The year is 1998, i dont remember the month or date (typical me). Context is me going to the college for the admission. The place is Trichy Central Bus Stand(CBS is its better known form). What i can not describle or rather find words to describe is the expression on my Moms face. Let me try another way.. picture this.. in the parable Prodigal Son assume that the prodigal son returns as the President of USA. Can u imagine the proud-filled face of his father. Well Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V over my mom's face. She was more excited than anyone about me making into REC-Trichy, Computer Science (no less). I thought my virtues paid. She knew how lucky I was. Mother knew better! (Yes REC stand for Regional Engineering college and yes yes it is NIT-Trichy now.)
I lived in trichy during my higher secondary years, even before my family could move there (on Feb'98). But not once i had been to the campus which would host the next four fabulous years of my life. So as i was saying we(me & mom) were all set(admission card + certificates) with great expectations and got into the first Thanjur bus that was available. Only latter i would learn how lucky we were that day..not every bus stops at RECT(more on this latter).
Very little Chit-chat and 40 minutes latter, we set foot on a hot plate of tar. My first impression we got down at the wrong stop. I almost cried out "Salior Marooned!!" or something to that effect behind the retreating bus. All my expectations went down the tubes.
RECT was exactly in the middle of nowhere, a hot desert with no trees or anything remotely green around! Hello.. this is Trichy for crying out loud. A few miles the other way river Cauvery flows (or used to flow, courtesy Karnataka)! Them my mother told me this is not in the delta belt of Cauvery. i thought, yeah! quite far off indeed. We walked a few meters and i could see some huge rocks peeping out from the earth. They looked like rocks formed due to valconic eruption. What a pity, RECT do not have any Geology graduate program in the offerring.
After a hundred meters walk we are in the administrative block and a professor(i persumed) directed us to the where the admission procedure was on, the BARN he called it(interesting, i thought, bcos my first knowledge of the word 'barn' comes from a certain Penthouse book). Enter the most proud mother and me. I forgot there were so many of them, i mean the students + the parents + the relatives + the distant relatives. Hoping to eye some cheese/maal i would be sharing my college years with we ambled and sat among the crowd. Luck was always my foe.
RECT trivia: How are the RECT girls better known as?
Answer: Non-males.
Yes guys non-males, believe me. After careful survey over the lot, it hit me that i choose the wrong college. Not a good sign to start with. "Hey! Dont lose hope. This is only the TN crowd. The other states admission is still to come." my ever so shrewd inner voice assured me. How wring it was again as i found out some days latter.
RECT trivia: How are the RECT northie-girls better known as?
Answer: Non-males with a fair complexion.
Seriously, whoever said "Beauty and brain dont go together" is a genius. I still havent met anyone who can prove this otherwise(for the single girls who want to prove me wrong, im available anytime).
Mildly put, the entire admission process was extremely boring and all i got out of it was a single sheet.The only information the sheet provided that i dont know already was my to be Roll number: 1980057.They even confiscated my certificates for this sheet. How rude!
I stared at the single sheet for quite some time and then it dawned on me, I just exchanged all my efforts in life for the last 16 years to this sheet. I told my mother what i discovered. She gave me a wry-smile(tough audience, i thought) and confiscated it from me. She cannot trust me with it, she explained. How rude!
The journey back home, i dont remember at all. But i distinctly remember i had a feeling "It is going to be interesting!".
bfn.
Labels: Indulgent me
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