CaReeR CRiSiS

Dear diary,
        The tension here was more than what I had expected it to be; not that I was anticipating this. Prepared though I was for this confrontation with career, looking at life from the crossroads, having to decide for the future isn't any fun. Back when I was a kid, growing up was fun. Getting to break the barriers one by one, that age has imposed on us gave me happiness. But now the very feeling of growing up is giving me creeps.Content I was with my life when the only important decision I had to take in life was to choose the flavour of  Cheetos I had to buy. The question ' What are you going to be when you grow up?' had had a completely different meaning in my life. A naive and carefree me gave answers ranging from Soldier, Businessman, Scientist, Industrialist, to the more recent 'Job lag jaye yaar bas'.
      The tension was evident from the moment I made my entry into Rajputana- the very same hostel that housed me in the first year, that saw my my entry into the Institute, when the grave and the appalling realities of words like future and career weren't fully aware to me- the entire branch has become alert, discussions erupted everywhere; their central theme being career, resolutions being made, efforts being intensified, clarity being sought for various career plans.
       Blessed are those who've chosen IAS as a career option- atleast they know what they're supposed to do- and those who've managed to stay at the top- their pointers might drive them home as far as jobs are concerned- but for the confused souls like me, life remains a mystery. With the arrival of companies for intern to be flagged off in a fortnight or so, the crisis has only deepened. With core and software being the only career options- Leaving of course the possibility that you would want to continue studying in India or abroad- there isn't much to choose from. Either you start off with the basics of Electrical Engineering or wrestle with coding( Both these options sound gruelling to me).
     Hence started my III year, confusing and intriguing at the same time- intriguing because you never know where you would end up-with the only ray of hope being the IIT tag. No. I don't think that would be of much help either. Can only hope for the best, as of now. It is when being realistic ceases to be of comfort, we turns towards optimism.
       This is all I can say for now: 'God bless our confused souls'.


Bye.

iT'S 'SRK' aLL oVeR

Dear diary,
          SRK has made it to the news again; Of course, it is the duty of the media to project the celebrities onto the screen- the celebrities owe a lot to the media( the Indian media, in particular) in this regard. Unfortunately for SRK, he's made it to the news for negative reasons; reasons, I presume, he wouldn't be happy for once he was back into being sober.
         Every other news channel I tuned into today- News channels, they usually act as an alternative for me when ads disrupt the flow of  a programme or the movie I happen to be watching - had one of the two things going: One, the local corporate colleges bragging about the JEE ranks they've secured and Two, the 'SRK brawl case'.
         The Indian media has always been in the habit of gnawing at any tiny bit of news that might add glamour to their organization. I don't know if SRK happens to be so important a figure( An iconic figure he is, no doubt) that his every move would create sensations or if there's been a shortage of things to be reported. So the news reporters read and re-read the fact that 'SRK  has been banned from the Wankhade stadium for 5 years' with a slide show of sweaty images of SRK getting into a tussle with the officials adding clarity to the viewer. God bless SRK and the MCA for whatever happened. ' I do not want to dig deep into whatever happened there, speculating at every finer detail. I've got my own problems to deal with', is what an average Indian would've thought upon watching this melancholy.
       Thanks to the media, SRK's got the negative publicity he never would've wanted. I wouldn't wrong SRK completely in whatever happened. People when drunk tend to get hyper active, fight at petty issues and SRK, though a high level celeb happens to be a human at heart. I guess, SRK should either have come into the stadium sober or should've refrained himself from coming into the stadium once he was drunk. Hope he's learnt a lesson here.
        The heat at Vijayawada has become unbearable with the mercury levels never falling below 40 in the last few days.  Hope there would be respite in the days to come. 


Bye.

aN eVeNTFuL YeaR

Dear diary,
          This might be the last time that I'd be writing to you from 239, Morvi hostel; the very same place from where I'd been telling you things, trying to give you a glimpse of my life here. Well, What has happened for the past 3 weeks? The end sems seemed to  have taken a toll on me, sucking all the life out of me and 3 weeks went by VROOM!! with me doing little else other than sitting stoned in my room, doing the inevitable 'Hunt for Grades'. The exercise has left me with no time to share things with you.
       'Study  Eat  Sleep', in their decreasing order of priority, This pretty much sums it for my 2 weeks of not writing to you.
        And so I sit here and ponder over the fact that another year is almost coming to a close; How fastly time has flown in the last 1 year. Ironically though, it is only after time has flown, leaving its marks on you,that you realize time has gone real fast, not when you're  actually experiencing it. Last year, it was on this day that my friends and I left to Gorakhpur en route to Nepal and now as I look back into that day, I can feel the change that has taken place both in and around me, the change that 2nd year has brought along with it.
       With the 'Faccha' tag gone, coming into 2nd year meant shedding the Freshers Outlook (that we had all over the first year) and assuming leadership; the feeling of belongingness towards the institute only increased and thus opened the gates to II year and to opportunities ahead.
        New hostel, new roommates, rooms being chosen to will; Borders made( both in mind and in space) this time the demarcation being more distinct. And so we stepped into the Electrical Department, hopes high, all set to experience what we call the 'core stuff'.Then came Machines along with many others;( others weren't that scary though. But contrary to my expectations,they weren't any interesting either). But the experience with Machines was excruciating, making it clear to me that the core was not meant for me.
        It is amazing how time changes our attitude; both towards things and people. How II year has made us more materialistic; Back in I year we were new to life here, but now that we know how the world operates here we had to change. How fame for some changed their attitude towards the world, How most of us still remain mediocres in search of what we call true recognition, how friendships have been redefined, partly losing their usual selfless form.
      With the IDD staying along with us, excellent relationships have been fostered with them, who were hitherto thought of as quite alien( by us B.Tech guys).
    The II sem was a mere repetition of the I with the fests adding to the joyous atmosphere for the 1st half of the sem. The 2nd half, well has the end sems and with the peak almost scaled; The labs happen to be the only thing left to scale the peak this mountain called end sems and life started to get back to normal. I realize that in no time, I'd be escalading to the III year and this time I'd be going to the III year without much of a planning , knowing very well from the lessons that II year has taught me that planning things in advance or fantasizing about them kills the joy of experiencing things first hand.
          Going into the finer details of life this year would mean writing a book; well, so much has happened  this year, a single page letter wouldn't serve the purpose. As it was change I wanted to emphasize upon, I hope this letter would convey my feelings to you.

Bye.

 G957H5DTFJCR

As I Go By That Lane

                     
               As I go by that lane,
               Memories spring up
               Like the mushrooms after hard rain
               Bringing in new life,
               And taking me away from 
               The pretentious and monotonous life
               That I'm now struck in. 
               Oh! how I wish
               I could go back once again.
               Oh! how I wish
               We could all be together once again.


               As I go by that lane,
               I see kids having fun
               And in them,
               I see fragments of you and me,
               For, a part of my soul 
               Still lingers here
               Yearning for redressal.
               Oh! how I wish 
               I could go back once again.
               Oh! how I wish
               We could all be together once again.


               We still meet,
               In the name of reunions
               But where has the warmth gone?
               Seems to me,
               You people have learnt the way of life
               But I still happen 
               To be a child at heart
               Searching for what we call redemption.
               As I go by that lane,
               Life springs up in me
               Making me complete.

machine lab 'HARKATE'

NOTE: In the interests of the people appearing in the photo, it isn't being shown to you. So please stay with me as I take you thorough the details of the photo.


Dear diary,
          The photo being talked about was taken (secretly though) at the Machine Lab. All was natural with the photo except for the guy at the left hand corner of the photo who is actually the only one posing for the photo; Well, that was me and I was the only one in the photo who knew about the cam in the mobile prior to the photo being taken.
        Now what's special about the photo? The central character in the photo- It is the feminine characters that take central position in the lab( an elaborate survey for the status of the labs at ITBHU can be had at http://diaryofaditya.blogspot.in/2012/01/lab-scenario.html)- happens not to be a student but but a Ma'am(The name is not being taken for obvious reasons) who was, well, teaching the curious kids( curious about what??) about the experiment. In our otherwise dull and uninteresting Machine Lab, Ma'ams like these provide a respite to the students and act as a source of inspiration for the students to work in the lab and as an end result, ask her doubts; It is only when you know something about the experiment that there arises a question of doubts.
        Coming to the last week; Unfortunately for us( or is it fortunately) the autotransformer given to us turned out to be faulty and it took us one hell lot of a time to realize this. Ma'am was with us most of the time helping us.No. Trying to help us, herself learning things along with us. Interestingly, people like me and Vishal who are members of the ' Disguised Unemployment Mitao Andolan'- Naturally, when you dump six or seven students in front of an apparatus that would need the efforts of only two or three students, people like us had to take measures like this in the interests of the group- happen to take an active part in the proceedings of the experiment.
        It is here that I'd want to tell you about my theory' The Dark Room Theory' which goes as follows: 'You Leave a man in a dark room for a very long time, then any ray of sunshine that might enter the room would be bliss for the man; however tiny the hole might be and whatever be the time of the day: be it the noon sun, the early morning sun or the fading away sun; it is sunlight all the same'. I hope the analogy in our lives at IT is understood.
      It is true not only of our group, but the Machine Lab scenario( In Ma'am's presence), more or less remains the same. Again, a reference to 'The Dark Room Theory'. 


Bye.

P.S. A special reference to Vishal who through his mobile managed to capture the photo with sheer cunningness and timing. Sorry dude, the effort couldn't be put to proper use.

TRiCaL 'DuRBaR'

Dear diary,
         What you are looking at happens to be the Trical 2nd year 'Durbar' in progress. Like in every Durbar, we have problems to discuss, a king to pass judgements, minister(s) to advice him and sometimes mock him, representatives among the 'Janta' from various groups and Of Course the vast majority 'Aam Janta'. The central figure in the photo, the one delivering the 'Pravachan'- There wasn't even a bomb drop silence in the crowd- happens to be Mr. Pallav aka. Pallu, taking the role of the king in this drama called Durbar. The kingship wasn't bestowed upon Pallav by his predecessors ; Owing to the CR mishap last year, the branch was left without a right leader to lead the branch and Pallav with every quality of a to-be-Neta happened to be the best bet for the post. And the bulky figure to his side happens to be his right hand ( left hand, I guess, he happens  to be standing to his left); Amandeep aka. Sardar.
        Coming to yesterday; It wasn't much of a discussion, it was a disclosure mostly; Pallav and his team were disclosing the details of the freshers; location , food, booze and stuff. The call for the Durbar starts with the king's men going room to room informing the Janta about  the meeting " Oye meeting ho rahi hai, bahar aa jao". The crowd slowly starts moving towards the location; some halfway through the movie, some forcibly woken from sleep, some starting to initiate a process called studying; All of them cursing the kingsmen under their breath.
         The Durbar finally started off with the Janta trying its best to disturb the proceedings. Amid chaos and confusion, Pallav tries to put forward his point, sometimes trying to hush the audience; mostly in vain, which turns out to be a reason for the sneers and giggles that follow. But against all odds, amidst comments( mostly personal), he raises his voice, takes the pretence of an 'angry young man', reveals the details of the fresher;  with enthusiastic leaders from every group trying to put in their point and hence their dominance in their group.
         Whatever, Durbars like these are fun, a general get together- In this busy 2nd year life, people from different groups rarely have fun together) and are never productive; A consensus is rarely reached.


Bye.