Reflections in the Rear
View Mirror
June 1994
The bell rang. It was the
postman with our destiny. Our destiny for not only the next four years
, but many more to come. He had the admission offers from IIT Kharagpur
in his hand. We cursed the postman. For all the choices filled in so many
IITies why Kgp. But whether it deserved the heaps of praises it got,
only time would tell.
July 1994
"LONGEST PLATFORM IN THE
WORLD." The start couldn't be better. A place having its name in the record
books. After all could Chennai or Mumbai claim similar feats. With lots
of dreams and unfulfilled ambitions, a bunch of new faces stepped inside
the campus. But very soon they were to get the shock of their lives. Two
students were stacked in a room not bigger than a cubicle. This was a different
issue that it gave birth to very strong relationships. It was immaterial
whether the partners were
bihari or bengali, gult
or tamil. More was in store for them with mess doling out its delicacies.
Health was
never a problem with
compulsory morning PT's and NCC parades. Soon student elections for the
various posts were held.But there was a catch. The winners were to get
single rooms. Within months of the election , the whole council left the
posts but not their rooms. (Just like our ministers you see !!).
LONG LIVE DEMOCRACY !!!
Dec 1994
A magic word came in existence
whose importance was unparalleled. It was the CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point
Average). By this time, the euphoria of clearing the JEE, the great JEE
had died. Amidst the pool of equals, a sense of identity crisis loomed
large. And soon the whole polity was divided into the stars (The 9 pointers)
and the superstars (The 6pointers). The issues were settled by this two
classes. The rest were the in majority and tried to emulate the feats of
the other two groups.
July 1995
Venue: Hostel Playground.
Time : 2.00 a.m.
The juniors had entered
the senior hall in their second year. " How many windows are their in the
common room ?" SILENCE !! SLAP !! SLAP!! NEXT !!
"Do you know ?"
"Yes! 47 ."
" And doors ?"
"6"
"Fans."
--------
--------
SLAP !! SLAP !! How can
you know so much !!
The rules for this orientation
period was rather simple -
"Ignorance is very bad !!
Knowledge is worse !!"
"Sharma !! Sharma !!"
Within minutes everyone
was in his bed. It was the codeword for the security people. It meant danger
of being caught by the authorities.
Aug 1995
Normalcy had returned. It
was the time new goals were set. Whether it was cricket, footer, basky
or volly, or choreo, drama, debate or quiz, instant stardom was up for
grabs for those who took the lunge.For the rest of them, skepticism remained
and so did the cliche- Kgp is one hell of a place to live.
So what if it had one of the best library, brilliant faculty, excellent
opportunities for extra-curricular activities or the least polluted campus.
Oct - April 1996-97
Third year was marked by
the sudden enlightenment that technically speaking the students had become
half engineers. Seriousness crept in and thus GRE's were taken. Requests
for correspondence course for CAT preparation sent in large number. It
was though life demanded instant answers. The only question deemed fit
to be answered was " Are you apping ?" or " Are you giving CAT this year.
Aug 1997
The crowds in front of Placement
office or the crash courses in 'C' revealed it all. Yes it was the
placement time.Life had boiled down to ppt's, tests and interviews and
the cycle repeated every day. Each day bringing new hopes only to
be shattered by the missing name in the list or a misplaced answer like,
"Honestly speaking , for me all companies are same. Nothing special about
your company. I only want to start my career."
Paper leaks resulted in
upper cut off as well.Those knowing everything were rejected because their
capabilities were doubted. The booze party had something to offer to everyone.
The selected candidates boozed to celebrate the occasion. And so did whiskey
console the rejected ones. Cheers and tears co-existing.
Feb 1998
With just three months left
the stronger sex suddenly realized a pending work.You have guessed it right.The
spring fest and valentine's day proved great opportunities.But the employed
bachelors still had a problem.How could 450 of them be mapped to
30 poor souls. Moreover , out of that few could make even Ash jealous.The
FCFS (First Come First Serve) algorithm was used to break the impasse.
The rest of them are still eligible bachelors till the last reports came
in.
May 4 1998
" What are the languages
in AI ?"
"LISP."
"What is it ?"
-------------------
"How it is different
from 'C' ?"
-------------------
"Ok! I think you are
not very confident about AI. Which topics would you prefer."
"Finite Automata theory
.."
" Ok! What is a minimal
set ?"
"A set which cannot be reduced
any further."
"Right. But how will you
know whether it is minimal ?"
" If it cannot be reduced
any further."
" But how will you know
whether it cannot be reduced or not ?"
-------------------
" Ok ! Just tell what is
a binary tree ? "
" A tree in which its nodes
have two children."
" Then it will become infinite
.. "
" No, nodes can have
at most two children."
"You can go ..."
GRAND VIVA over.
14 May, 1998
I returned after giving
my project seminar. The last ritual was over. After 41 midsems and endsems
the dream was all over. My friend came running, crying aloud: " We
have got the degree. We have got the degree."
My dhobi who was standing
in the doorway said: "Kapdaa, Babuji."
"Aaj kuch dene nahin hain.
Kal main Kharagpur se jaan raha hoon."
And finally I realized I
had become an Engineer ............
Chachu (1/8/1999)
Comments invited at s.kasera@mailcity.com
