My College Life...

The thought of writing down 4 yrs of my life in say some 400 lines scares me a little. (Probably the reason why I never WROTE about my school life). ‘4 years’ is a long time! I don’t want to miss out some important incidents that are in the back of my head. I don’t want to miss thanking some people who made this life memorable, and blaming others who made it miserable. :P I can’t possibly fit in this post or even in this entire blog about all the things I feel are important in 4 yrs of my college life. (3.5 till now but for comfortness sake let’s make it 4). What I do want this post to express is just things that managed to stand in front of my thoughts, some fresh, some buried with age, nevertheless equally leveled so they can easily tumble down into words.

I remember my 1^st day as good as any, beaming with pride getting the college of my dreams, with my head held very high since I scored well in 12^th, expecting special treatment and on the lookout for the reputedly good looking PSG girls. It wasn’t long before both the feelings came tumbling down in front of my eyes. ;) Number one: Everyone there was highly intelligent in one way or other (I’ll tell you later what other ways are there). Number two: Well, if you come to the campus you will know.  

Getting adjusted to a class of huge strength and getting to know new people made the 1^st sem whiz past in a swift flow. Prem Chander – the man of bad words, Krishna Sriram – the tilted head and Anirudh Krishna became my initial gang. Special mention must go to Crystle Marian Vincent for opening me to a new world of ‘how close girls can be like guys’. The second sem I have to say, was funnier having overcome the initial shyness, everyone ‘mingled’ with everyone. I got to know more about Niranjanaa Ragupathy the perfectionist (may be ambitious or just general disregard for socializing ;)) and Swetha Shivakumar. I vividly remember ‘ChillOut’ event and more so the fights among the class ppl that followed. By the end of 1^st yr some disliked me for being a show off (which I was!) and some liked me for their own reasons, and I was just left with ‘Why did I leave my school??’ feeling.

The second year carried it with some surprises and shocks. A mixture of feelings - cold traces of betrayal to be set right by warm hands of friendship. While my friends ‘puffed’ their way to glory I was a little left out and became a ‘not so guy’ guy thanks to Crys and Niru;) for coining that. All the time my school pal Balakrishnan (also in my college though in a different department) acted as a bridge between school and college, a refuge when the latter turned bitter. In the meantime my department went to a whole new level of pissing us students off by introducing some ‘persons’ some of who need to attend 1^st std English class before coming to teach us!! I couldn’t forget one particular ‘person’ who made all our lives miserable and who made the two Prems to come up with many torture mechanisms the noteworthy one being ‘Rat trap – Shakila movie’. Physics is all these guys need!

I could honestly, without a flinch say 3^rd yr is the one I enjoyed the most (for reasons that may or may not be my college related ;)). Things were pretty much the same, college sucked/was fun the same level as it did last yr. But my attitude towards everything changed and I came to terms with PSG Tech’s way of being. Some time back I told I would later explain ‘the other ways’ where one can excel. For one thing Krishna can roll without spilling a morsel sitting in a roller coaster ride!! Kudos man! Padhu can (given the right time and place) can teach anyone (oh yeah ANYONE!!) any subject and make them pass. Swetha could ‘nibble’ her way out of all problems. Crystle could smell and laugh at an ‘A joke’ miles away before even the guys could begin to spell ‘A’. Saranya gopal moved from Orkut to facebook with relentless online time. Niranjanaa as usual would do all the assignments the day before even the teacher can think of giving them.

Everything upgraded to the next version, my bus journey became a bike journey, we became pre-final years, Every one of us had or almost had a girlfriend ;). Prem anand’s muscles were bigger than ever it and it looked like it was only a matter of time before he burst into pieces by work out and meditation. Cigarettes became joints and MC became Bacardi. The years of closeness did what it does best - bring out the differences. More than ever I wanted to go back to school.

The 6^th sem things started to spice up a little… Breakups, jealousy, stupidity but 10 times more enjoyment and it’s to no wonder my cgpa took a gradual decrease from 1^st sem to 6^th  sem! I hit it off with a couple of new friends Murali Krishna and Jeevitha Balakrishnan. Murali who still pees in his pants at the thought of his mom catching him doing something remotely wrong and who watches Ben10 (  I know!!!), but very helpful when it comes to friendship. Jeevitha a girl who falsifies her appearance to be quiet and innocent but in reality quite the opposite! Thanks for the gifts btw I do remember the IM times! I can hardly forget the placement preparation we three had together!!

The 7^th sem and the placements that followed are in my previous posts. Ahh I missed someone who came along with me from my 12^th to this sem, a good friend Shilpa Suresh(in Bala’s department). You would have studied of something called ‘Noble’ or ‘Ideal’ gases in Chemistry. She is one such gas I mean girl; all I can see is an embodiment of all that is good and virtuous! No wonder she didn’t ‘bond’ with anyone :P. Sowmya Baskaran(a misery girl whose doors are always open for problems) and Prem Anand(the gym freak with a passion for buying and selling on ebay) became closer. My gang grew in number wide but I must say it failed to grow depth wise. The differences I mentioned earlier took its toll eventually but I am glad the part of the group who sticked together did their part well J              

      I am sitting now in the middle of the last year penning this while half of the people I mentioned above are working as interns, some opted out and continuing with college, some like me are waiting to leave as students and emerge as professionals (in what? I have NO idea). All of the above mentioned friends  (yes friends) will remain etched in the college chapter of my life, of course some carved deeper than the other. But all in all I couldn’t decide now if I made the right choice 4 years back in choosing PSG Tech while sitting in counseling in front of a computer that’s very much similar to the one I am in front of now. One and a half years back I thought that was the worst mistake I ever did, now I am doubtful if it was a mistake, maybe… just maybe I need a few more years and time’s dubious ways to realize the wonder that is PSG tech college life!