....A college abt which I didn even have any idea 2 days before...and now I am going to spent nxt 4 years my life there..This is how life can change in 2 days!!
I caught a bus back to home after lunch(Again Chicken biriyani..I can't stop myself from having chicken biriyani from Calicut).As I sat in the bus enjoying the beautiful scenery outside my mind wanted to resume it's north Indian tour..As usual the a natural response triggered from the back of mind immidiately..."I don deserveee..";this time I stopped it....and said to myself.."Now ,who cares I deserve or not..I got it and I'm going der..Thank God"...and I resumed my dreams...the big college....north Indian friends...babes n ......
Friday, February 12, 2010
Chapter 1 - "Are you sure you want to go upstage for counselling ??"
For those who don't know me,myself George J Palathingal currently doing final year @ ECE,BIT,Mesra and I am basically from Kerala.During my 4th semester I read this book "Five point someone"by Chetan Bhagat in which he describes 3 IITians eventful college life. I liked the book very much as some incidents were closely related to my real life experiences till then.After reading that book I got this idea that even I should write abt my college life after completing my engg.
But later on I almost forgot it.Now,after almost 2 years I read this book named "2 states" by the same author in which he describes his IIM life in the starting of the story.Now that earlier idea I had sprang back to my mind.At the first thought itself I realised that this is the right time to start writing it.And all of a sudden here I am done with the first chapter.The whole blog is abt my experiences @ BIT and and the first chapter abt how I ended up in BIT.The best part is I didn know anything about BIT till the moment I went upstage for my AIEEE counselling.I hope u lyk it and if u took pain to read the whole blog pls leave me a sincere feedback so that I can improve.
Let me start by telling you where I stood as a AIEEE candidate.My AIEEE AIR was 15875 and my state rank was 426.So even by Kerala standards my getting into a NIT with a circuit branch(It was all that I was interested in) was very difficult.So I started my journey to Calicut
with limited dreams.At that time my dad had been working in calicut.So I left for calicut a day before counselling.I was a 4hrs bus journey from my place.I reached there by evening.I met him in his office and went with him to his flat.Then he went back to office.It was a busy day for him.So he said he won't be back before 10 pm.So I sat in the flat all alone till midnight watching World cup football.As he said he came around 11..We had food and I went to bed.I had a lot of thoughts going on my mind abt tomorrow's counselling.And those thoughts drove me to a solid sleep.
Counselling Day
We woke up early in the morning,I think around 6am.We started our journey from Calicut city to Mukkam,place where NIT is situated,by around 6 45 am.It was a 30 mins journey like the journey from Ranchi city to BIT.When the conductor yelled "REC Mukkam,REC Mukkam", we got down.'Still the college is locally called as REC' (Regional Engg. College),I thought.Well,it was my first journey to an NIT.I was pretty excited."Atleast I am eligible for counselling at NIT",I thought.I was the first person from my family eligible for an AIEEE counselling.Though all my family members are well educated,no body made it to an NIT( or REC as known earlier).I felt
proud about that.Even if i didn get an admit,there was sm thing I could be proud of.There is this thing about Kerala, though it is the highest educated among the Indian states, there is very less competition in the education arena.I mean 85% of students just try to get into good technical institutes of Kerala only.They are not interested in IITs or NITs outside.I really felt bad about
this when I heard IITians are mostly students from less educated states like Uttar Pradesh,Bihar and all.What the hell are we doing ?? Or firsly what the hell did I do..I didn even try for an IIT.I can tell you;it's the lack of insipiration and awareness.I heard people from these states tell the students.."You get into an IIT,you succeed in your life,or else your life is a failure".So they start dying for an IIT admit and students here,I think they hear these names,IITs and NITs when they start going for Engg. coaching.Even I went for engg. coaching only for getting into the best engg. colleges of Kerala.Only by the second half of my twelth
did this thought get into my mind that even I should give AIEEE a serious shot.May be I can crack it in the first attempt itself..(There was no second attempt for me.I had already decided whatever college I got into in my first attempt...thats it..I couldn't even think of jus studying these PCM stuff for one more year just for cracking engg.entrance).By God's grace here I am standing before NITC for my AIEEE counselling.
NITC looked good for an engg. college for it was only the second engg college I had seen in my life; first one being my sister's engg college,UCE,Thodupuzha.It didn even come among top 15 engg. colleges of Kerala.She didn hav other options as her Kerala engg. entrance result was not good.But she was a hardworker and it always pays off. Now she's working in DELL COMPUTERS earning a good package !!..Whatever..NITC was an 300 acres+ campus..and it looked pretty impressive.As I was hungry we got into the college canteen for some breakfast.Maaann...College canteen didn look impressive at all..atleast by NIT standards..We only had very light food from there..We went to the counselling hall..The hall was really big..I was expecting some of my friends to come over..but we were pretty early I suppose..We sat in the hall waiting for the process to start.After a short while an announcement came."The process is delayed by 1.5 hrs as processing is still going on at NIT,Allahabad."..'come on man....don do this atleast in an AIEEE counselling'..I said to myself..But then he added.."The process closed at NITA at around 5 in the morning due to the large no.of candidates"...Wow....These may candidates in the first 10,000 from UP...So it was a proof for what I heard about students from UP..So we waited for 1.5 hours more...Finally..announcment came..We are about to start the process.
They distributed tokens to students according to their ranks and also asked the candidates to sit alone seperated from their parents.I don remember my token no...but it was towards the beginning of the second half of the students for the days counselling.They also distributed some forms to be filled up by the students.so I waited in the queue for my turn..and so it came after around some 1.5 or 2 hrs..The counsellors and the computers were on the stage.Just in front of the stage on the base level there sat a panel of people for checking the documents and the forms.So when my turn came I was called by the panel.They went through my documents..and passed on to the next one in the panel..One woman in the panel,a pretty old lady,may be around 55yrs old told me that I won't be getting an admit in any south indian NITs..I said I knew..She asked me my Kerala engg.entrance rank..I told her 588...It was a good rank by the way...but AIEEE state rank was better :P ..With my Kerala entance rank I could hav got into
COMP.Sci @ CET,Trivandrum...the second best engg. college in kerala next to NITC...And she told me the same..I said again,"I know"..
Then she told me that my only chances are north Indian NITs and even there getting into circuit branches may be difficult..Then she asked
"Are you sure u want up the stage for AIEEE counselling ??"..I gav her a smile and said firmly.."YES"..She advised me to give my options carefully...."Are you sure that going for a less-boom branch(I mean branches lyk prod,civil,polymer n all) at north Indian NIT is better than Comp.Sci @ CET..??",She asked..
"CET can never be an NIT..Its a brand name..I won't give less-boom branch at any NorthIndian NIT and I am not going beyond NIT
Durgapur.or NIT Surat on the other side..I am here jus to try my luck.I am not even filling the form 2"(where u can only give d clg name without branch preference),I replied..
She smiled and wished "All the best" and passed on my documents to the next guy in the panel.
He asked me,"Are u applying to DCE.??"
I said,"What ??Excuse me.."..
He replied,"Delhi college of Engg."
I was confused...First time I came across this name was during the mock AIEEE counselling..I didn know how the college was...But Delhi sounded gud..So I replied.."I don know..May be I'll"...and added "Why ??"
He said there was sm age limitation and sm thing else and after going thru the documents he said I am clear to apply and he also asked my Kerala entrance rank and all..finally he too came to the same question.."Are u sure u want to go upstage for counselling??"...I said .."Yeah..I am sure".
So I went upstage and students were waiting in a queue for their turn.So I sat on the last chair in the queue.The guy sitting just before me smiled at me.I smiled back.He enquired my rank.I told him..and I enquired his...I forgot his name..I wonder if I ever asked.But I am very thankful to him..becoz if he hadn't told me smthing may be I wouldn't be here writing this..He was like an angel God sent to me.He asked me what all options I planned to give...I told him,whatever branch left in south Indian NITs + selected branches in North Indian
NITs..He exclaimed,"You applying to North Indian NITs ??"..
I said,"Yes,only selected branches..Aren't you applying??"
He replied.."I don think soo..I don want to go far away..".And then wat he added was smthing new to me..
He added,"May be you should try BIT,Mesra..!!"
This time I excalimed,"BIT,Mesra..!!
In the options I had thought of there was no BIT,Mesra...and I didn even have a clue how the college was..but unlike many other Keralites atleast I had heard the name before...as it was not a NIT I didn even care to enquire abt it..
I asked him,"Why?"
He repied,"Becoz most of the candidates are unaware of the fact that there is statewise reservation in this private institute.No other private institute has statewise reservation.Moreover the fact that we haven't received the AIEEE counselling brochure till now adds to the unawareness about the reservation."
Wow..Dats sounds gud...I thanked him...and a lot of questions started whirling in my mind.shortly he went for his counselling and not before long me too..My counsellor first briefed me the process.He looked lyk a man in his early fifties.Then he started showing me the remaining colleges and branches.I remember my first option..It was prod @ NIT,Trichy after that I don't remember till my nineth option.The name BIT,Mesra came on screen.He asked me,"Do you want to apply in BIT,Mesra??"..I was confused.So I sought his advice.He gave me a positive feedback.But added that the fees is more compared to other NITs.But that was nullified
by the fact that there is always a 100% placement in the college.I asked whether I could consult my dad for a second.He gave me permission.I went quickly to my dad who was curiously observing me discussing with my counsellor.
I told him abt BIT Mesra and fees and all.He told me not to worried abt money and apply if the college is gud.So went back and looked at the options left there.All branches were left.So as my friend said I had to believe that ignorance is playing the game or else why would all the branches be left in a highly reputed engg. college wid 100% placements.Finally I gave my 9th option as CSE-BIT and my 10th as ECE-BIT.The only one I remember after that is IT @ NIT Bhopal.That's becoz my friend only got that seat.Anyways I remember that I gave a total of 24 options.He then asked me whether I wanted to fill form2.I replied quickly,"Nooooooo".So I came back to my dad..showed him the options list.Among those BIT was among the farthest colleges I applied other being Durgapur and Jamshedpur.
I came back to calicut town and had a nice chicken biriyani(Maaaaaan Calicut biriyani is too good !! I still get it's taste in my mouth.If u ever get a chance to visit Calicut..do remember to hav one..You will never forget it.).I got into 'Limited stop' bus and headed towards my hometown.On my journey back I had many thoughts most of them based on that that unknown guy's words abt BIT,Mesra.Somewhere down the line I had a feeling of hope hovering around BIT,Mesra !!
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