The college days -I

Most of the time “Options makes life easier” but sometime the same options create tough situation. This time had a tough time in choosing the topic for blog. My confusion was whether to write about school days or college days. Both topics are pretty close to my heart and have their own importance in my life. But finally zeroed in on College days. The reason was simple. Its human tendency to remember pain of recent wound much better than older one and of course I am human being. On top of it the depth of wound made by my college days was much deeper.

Yes the relationships that I built over 4 years certainly did hurt me to the core when I was told formally “You are graduated” in a fair well party which was literal translation of informal sentence “your college days are over”. Breaking up all bonding developed over 4 years on single day was unbearable. Activities done during this 4 years regime were so deep into me that they created wound which for a while I thought wouldn't heal. Time is right medicine, it healed the wound but couldn't clear the scar of those memories.

Oops I started story with climax. Let me get back to my initial days. College days play a vital role and become one of the milestones in everyone’s life. No surprise if your friend look at you weirdly when you say “My college days were better than anyone in this world” as he/she feels his/her college days were much better than yours. According to science, maturity is the one which makes us realize and feel the flavor of happiness during this regime and stands accountable for making these days ever cherishing. I consider those who don’t like to recall their college life as Exception.

I still remember the first day at college. Principal and other management giants addressed all new bees in an auditorium and explained achievements of college since a decade. Also assured that college campus is now rag free zone, which bought a relief on all faces gathered there. Everyone rushed to notice board after this event to check which sections they are into.

“Yeszzzz” shouted Prakash when he saw our (Vikram, Me and his) names under the same section. Since we studied together from class VI to XII, this opportunity of being together for a few more years elated us. A smile was dancing on the face of Vikram who stood away from the notice board crowd. Prakash and I again lost in the crowd watching the complete list of our pals.

Vikram the synonym of patience shouted at us “What the hell are you guys still looking at?” I and Prakash managed to come out of the crowd.
Prakash: “We were looking for girls names in the list man”.
Vikram: “You guys will never ever change in this regard I guess“.
Shreekanth: “How come you can be so negligent in this regard Viky? We got to spend 4 years with them. So knowing their names is not a mistake at all.”
Vikram: “Don't you guys think those girls will attend classes from tomorrow and you can get to know them there.”
Prakash: “Knowing names now and guessing whose name what before they introduce themselves will make tomorrow’s session more interesting. Vikram you don't understand all these things. You keep going without any argument now. Shreekanth how many girls names were you able to identify?“ Prakash continued with his million dollar question on the way to room.

That's the end of the day 1 in College.

On day 2 Prakash to Vikram: “Did you really need this much of time to note down Time Table from notice board?”
“Was just kidding buddy” said Prakash to Vikram with an artificial smile on his face after observing his angry looks as an answer to the above question.
Finally we got into class. As usual Vikram continued the history by occupying second row bench as no body was there on the first bench. I thought will sit with Vikram but Prakash told we both would be sitting in the last bench.
Me: Why are you so fond of last bench?”
Prakash: Since it’s our first day out, we got to do some pitch report analysis of our class (Who stands where in the academics etc), which can be best executed by sitting in the last bench, where everyone will be visible.
Me: Dude if you would have put in the same logic in studies, you would have topped C.B.S.E in XII.
Prakash: Are you serious? Funny smile on my face pissed him off.

So called chemistry class started. Everyone started introducing themselves. “I am Krishna Murthy from Bangalore” the tallest guy in the first bench of other row introduced himself. Immediately Prakash started whispering “Why did he travel so long (all the way from Bangalore to Bellary) to get screwed?” I replied him “Whatever may be the reason of his arrival, but am damn sure he will top the class”. Prakash to me “Yea man he sounds to be blessed with that caliber. So he is the one whom we can bank on for notes and any other doubt clarification”. I nodded.

Suddenly Chemistry madam started firing questions on everyone. Some one answered some blunder, which made everyone to burst into laugh. Prakash added a little more sound to what others already made which caught the attention of Madam. She asked him to stand up. Prakash the off screen hero was now shivering. “What does your father do” asked madam. “What the heck his father got to do with this?” is what I was thinking. Prakash kept quite. “I need the answer” madam repeated. “He works for CANARA bank” Prakash told. “You would require bringing him here to meet principal if you repeat these nuisance things in my class” she added. Prakash said “Sorry madam”.
Everyone kept mum till the end of the class. Immediately after class I told Prakash “dude first day out…grand opening with huge six, pitch seems to be good for you” he stared at me and said “Oh My God, college seems to be much stricter than our school man, got to be very careful”. Vikram was laughing from second bench with grand statement in his face “I told you guys will never ever change”.

Day ended with a “Krishnamurthy from Bangalore” becoming a close friend. We were on the way to the room and surprised to see “Krishnamurthy from Bangalore” following us. Prakash turned back to see him as he wanted to ask about if he can give his notes in coming days. “Hi” Krishnamurthy told us with a smile. He started walking with us there after. First question I asked him was “Why did he choose Bellary, when Bangalore was considered to be most happening city?” He replied promptly “VEC Bellary was one of the best colleges among the options that I had. So I chose this”.

Prakash and I smiled each other about our guess work. “Everything that glitters is not gold but Diamond” did suit this situation perfectly as we got a new friend with same wavelength of thinking and great sense of humor. He is literal champ of logic thoughts because of which later his name was changed from “Krishnamurthy from Bangalore” to "Typical Kitta". We got to know many good friends thereafter Ravi - decent guy, Raghuram –the most fun loving guy, Prabhakar – tiger the one who taught me Telugu, Raghavendra(2), Naveen and many more. Now our group had enough members. Still the inconvenience of moving with girls continued.

The other great day we had was when we were ragged. Seniors took us out of college campus for rag and that's when I realized the exact meaning of sentence “College campus is Rag free zone”. We were asked to do College salute (was real fun though) and were asked to play a cricket match without bat and balls. There after I used to smile at the senior who ragged me whenever I used to see him. Smiled at him same year, second year, third year and finally when I was logging out of college :).

The first internal was challenging and rest moved away as passing clouds. Finally the exams dates were posted on the notice board. Preparation was serious amidst Mr. Prakash jokes. He continued his pitch report analysis in Exam halls as well :). So called exams were over and situation was like heavy rain stopping suddenly. Small stint of vacations were real fun. Second semester begun and I Started feeling Bellary heat there after. Everyone were eagerly waiting for first sem results. We used to hit cybercafe as soon as we get to hear "Results are out!!", without even bothering to know whether its rumor or not. This continued for 15 days continuously. Finally results were out on so called Notice board and not all but many were satisfied with their results. Had loads of fun in second semester as got familiar with all friends. Damn sure I will run short of space if I start scribbling all events here. So ending here with my first year experiences. Have loads to share about rest 3 years. Will be right back.

Life, Expectations and Destiny

I don't know why but started hating Mathematics since class X, and finally after class XII exams I told myself “Enough is enough, I will not attempt anymore Maths exams and decided not to opt Engineering no matter how demanding the situation may be” but believe me guys “Many times things doesn't show up the way we want them to be” and that happened with me many times.

Class XII results were out and I was through distinction. Called Dad and Mom for a round table conference to discuss “what next”? I put forward my thought of not opting maths anymore and so Engineering, but at the same time getting into medicine (which I really wanted to) was also not possible as my entrance rank was 1000 behind the last person who got a free medicine seat. Being from a middle class family affording lakhs of rupees for payment medicine seat sounded like a weird decision.

That was one such phase of my life when I was totally tussled about what to do next? That's when Dad advised me to join B.Sc at Dharawad (The education hub of North Karnataka). I had no options left with though. Getting admission for B.Sc in KCD (One of the Known colleges in Dharwad) had become a cakewalk because of my distinction. This is how I started my college journey but the things started looking too blur as I had no idea what after B.Sc. It took me 2 months to realize that I can do much more than what I am currently doing. On top of it all my class XII friends had started opting Engineering and Medicines. For a while I felt as if I lost in the race of life. The other surprise poured in when two of my close buddies (Viky and Prakash) got into same college (VEC Bellary) & same branch (Information science & Eng).

With the disappointment of not making it through Medicine, I dint even bother to attend any of the Engineering counseling rounds, which made me regret later. Believe me if something is written in your fate no body can stop it. Soon got to know that Karnataka government had increased the number of Engineering seats and hence the additional round of counseling too. I too believe in saying “Time and Tides wait for none” but this particular incident made me to believe in “Time can give you another opportunity”. My treatment towards Maths subject took the back seat and front seat was decorated with zeal of utilizing this opportunity. My mind worked very promptly and I dropped home immediately to discuss about opting Engineering with my parents. Dad was not happy with my decision but I had no time in understanding him as my counseling was scheduled the very next day morning. Convinced mom and took the DD furnished with needed details and started my journey to Bangalore. Arrangement of all these things happened in a single day.

Thought everything will go smooth there after, but next obstacle came in when my journey halted because of a broke up train on the way near Hospet. I was supposed to be at counseling centre by 9:30AM and it was already 1AM when I was left with a journey of 300KMs yet. My bus resumed its journey at 3AM and I reached Bangalore at 10AM. Of course I was cursing my fate and luck as additional engineering seats were limited in number. Started rushing towards counseling centre after a brief fresh up. This is when a small kid started forcing me to buy a news paper. I had no patience to indulge in buying the news paper but kid had enough patience to convince me. He was behind me though I tried to avoid him. Finally bought one to get rid of him. And a big shock dropped in when I saw no body around counseling centre. I started cursing my luck again suspecting if I had reached wrong destination as had no clue about what was happening. For a while I looked at sky with a low confidence in the eyes and murmured “Why always with me?” . That's when the newspaper slipped off my hand. The word counseling caught my attention while picking it up. I turned the newspaper and really got elated to see that “Today’s counseling would start 11AM instead of 8:30AM because of Dr.Raj Kidnap rally by his fans”. This was the other coincidence that filled the gap created by my delay. After reading this cheer note, I felt like tattooing that kids name on my right arm as his 2Rs newspaper refilled priceless confidence in me, which I lost somewhere on the way. Regretted as I dint even bothered to talk to him much. Felt bad for what happened with Dr.Raj but thanked him for the help he did without his notice.

Every obstacle that I came across from the time I decided to opt Engineering tried their best to degrade me but destiny instead turned those obstacles into opportunities and finally I got an Engineering seat. The most interesting part of my Engineering seat is that I got into the same college and same branch (VEC Bellary and ISE respectively) which my close buddies have opted. I never wanted to make friendship with Maths in life again but Maths never considered me as its enemy :). Also I had imagined myself sitting in front of a patient with a stethoscope in hand but ended up sitting in front of recent Idiot Box with a mouse in hand.

Moral that I learnt there after was “Don’t be panic when things doesn't turn out the way you expect them to be because destiny might have plan of buying you something more valuable then what you are expecting. Expecting in life is not a problem but failing to cope-up when expectations collapse is our weakness. The real intelligence lies beneath making decisions when expectations fail”. I am not here to say I am lucky and I got more than what I expected, in fact many of my expectations went in dead air and I am still waiting for my destiny to buy me something in place of them instead of worrying about what I couldn't attain. This is what life is all about, sometime surprises you by not giving what you want but sometime the same life surprises you by giving more than what you expected”. All that we need to do is “Learn to bare with it”.

If you think you have different opinion on this, please do write me sshreek@gmail.com

Who was She?

Thursday Jul 19, as usual I was heading a hectic day at work and suddenly a new mail notification popped in. Dint feel like opening it, when I got to know that it was from my boss but had no other go. Double clicked on the mail thinking it would be an another issue escalated from onsite team but the content of mail brought a big smile on my face. That's when I remembered the conversation that I had with my Dad and Mom last week. They complained about not having met them since 3 months and also asked me to meet them as soon as possible. Finally I applied for leave on Monday and today found this piece of mail saying “Your leave request is approved”. This is the only little stint of time I liked my boss I guess. This event filled a little more energy for my rest of the day.

I rushed to a reservation counter immediately after work to book ticket to hometown on Friday night . I was in the Queue waiting for my turn, in the meanwhile I took out money from wallet and don't know why but suddenly remembered those days when Dad and Mom used to take me in Red government bus and I used to count all the milestones on the way. That's when receptionist interrupted my reminiscence by shouting “Excuse me sir”. Luckily got a ticket in luxury bus but sensed that I traveled a long way in my life from “Red government bus to Luxury bus”.

Somehow didn't feel like working much at office on Friday. Started a little early and did some shopping for parents. Finally all my roommates gave me a big hug and wished “Happy Journey”. One of them dropped me at bus terminus too.

Bus was on time and I dint take a second chance to fix my luggage and occupy my window seat. Still, that college day’s habit of expecting a beautiful girl to come and sit beside me during my journey was not out of my mind and was eager to know my traveling partner.For a quick moment "Geet" the charachter of Kareena in "Jab We Met" flashed in my mind but destiny had its own plan for me. All anticipations were dumped when a short fat guy came and sat beside me.

Bus started and took its own time to cross the city limits as traffic was at its zenith. Finally it was out of station and I was on cloud 9 after seeing the bright full moon in the sky. As it was a mid summer, a cool breeze from the window was a real pleasant feel. I was pulled back all the way from cloud 9 to my seat in the bus when my traveling partner started snoring loudly. Felt listening to Ipod is much better than listening to his tunes and got the same from my hand bag. I plugged in my earphones and started playing my favorite tracks.

Don't know when the goddess of sleep took me out of this world and dropped me at the shore of my heart, where I usually prefer staying alone. Heart – I consider this to be a sea residing within me and its depth is unknown till today. It wets the shore with the waves of pleasure when I am happy and it wets the shore with the waves of sadness when I feel low and depressed also it wets the shore with the waves of feelings when I like Someone.

But don't know why on this particular day there were no clues of any of these waves on the shore. The shore was calm and serene without any uproar. All on a sudden I sensed someone walking down the shore. She came, She stayed and She played for a while though. She was gorgeous. This is when the first wave of pleasure made the move towards the shore. I thought I will let her know that I like her but it was too late when the waves of feelings reached the shore. She had walked far away from the shore by then. All that I was left with were her footprints on my shore which she forgot in a hurry of walking out.

I opened my eyes when the bus guy shouted “Wake up sir, you have reached your hometown” and couldn't believe that all I had visualized till then was a dream. I wore a smile on my face thinking about it and a second smile came in when I realized that fat snoring guy had got down in the previous terminus. Third one came in when I saw my dad after 3 months waiting in Bus Terminus followed by one more after meeting Mom.

Vacation was real fun but all attempts made to recall her face were unsuccessful!!