I had to finish this post long back,but I just couldn't find time.Nevertheless I have continued from where I left it and I havent bothered changing the date in the post as well.Hope I have done justice to it,and let me warn you guys...this post is in stark contrast to my previous post.You would find it tough to believe that the same guy penned both these posts.Read at your own risk..Happy Reading!
Itz March 27th today.Happy Ugadi to all my Kannadiga and Telegu friends,being a Tamilian and celebratin our new year on April 14th ..I don't really have much to do (my stomach is giving a guilty squirm..I have a quiz on Monday)..which explains why I am bloggin after 8 months.No idea why,but today's holiday just acted like a Pensieve(you would know what this means if you read the Harry Potter series).I delved right into my past and my god,what an experience life has been...atleast over the last four years.
I finished my 10th from National Public School,after which I had to seek admissons outside for my 11th and 12th.I was admitted to MES-KK,the same college my brother went to,after he finished his 10th.I have always been the 'delicate darling' of my house.My Mom says I had lots of health problems when I was a kid;asthma since birth..lots of stuff.So there have always been lots of restrictions imposed on me.The first time I went out to play was sometime in my 6th standard I guess,believe that??School was just two lanes away,so for 12 whole years my hangout was restricted to just those two lanes,from home to school and back again...nothing in between,in fact I have never gone out with my friends and stuff till the end of my first P.U.
So,I was a bit apprenhensive when I entered MES-KK,there were very few people whom I knew.Being the first day of the academic year,my Dad dropped me to college.He warned me though"Krishna,dont get used to the luxury of the car,you will have to travel by the public bus soon".I still remember Mom and Dad arguing over this matter,my Mom repeatedly insisting that I take an auto and not a bus,while my Dad felt this would be the most foolish thing to do.Enter college,the first day was quite an experience.As I made my way through the gates,a middle aged man with a white shirt(untucked),black formal trousers,and neatly polished black shoes was ushering students with fancy outfits out through the gates.Assuming him to be the peon,I smiled thinking of my school peons(they never wore shoes).We stood in lines for the assembly,and wonder of wonders..I see that 'peon' addressing all of us and calling himself
'The Principal'.That was my first shock in college.
Coming from a CBSE school,I was quite surprised to see that most of the students conversed in Kannada,surprise turned to shock when the teachers started conversing in Kannada as well.Honestly speaking,the only people with whom I had conversed in Kannada were my neighbours.So on the first day,last period,I think it was Chemistry,being handled by a certain 'Meera Shastry' Mam,she started with the roll call....
MAM:"Krishna Kumar"
ME:"Present Mam"
MAM:"Which school?"
ME:"NPS"
MAM:"Yenappa,National public school short form NPS a...?"
the words escaped me even before I knew it..
ME:"Howdhu Aunty"
The whole class burst into laughter while I gave the teacher a rather sheepish grin and sat down.I hung out with my schoolmates for the first few days.Being held under control back in school..my friends wanted to have a bit of fun.Their idea of fun didn't particularly impress me,that is when I entered another group..probably the best group I've ever been in.It was a group of five,Arjun,Aniket,Tejas,Rahul and me.We had great fun,be it the class girls drooling over Rahul or Tejas and me checkin out gals worthy of ourselves,Arjun's sarcasm,or our frequent attempts to pull Aniket's leg...Well,now that I had found myself a group,the next problem was the my means of commuting to college.Dad finally won the argument with Mom,there it was...I had to take a public bus to college.I still remember that day,Dad dropped me to college,asked me to take a rick back home..and said from the following week it would be BMTC.Well,I shrugged and said "ok".That day,on the way back from college,a sudden burst of inspiration forced me to walk towards the bus-stop instead of taking an auto.With great confidence,I walked to the bus-stop.A bus came roaring towards me,i saw the number:it read:75A.I hopped onto it and said"BHASHYAM CIRCLE".The conductor blew the whistle and the bus took off,just to confirm things i asked the conductor"Sir,idhu bhashyam circle hogatha?"(typical Tamilian accent).He said:"Howdhu,SADASHIVANAGAR BHASHYAM CIRCLE hogathe".That was it,i got off the bus,and to my dismay realised..I was standing in the bus-stop which had buses going towards Malleshwaram and not away from it.To put it in a nut-shell,I was travelling towards college again because I did'nt know there was a bus-stop opposite to the one where I was standing that had buses going towards my residence.Ultimately I took a rick,told my parents about this goof-up of mine.They all had a hearty laugh,and yeah,pretty soon the matter seemed a point of common discussion with most of my friends.Nevertheless,over the next few weeks,I slowly got accustomed to BMTC.So,I guess..that was my first adventure in P.U.
Moving on,P.U posed a new dilemma...my attire,unlike school where you had an uniform,here in college,everyday seemed like a birthday.Wake up,squint through my cupboard,remind myself of the dress-code and pick up something which didn't violate it.You wouldn't believe it..my dresses were never the same for close to two whole months in college.Slowly,the initial enthu wore out...and I started worrying less about my dresses.Two months into college,I was badly in need of a haircut.Back at school,we were expected to have really short hair and stuff,so assuming the same..I had a really 'short haircut' and walked down to college.Well,this was about the same time the tamil version of 'Ghajini' had released,so as I entered the class..all my friends in unison shouted"ghajini,ghajini...".Well,I never believed them at that point,but now years later...as my classmates tell me that I bear a distinct resemblance to the lead of Ghajini 'Suriya'..
I am forced to concede that there is some similarity.Anyways,that was the last time I ever had my hair cut so short.
Slowly but steadily,I grew familiar with the state board syllabus and their way of doing things.Dad was transferred to Chennai,so Mom accompanied me to the bus-stop everyday,she would keep advising me,telling me not to get distracted,never indulge in smoking,booz,drugs and stuff...Academicswise I just can't complain,everything went my way,I had made a lot of friends,we had a big Tamilian group in class.Still remember the snide comments Nithesh and me used to make at some gals in class.Those bus journeys with Swathi from tutions...Man,really miss those days!
My group was an 'ALL-IIT' group,meaning I was a misfit to it.Yeah,you read it right.While most parents encouraged their children right from their young days that 'IIT is your place' and stuff like that,my parents wanted me to follow my brother's footsteps.Which means I had to land up in RVCE,thankfully I didn't disappoint them.So in our group of 5;Aniket,Arjun and Rahul had enrolled themselves in BASE.Tejas had taken up correspondence from BRILLIANT TUTORIALS.I had to do something,if not IIT..atleast PUC.So after many arguments and stuff,my parents enrolled me in this place called CHIPS-IITJEE.
We usually say "Never Judge a book by it's Cover"..but let me rephrase it for you ladies and gentlemen : "Never Judge a Tution by It's Name".This was probably the most f%@$%& place you could find on this planet.I opted for the PUC-AIEEE combo...envisioning myself as a proud Computer Science in NIT-K.Alas!The dream ended there.This place successfully dragged me away from my dream,and even made me doubt my capability of getting into RVCE.Having swindled 2500 bucks for AIEEE,there wasn't even a single class regarding the same.If any of us posed a question...
STUDENT: What exactly is the number system?
PROF: Number System andhre...Number System.
I have just quoted an example,but we people posed better questions than this..but the answers were always the same.With no progress in AIEEE,Nithesh and me had decided it was time to pay them back in their own coin.They boasted of a wonderful library...ahem.All that I'll say is this...they would never be able to boast of it again.Nithesh and Swathi,hope you folks are reading this.Kamineys..that is what we were(Nithesh and me)..and frankly I dont think the both of us have even bothered wiping that image off us.
Back to college,the year had almost come to an end.We were asked to submit articles for the college magazine 'SRJANA'..I guess.I remember submitting an article titled '20 years down the lane' which I guess was well appreciated(Applause!).Swathi took the trouble of showing it to her Dad too,I sincerely apologise Uncle...that article was written in a moment of passion...really sorry for putting you through it.One of my classmates even asked me something regarding the article...that made my eyes pop out(Hope you are reading this Thej).
The year ended,it was the last day of college...and as I walked out through the gates...I had to admit I had been really nerdy that year.I watched one of the hot gals of my class walking out..without so much as a backward glance at me.And that was when I changed.....KK's kameenapan had just begun.......
END OF YEAR 1
