Start of Classes and...Big Disappointment !!!

After that spectacular first night at BIT, Durg, a new dawn stood before us. I woke up first at 06.00 and immediately went outside to experience a breath of fresh air. I wasn't disappointed, mind you. Beautiful lush green garden next to our room, though the grass wasn't trimmed down so I didn't try to pursue my favourite activity of walking barefoot on it, fearing the sinister presence of snakes which I couldn't deny as I had met them on my very first day.

Towards the west central end of the garden lay a Hanuman Mandir - Soon to be visited by seniors and juniors alike, some praying for good luck while others for a few marks...

The path is front of our wing wasn't paved, but looked as if it was in regular use. I later learnt that the path that begins from the hostel gate near the main entrance and ends at the checkpoint near the workshop was the primary route used during the college's initial years. Though I couldn't confirm this.

Also, about the different hostel wings. Our wing (100s wing) along with management wing (41-50) are the only two to have attached bathrooms. The other two wings => (1-10) wing right opposite the 100s wing and (11-20) wing do not have them and people have to use the common toilets at the northern end of both wings. 

The reason being that the two wings having attached bathrooms were used as hostels while the other two were used as college classrooms during the institutes' early years. Again, another story which can't be confirmed.

Anyways, after filling chilled water in my water bottles, I set off to experience the hostel and came across some interesting characters. One of them, Yashpal (Room-103, Mistaken to be a senior by me initially), was walking around the paved path repeatedly that lay in the centre of the courtyard. When enquired about it, he responded by saying that it was his hobby.

Anyways, since we had nothing to do, I packed the notebook lent by Nirmal in my bag and got ready by 09.30 to go - which for the record is my personal best performance in terms of punctuality. 

Just as we were getting ready to leave, Vaibhav walked in for the first time - Complete with a mini-drafter, a drawing board, specs, puffy bag and innocent looks - He looked like a certain 9 pointer & a 90% scorer in school.

And then then whistle rang again - This time to assemble us near the gate so that the guard could guide us to the safe zone (vehicle checkpoint) like a teacher escorting kindergarten kids.
And there we went to college - In a pack comprising if 2 nice rows. And dare I say - As we were passing in front of the senior wings and through Gaali-chowk, I could see a wry smile on the seniors faces as if alerting us of the bashing still to  come in the following days.

The classes weren't as good as the excitement before. The day was started by our class teacher and Physics lecturer Mr. Lalwani in the ELS-12 classroom assigned to our section G. All the periods usually started with teachers feeding us with necessary guidelines and procedures to be followed - As if they had become accustomed to reading it every year from a manual. Recess came at 12.30 and we dashed to the mess. The food on day 1 wasn't bad - Rice, dal, vegetables - In short everything you could have possibly hoped for.

It was also here that i had my first encounter with a senior. He was in 2nd yr and was probably frustrated with the fact that I was wearing casuals while the rest of the pack came in senior-defined formal uniform(Plain shirts and plaited pants). He asked me my year and on getting the desired answer told me to ward off. It was the beginning of an interesting battle with him over the new few days. 

Post lunch, the classes looked even duller though I attended library and treated myself to two days old news in the Times of India (Mumbai Edition). My visits to the library every Monday gradually decreased as I was told that the library didn't any hold importance as no marks were awarded for attending it.

Two things about the Library -
1. You'll get your library cards (5 in all) after 2-3 weeks which will enable you to issue books, and
2. Your ID cards won't arrive till the 2nd sem. So, if you want to surf the net, you'll need to deposit a photocopy of your fee-receipt that contains a passport-size photo affixed to it.

And finally, here's what disappointed me the most. In the evening, the  3 roomies of R101 decided to pay a visit to the local market. In fact, we'd even got ready with our bags when we got the shock of our lives when 1st the guard on duty (His name's Sahu and He is the most evil of them all) and then the warden Mr. Trivedi told us that we require what ? Yes, right guess - LG in order to go out anywhere. In fact, this devastated us so much that we remained depressed for the remainder of the week until we were finally allowed out on Saturday after letting the warden speak to our parents for our homes in Raipur (Nirmal & Me) and Bhilai (Vaibhav, though he went along with his uncle initially)

Anyways, that evening the guys from room 102 came in and even before I knew, we were laughing & socializing like never before while the night was spent eating food (which suddenly tasted worse than lunch), studying and sleeping. And yes, over the next few days, Nirmal and Vaibhav got goosebumps whenever there was a loud bang at the door. Nirmal pretended to be rock in such situations while Vaibhav straightaway made for the bathroom. It was me who answered these calls.

And lastly, true to prisoners, we were constantly demanded at the sound of a whistle to the warden office where warden gave long speeches addressing our problems and assuring us of a zero-ragging campus. 

But ragging can be hard to stop, right Vaibhav and Nirmal ?

First Night at BIT

All right. The time had finally come to start our Hostel life. I arrived at Room no. 101(To be Named R101 from now on) on the evening of August 16, 2010. After settling down and meeting Nirmal, I set off in search of some food unsure whether or not food would be provided in the mess as it happened to be a Sunday.

Well, our classes had began on August 12 itself but I didn't attend the 1st two days due to the fact that Aug 14-15 were holidays owing to Janamashtami and Independance Day. 

Anyways, it didn't affect anything.

After finding some stale looking Samosas along with some apples and bananas, I returned to R101. In the end, the samosas proved to be a bad investment as I didn't touch even a single of them. Since the remaining two inmates hadn't arrived, I had positioned our room cooler inside on one of the 2 spare beds. 

Ironically, I hadn't  brought along even a single "object to record, edit, modify, consume data supplied by perplexed, bored, tired , lame, sometimes new & sometimes old forms of life existing in this mason-created epitome of knowledge; The object having different forms, colours, hard or soft bound, 40-60 GSM, 0.01mm in thickness, 140X200mm, comprising of a family of about 180-240 occupants, the one and only" - NOTEBOOKS...

And deprived of any books too, I looked like Ishaan Nand Kishore Avasthi of Taare Zameen Par fame lost completely in wilderness - Only he was a little smarter !!!

Actually I had planned to buy those ancestors of manuscripts a day later through the kindness of the "Student's Store", but learned later that its working hours were from 10.00-17.30(Sometimes 18.00) only - which obviously deprived some perennial late goers like me to purchase last minute supplies as the college started dot at 10.00. 

Anyways, going back to the story, the kind-hearted Nirmal lent me a notebook of his, which I have still preserved as a token of friendship. So, as evening progressed, we both had absolutely nothing to do except shoot at mosquitoes - YES, ITS TRUE. Even the heavily studious Nirmal Kumar Jha didn't do anything on day 1. Knowing no one else nearby -I mean, neighbours, we were confined to our room until someone came to signal that dinner was ready and would be served in the 1st year hostel itself  - Very grateful of that. So, here we went empty-handed near the warden office to pick up a dinner of Rice, Dal and Aaloo Bhujiya(tasted nearly like McDonald's french-fries, seriously). We looked like criminals that would've easily outdone their Tihar Jail counterparts. After eating pretty much in silence, Nirmal collected the plates and placed them near the door.

So, with nothing to do or talk about, R101's inmates slept as early as 21.00, after Nirmal had helped me with setting my Mosquito-net.

First Scare...

Well, we were sleeping away nicely when suddenly at around 23.00, a loud bang at the door rattled our spines. Ragging time, your guess ? Well, maybe not. Nirmal promptly responded by locking himself in the Bathroom while I answered the door, unsure of the outcome.

But Alas, it wasn't a devil ready to pounce outside, it was just the security guard in charge of keeping the freshers safe from seniors. Well, apparently, a whistle goes off at sharp 22.30 here, signalling all hostelers to go to their respective rooms - though this rarely takes place; insomniacs can be seen loitering around all night and the guards merely sleep.

Anyway, after this so-called whistling ritual, one of the two guards set off with a notebook to record the daily attendance. Its a bit like tiger-census - which is a mere formality to count the missing numbers of tigers. Same way, this practice records if any students are missing from their rooms.

A word of caution to 100s wing occupants - You're the last wing where the guard arrives, so unless you're a late-sleeper, you would suffer as the guard arrives here normally after 23.15. In any case after coming here, barring the exception of a few people like Jadoo(Actually Rohit A. Jajoo, Room.-102)  or EG(Vikas Sahu, Room-103), most develop a taste for sleeping long past midnight - Keeping with the Pt. Nehru words,

"At the Stroke of the Midnight Hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom"

Anyways, after declaring that we were present in the room, the guard left. The rest of the night was spent peacefully in sleep as our bodies prepared themselves for 4 years of suffering...

PS - If you're one of the first to bring along a cooler - which i recommend you do after contributing money, particularly if you plan to spend the entire 4 yrs with your 1st year roomies - then it would be a good idea to grab two rusty metallic chairs lying about anywhere and position your cooler on it outside the room.

newtons 3 laws of 101

we.....the three idiots of room no. 101........
never involve in any sort of pangaaas, riots, world wars, strikes.......
since are always engaged in ourselves only.....
let me introduce you all with the incredible but funny habit of ours......

Animesh Kishore-never believe in changes,but still can repair almost any thing.....

-even if its exam time or college time or vacation, he has to move to his bed at 11:30 PM exact
-for any kind of hot topic issue, conclusion ends in "but stillll"...
-nobody can ever change the position of his bed...
-nobody can convince him to move his suitcase from window panel...
-taking bath "everyday" is a crime....

Nirmal Kumar "JHA"-arrre kya nirmal G,G for genius

-will always help you in any sort of academic "aaarthik mandi"
-even if its exam time or college time.....he has to make books his girlfriend
-can kill the person,who wakes him up from his dreamy sleep
-habit to feed grains to the frogs under his bed
-singing songs in a tone, which can not only make you def, but can also break your window screens.......and this is not the end......guess what, the songs are in "bhojpuri"

Vaibhav Verma- sahi baat hain

-studing....."aaaah, that i will start after 12"(mid night).........but he never suceeded to study more than 1 hour...

-for any hot discussion, conclusion ends with "sahi baat hain"
-breaking almost all the belongings of animesh kishore......
-usually do shaving at 1:00 AM(still mid night)
-making Sindhi uncle a millionaire
.
.
.
.
.
so with the lock of room no.101 is closed(which once was under critical condition,but was repaired by animesh)

First Post by The Einstein in R101

i know classes r very boring at every stage of education.......but it is the only thing which makes u a perfect student....i am not telling u that u have 2 attend every class but i am telling that whatever classes u r attending give ur 100% ........for example 2 of my friends r the best examples for me ......i had never seen those type of students in my whole life who never concentrated on studies but.......
(1)ANIMESH KISHORE
THE GUY MADE FOR INTERNET........HOWEVER HE IS COOL,SMART.......BUT THE MOST SPECIAL THING ABOUT HIM IS THAT WHATEVER THE SITUATION IS HE ALWAYS SMILE & SMILE ........AND ONLY SAYS...."tab bhiiiiiiiiii......."
he is the man who only studies 1 night before the exam & clears all the subjects very easily ......don't think he is a magician but the only reason is the concentration level in the classes....& yes he is a great class bunker.......
(2)ANURAG BUNTY SINGH
COMPUTER SCIENCE ENGG. BRANCH
Room No.-104
HE IS THE 2nd EXAMPLE OF THESE TYPE OF STUDENTS ......HIS ATTENDANCE IS NOT MORE THAN 85% IN THE CLASSES.......0% DAILY STUDIES .....10% IN PL STUDIES.....HE IS THE GUY WHO ONLY BELIEVES IN THE CLASS STUDY WHO ONLY REVISE THE CHAPTERS ONLY 2-3 hrs BEFORE THE EXAMS AND SCORED 742 MARKS IN THE ESE 1.........

CONCLUSION OF THIS BLOG IS THAT .......don't be "SILENCER"......be "RANCHORE DAS SHYAMAL DAS CHANCHAR".......and follow the formula.....
"SUCCESS K PEECHE MAT BHAGO EDUCATION K PEECHE BHAGO SALA SUCCESS TOH JHAK MAR KAR TUMHARE PEECHE AAYEGI"

Induction Day

Well, our journey in BIT, Durg began with the induction programme held on August 11, 2009.

I reached the BIT Audi at 10.45 for the event which was to start at 11.00. True with these mind-aching programmes, this one lasted a hefty 2 & a 1/2 hrs and would have become unbearable is not for that humorous talk by Mr. I P Mishra, who turns out to be an important member of the college trust. Anyways, after all of it, we were instructed to come out, section by section, to follow our respective class-teachers.

Contrary to what I had thought, our classes weren't according to our branches and were instead a well mix of all branches, mine - Section-G - a mechanical dominant section. My classroom was ELS-12, and so was Nirmal's, as I learnt afterwards, while Vaibhav got ELS-13. The nomenclature of the rooms is as follows - 

1. EL- Electrical & Civil Engg. Block

2. EX - Electronic and Telecommunications block

3. S- Science, MBA, Humanities

4. M - Mechanical Block

 While the end letter denotes - 

1. G - Ground Floor

2. F - First Floor

3. S - Second Floor

As you might have figured, ELS-12 stands for - Room no.12 on 2nd floor of Electrical/Civil block.

After making our way to the classroom - much like kindergarten kids following their teachers - we were introduced to our class-teacher - Mr. Rajesh Lalwani(Reader, Physics Dept.) - who would teach us Physics in 1st Sem.  A dose of instructions and we were done.

Afterwards, I went to check out my room - 101 - looked horrible & ghastly at the 1st look, but livable. I advice all juniors not to be petrified by 1st looks of your room - After living in for a few months you'll find it to be the most quietest and well suited room for studies. 

Anyways, as I was treating myself to Rajma-Chaawal brought from home, in comes Nirmal - along with a few friends, all of them looking like seasoned criminals. Initial plan was to stay in the room from day 1 - but considering Nirmals' reluctance to stay on and the nonappearance of our others 2 roommates - I decided to return home(Raipur) after done with the arrangements. So I went out and bought the necessities from the local market - A cooler, Mattress, Tube-lights(No form of lighting will be provided by the hostel),etc. 

Before leaving, I tasted the creation of our college canteen - An Uttapam. Quite good for me, being north-Indian, but south-Indians may differ with me.

To sum up, dark clouds and subsequent downpour greeted us all the way back to Raipur...

PS: I still didn't get what the NSS man was saying at the end of the induction !!!