Vivekanand - The forgotten hero...

Little did I know about Swami Vivekananda till January 12, 2011 except that he meditated on the last bit of Indian rock at the southern tip of the Indian mainland sometime in the 19th century which later became the site for the famous Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari and also was the founder of the Ramakrishna mission. But all changed that day.

The occasion was the 148th birth anniversary of the sage whose birthday is now celebrated as the National youth day in India. It was commemorated by our college's university, the CSVTU - Chhatisgarh Swami Vivekananda Technical University (estb. 2005) during the course of an inter-college debate competition between 4 major colleges of this area.

From all that talking, the gist that came out was that the Swami, who was born on Jan 12, 1863 and died on July 4, 1902 - The US Independence day was a great ambassador of the youth was greatly involved in reformative programmes. He was also an excellent orator - as evident from the standing ovation he received while delivering a speech at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago on 9/11/1893.

The programme ended with two performances - A badly-scripted skit on the ill-effects and limitations of being a working woman in India and a half-naked dance by boys from a nearby college on the tunes on a remixed version of "Human Chalisa" from the 2005 hindi movie "Vaah! Life ho to Aisi!" which had absolutely nothing to do with the essence of the occasion.


But one thing is for sure. Everything has a positive effect. The 1st was that I came to know about the connection between Chhattisgarh and the Swami. Apparently he lived in Raipur for sometime when it didn't even have a proper medical facility in place. And 2nd, it reignited my occasionally dormant researcher capabilities and I vowed then and there to make myself more knowledgeable about the Swami who saw something different than his predecessors and was a true "Maverick"...

Back we return

Two and a half months since the last post?...Well, it has been some time. We've since progressed to the 4th sem and so have our juniors. Classes are going well and as a lot of juniors maybe aware, 4th & 6th sem students have to undergo 4-6 weeks industrial training. Not that many people take it too seriously, most have some or the other contact just waiting to pass them the certificate without interning even for a day. But as far as I'm concerned, a lot of head scratching is going on in my camp regarding this. After all, this is what prepares us for the outer world, not the school-esque theory classes and labs...


But anyways, a lot of time still has to go. Weather has been great. Too much great in fact. If I had been in Delhi at this time of the year, it would've been a strict no-bathe condition for weeks. But times are different. Brilliant sunshine and clear skies (A bit like Delhi's Feb weather) means that you could trouble the bucket everyday.


So, since the talk is after a long time, it has to a long one. I don't think I reviewed out 2nd sem performance. Well, 2nd sem performances of the whole college in general have taken a hit, courtesy shortage of time and exceptionally hard papers (Designed to fail I think), mini paper-leak scandals (which certainly affects your frame of mind) and bad to horrible teachers. 


A few exceptions always exist, like Nirmal who pounded and impressive 838 to add on to his 826 in 1st sem. He even received a cash prize recently for topping the college in BEE. Vaibhav's was a bit on the downside as well, plummeting to 655 and mine was the worst hit and came crashing to 621.


As if that wasn't enough, I suffered a 2nd blow as our horrible maths teacher and the dislike I developed resulting from his bad lectures meant that I was handed the elusive-till-now Backlog (Failure) in Maths-II. 

People are sometimes funny and inexplicable. Situations make them like that. Three categories of students - Engg. students especially - exist according to me - 

1. The first are those who panic a lot and screw up their exams in spite of studying well
2. The 2nd are those who still study well but a cringe a lot about screwing up their exams after the exam
3. The 3rd are those who neither study well in spite of it being in their reach nor make a fuss about it after the exam and keep a good smiling face always. 

It is the 3rd category that I belong to, though I'm trying so desperately to change it. If I screw up an exam, I know get a feeling that I wouldn't scrape through and that day the feeling was firmly in place. 

"A good teacher makes a good student"    

So they say. And I couldn't agree more when I was preparing to give the exam a 2nd time a few months later using notes from one of the most highly rated teachers of our college. I had a positive feeling - and a sad one at the same time when the re-revaluation results came out - many of my accomplices in failure had passed having got fewer marks than me - which all highlights a bit of the ill-practices going on in our education system as throwing Rs.1100 can pass you in the re-revaluation when Rs.300 can't in the initial revaluation. Still, I'm proud to say that the back paper was taken care of on Jan 17, 2011 without a fuss - even though the results haven't come out.

Happy Diwali !!!

Hi guys,

Well a lot of action has taken place in the last 20 days or so. Classes have all of a sudden closed and we're into exam mood. Well internals took place during the last week before Diwali vacations  and yes, you have to wear formals otherwise the same teachers who were smilingly checked your practical files/lab records an hour before the internals will kick you out without second thoughts.

Anyways, with CT-2 to follow the Diwali break and ESEs due in a months' time, there's a lot of work to do....

Ciao...
PS - Happy Deepavali 2010...

Time for Action

Hello folks,

Have been away for a while due to cramped schedules, assignments,etc. Anyways, We're in the middle of 3rd Sem, CT1 has passed yielding the usual top-of-the world results for Nirmal while better than expected results for me.  Vaibhav and me were neck n neck this time - 56 to 60 %.

Currently enjoying the Dussehra break - which seems so small compared to the massive 3 week break in some of Delhi's schools and colleges courtesy the double bonanza of the 19th Commonwealth Games. CT2 is due in about a month and we're all up for it.

The last couple of months have also seen plenty of action on the residential field with us changing our base first to Room no. 99 & finally to Room no. 89 (Hereby referred to as R89).

The new room(i.e 89) is sort of a living paradise when compared with the hell of Room no. 99 - Consisting of designer tiles and attached bathroom. 

Anyways, all of that can wait...

Au revoir...

1st Year Summary

Sorry guys,

Haven't been able to post lately. Here's what going on. We've marched into 2nd yr with the session commencing July the 5th. Still, here's a brief summary of our 1st yr especially for our juniors.

1. August 

August began with the hefty admission process followed by Induction. Classes began on August 17 as you already know. Classes were exciting at the start, but got more n more unbearable as the year progressed.

2. September

Boring classes, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations and rains marked September. I being North Indian wasn't accustomed to celebrating Ganesh Puja as in Delhi, few people celebrate it while the principal festival remains Dussehra/Diwali. The enthusiasm for Durga Puja is very low here. Anyways, seniors used to scream us from our rooms each day for the entire 10-day period. Still, I managed to find a way past it by lying viral fever for the entire period except the last day which saw heavy feasting, that too from seniors to juniors.

3. October

October brought along the much needed Dussehra break, even though a short one. Unfortunately, it was followed by the first cycle of Class tests (Internal assessments as some might say), so that meant no fun n frolic.

4. November

Well, November usually signals the unpacking of woolen in Delhi but alas, no winter greets these parts, so the entire month was a period of bright sunshine, more studies, wrapping up of syllabus, Diwali time, blah blah...

5. December

December brought more sunshine, the final round of Class test (referred to as CTs from now on), preparatory leave (PL) and finally, the daddy of them all, the one n only - End Semester Exams (ESE).

6. January

Still ESE and session ending break worth 10 days and a holiday for me.

7. February

Signalled the start of the 2nd semester, more non-branch related studying and spring - which I truly relish.

8. March

March brought along hotter days, deteriorating food in the Mess, and the much dreaded ESE results - that too just 1 day before the 1 round of CTs. One thing I've learnt - however hard you study, how many nights you sacrifice - still, on D-day, your heartbeat is bound to go better than even Lance Armstrong competing in the Tour De France. 

9. April

The days were becoming more an more sweltering, as were the classes.

10. May/June

The start of May signalled the beginning of a very intense period - 2nd round of CTs, PL and then 2nd sem ESEs, which continued up to mid-June. At the end of all of that, we were left wordless, sweat less and brainless. This was followed by another 15 day break which I utilised fully to visit Puri, Konark's Sun temple (Which has fascinated me since I had to mug up about it in Xth standard), and Chilika Salt lake - the 2nd largest lagoon in the world.

So that summarizes our sufferings in 1st yr. I'll catch up with you later for 2nd year action

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.