The last four years
My parents are often told by our relatives thet they are very lucky to have such “laayak”, as in bright, sons.Ek engineer aur ek doctor.Now I can confidently vouch for the fact that my brother deserves the title of “laayak” but the fact that I will soon become an engineer definitely doesn’t entail me the same title.I will go through my four years in the college and just show you how an average engineer will spend the years of BE.
First Year: Brave new world
So I was happy that I cracked the entrance exam and got into one of the best colleges in India. I was finally out of school and it was time that I stepped into the “real” world. Many people had told me that there would be no more spoon feeding like there used to be in school and it was now all going to be my own responsibility. So I braced myself for a tough academic pursuit ahead of me. Little did I know that the next four years would be as far removed from academics as possible. The first month was filled with ragging and meeting new people and exploring the campus and the new experience of staying in the hostel.
The classes started and I started to get a feel of the kind of horseshit that I would be served for the next four years. The first sem comprised of physics and chemistry and some more solid state physics and all in all I knew that I was going to have a tough time in college. Soon, the end sems appeared outta nowhere and started the new culture of studying from Xeroxed notes, which was hitherto an unknown concept to me while I was in school. Passed the first sem and managed to end up in the bottom quarter of my class. With a deep sense of guilt I looked upon those passed six months and decided that the next six months would see a new rohit.
The second semester started again with another barrage of unknown and abstruse subjects which landed me in a bit of a tangle once again.Add to that the fact that I was introduced to the new concept of “daruu”, all my feelings of guilt and repentance vanished after one peg .It seemed that this sem was going the same way s the first one, but somehow god managed to save me from the ignominy and I managed to perform a lil better and it was time to celebrate with a daroo party in the hostel again.
Here, the first year ended. A year that saw a shift from life in school to life in college.
Second year: The fight back begins
After the taste of easy success in the second sem result, I found myself believing in the philosophy of “jo hona hoga ho jayega”. Which then meant that whether I study or not , I will still obtain the same result, hence anytime spent in studying would be waste of time which could much rather be utilized in more enjoyable activities like bakchodi, movies or of course, a drinking binge. So with a boatload of time I was confused about what to do with all the time on my hand. Here I did the only productive activity in college, which was reading. I read quite a bit and enjoyed myself. When the third sem result came out, although I managed to pass all the subjects , my score sheet was not a pretty sight. With 40s and 50s all over the place, I found my faith, in my earlier held beliefs, shaking. Maybe I did need to study. I still wasn’t sure but I had an inkling that studying a little may change the course of things. So the third sem ended on a rather sad note.
As we entered the fourth sem, for some reason, a lot of talk was focused on placements. Everywhere you looked people was shouting that unless u have a %age of 70 u would have a hard time getting placed. With my paltry 64%, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. All of a sudden things became serious. This was a matter of real concern now. While I had been whiling away my tie and fooling around, I had messed up my profile so badly that I was in danger of not getting placed. I finally woke up. I made life a little organized and worked hard for the next sem and somehow managed to do what was required.
Third Year: The year when Time stopped
Before describing this I would like to state that I have yet to have gone through a more boring year in my life. Time often seemed to stop in my pre final year. With an abundance of time and a lack of activities with which to keep one busy, life got pretty damn boring.
Fifth sem I by far the most boring time I have spent in my life. Innumerable hours spent just lying in the hostel room, doing nothing. Just the sound of pink Floyd or maybe metallica or pearl jam. Another sem passed without anything of note. Life was starting to drift and I had no control over it.
Sixth sem started with a zeal to start prepping for CAT. The so-called mother of all entrance examinations. So preparations for Cat started and so did the brushing up o coding skills. Soon it was going to be the final year and companies would be making a beeline to recruit us. Everyone was busy with Kernighan Ritchie and Tanenbaum.Of course, by the wayside as also the small matter of sem exams, which were starting to become a little easier to handle now, with experience.
Final Year: Ahhh! The end is near now!
The fourth year is without a doubt the most exciting year in the life of an engineer, and so was the case with me. If I remember correctly, We had the first company on the 29th July 2004.It was TCS.I was waiting for the first company, didn’t mtter to me which one.I just wanted a job and then get on with the endless job daru parties. so TCS came and took some 105 people and I got thru too. I was on top of the world. All of a sudden, three years in college seemed worth it.Companies kept coming, classmates fought amongst each other about placement policies and what not. In the end everyone ended up with at least one job.A majority had 2 jobs and some even 3.
Then came CAT. The all important 2 hours of my life. I wrote the test and came out with a grin n my fce and knew that although I did not do to the best of my abilities, I may just have done well enough. The process is still on. Lets see where I end up. If I get into an IIM then I will proudly say that both the sons of my parents are “laayak”.
Till then,
take care,
Rohit
First Year: Brave new world
So I was happy that I cracked the entrance exam and got into one of the best colleges in India. I was finally out of school and it was time that I stepped into the “real” world. Many people had told me that there would be no more spoon feeding like there used to be in school and it was now all going to be my own responsibility. So I braced myself for a tough academic pursuit ahead of me. Little did I know that the next four years would be as far removed from academics as possible. The first month was filled with ragging and meeting new people and exploring the campus and the new experience of staying in the hostel.
The classes started and I started to get a feel of the kind of horseshit that I would be served for the next four years. The first sem comprised of physics and chemistry and some more solid state physics and all in all I knew that I was going to have a tough time in college. Soon, the end sems appeared outta nowhere and started the new culture of studying from Xeroxed notes, which was hitherto an unknown concept to me while I was in school. Passed the first sem and managed to end up in the bottom quarter of my class. With a deep sense of guilt I looked upon those passed six months and decided that the next six months would see a new rohit.
The second semester started again with another barrage of unknown and abstruse subjects which landed me in a bit of a tangle once again.Add to that the fact that I was introduced to the new concept of “daruu”, all my feelings of guilt and repentance vanished after one peg .It seemed that this sem was going the same way s the first one, but somehow god managed to save me from the ignominy and I managed to perform a lil better and it was time to celebrate with a daroo party in the hostel again.
Here, the first year ended. A year that saw a shift from life in school to life in college.
Second year: The fight back begins
After the taste of easy success in the second sem result, I found myself believing in the philosophy of “jo hona hoga ho jayega”. Which then meant that whether I study or not , I will still obtain the same result, hence anytime spent in studying would be waste of time which could much rather be utilized in more enjoyable activities like bakchodi, movies or of course, a drinking binge. So with a boatload of time I was confused about what to do with all the time on my hand. Here I did the only productive activity in college, which was reading. I read quite a bit and enjoyed myself. When the third sem result came out, although I managed to pass all the subjects , my score sheet was not a pretty sight. With 40s and 50s all over the place, I found my faith, in my earlier held beliefs, shaking. Maybe I did need to study. I still wasn’t sure but I had an inkling that studying a little may change the course of things. So the third sem ended on a rather sad note.
As we entered the fourth sem, for some reason, a lot of talk was focused on placements. Everywhere you looked people was shouting that unless u have a %age of 70 u would have a hard time getting placed. With my paltry 64%, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. All of a sudden things became serious. This was a matter of real concern now. While I had been whiling away my tie and fooling around, I had messed up my profile so badly that I was in danger of not getting placed. I finally woke up. I made life a little organized and worked hard for the next sem and somehow managed to do what was required.
Third Year: The year when Time stopped
Before describing this I would like to state that I have yet to have gone through a more boring year in my life. Time often seemed to stop in my pre final year. With an abundance of time and a lack of activities with which to keep one busy, life got pretty damn boring.
Fifth sem I by far the most boring time I have spent in my life. Innumerable hours spent just lying in the hostel room, doing nothing. Just the sound of pink Floyd or maybe metallica or pearl jam. Another sem passed without anything of note. Life was starting to drift and I had no control over it.
Sixth sem started with a zeal to start prepping for CAT. The so-called mother of all entrance examinations. So preparations for Cat started and so did the brushing up o coding skills. Soon it was going to be the final year and companies would be making a beeline to recruit us. Everyone was busy with Kernighan Ritchie and Tanenbaum.Of course, by the wayside as also the small matter of sem exams, which were starting to become a little easier to handle now, with experience.
Final Year: Ahhh! The end is near now!
The fourth year is without a doubt the most exciting year in the life of an engineer, and so was the case with me. If I remember correctly, We had the first company on the 29th July 2004.It was TCS.I was waiting for the first company, didn’t mtter to me which one.I just wanted a job and then get on with the endless job daru parties. so TCS came and took some 105 people and I got thru too. I was on top of the world. All of a sudden, three years in college seemed worth it.Companies kept coming, classmates fought amongst each other about placement policies and what not. In the end everyone ended up with at least one job.A majority had 2 jobs and some even 3.
Then came CAT. The all important 2 hours of my life. I wrote the test and came out with a grin n my fce and knew that although I did not do to the best of my abilities, I may just have done well enough. The process is still on. Lets see where I end up. If I get into an IIM then I will proudly say that both the sons of my parents are “laayak”.
Till then,
take care,
Rohit
posted by Rohit Anand at
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