Well thats the entrance to the place that i spent most of my time during this semester..and for most of that time..i was alone..
Warning:This post doesnt actually include funny incidents..it has been named so only to indicate that it is a continuation of one of the previous posts about my 1st semester experiences..
Dec 28,2008:
Boarded into the familiar surroundings again..another long four months were to be spent..had a not-so-good cg on my hand...had to put up a good one too..and i became the external publicity(EP) "coord" for amalgam(my dept tech fest)...so lots of things to look forward too...
Jan 1,2009:
New year...spent with my family...not so good a start(most of my starts on new years are not too good)..but i just hoped it would be a new beginning to me and to a famous tennis champion..
Jan,2009:
This month was by far the most fun filled through out the second sem...myself and my friend being EP coords for amalgam had to coordinate to publicise the event in colleges in tamilnadu...we tried to fix up appointments to arrive at a particular college and put up a presentation thus inviting students of the other colleges in an attractive way to boost up the numbers coming to our fest..
we also tried to woo the mech dept of various colleges as mech guys had to do a course related to out dept.. a typical chat with the hod of the mech dept of some college went like this..
Me:Hello sir, Is this Mr.X(say X is our mech hod of some arbit college)
X:Yes,Who is this?
Me:Sir, I am calling on behalf of the metallurgy dept of IIT Madras...we are conducting a tech fest called amalgam during the end of february sir...so for that we would like to invite students of your dept...for inviting students we thought it would be a good idea to put up a presentation...so when shall we come to your college?
X:What do u want?
Me:(sounding exhausted after that long patient speech)..sir, we are conducting a dept tech fest called amalgam sir
X:ok
Me:we would like to invite your students for that by putting up a presentation..
X:ok
Me:so when can we come to your college?
X:why do u have to come here?
Me:(aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh)...we want to put up a presentation as an invitation sir
X:oh!!!!!!!!ok....(realising the thing i am tryin to say only now...cha)
Me:so when can we come sir..
X:you do one thing...i have to ask the students and my fellow professors about this...so call me up tomorrow..
Me:when sir?
X:say 10 o' clock in the morning
Me:Thank you sir..(he hungs up before i complete the sentence)
The next morning the above conversation again takes place and if i am lucky i fix up an appointment...if not...well...one more time :(
But doing all that we did fix up appointments in various colleges...and we did cover a decent number(ceg,mit,ssn,jeppiar,sastra,nitt)and we did send oral invitations and email invitations to some of the other colleges..
jan20:had a very bitter experience at ceg...the hod was a psycho...the students completely uninterested(gosh...bad start)..
jan21:mit was superb...the experience was nice and so was the warmth of the people there...had a nice time there apart from putting the presentation required(and it did work as some people did turn up)....i did catch up with my best friend here...so all together a memorable experience..
jan28:ssn...the travelling experience was horrible..we had to change over three buses to reach there...and it took us more than 90 mins to do so(and the sun was really killing)..and after getting down at the college gate we had to walk for another 15 mins in the blazing sun(i was burnt like coal by then)....we entered the mech dept...a dilapitated building for one which was only a year old(!!!!!!)...and the hod wasnt there...we waited for almost 2 hrs...ate a sick plate of noodles for lunch(yuck)...and finally we gotta chance to meet him...but he turned down our offer of a presentation(it was hearbreak really)...and when we were walking toward the entrance my phone rang...he called us back...and we did manage to put up a presentation(the most disappointing fact was that..the mech guys over there had not heard of internships...and there was just ONE good looking girl there :( :( :(...)...
we visited jeppiar college the same evening...well...not worth an experience to mention..
jan31:
a memorable day of my life..myself and my friend had reached trichy that morning...to cover sastra and nitt...we reached sastra pretty early in the morning...my friend abandoned me to chat with his friend(he left me all alone for 5 hrs...cha...ungrateful fellow)...i was practically there only to correct one of the greatest mistakes of my life(one of the main reasons i became an ep coord)...but looking back i dont think i have corrected it(never had a chance really)...anyways it was nice to catch up with some old friends...it was a nice experience except for the excruciating sun and the lack of shades..
we reached nitt by 4 in the evening...and i did catch up with some old friends there too..and the hod of the meta dept of the college was so warm and hospitable...and the class rep of the dept,who had promised me to bring mech students also gave some excuses for bringing up only meta students..but we did put up a nice presentation(the results showed in amalgam)..we had dinner over there with our friend(and saw a very good looking girl there sitting right across us :P...)..and finally we returned to our city the following morning...the day is still fresh in my mind...
jan21-jan25:
For those studying in my college, the first line of this post should be pretty familiar coz it was the tagline of saarang 05....yup...saarang is the pinnacle of life at iitm...the most colorful(pun intended)days of iitm are these 4 1/2 days...just fun and nothing else...inspite of all the fun i did make two event finals(out of some 7/8 i participated in)...so it was nice...and the pro shows were great...though sonu nigam lacked variety he put sufficient enthu to rock the "OAT"...opeth was "God-level" for rock fans...kanyakumari was sensational...shobana brilliant on her own terms...and DJ Rekha also rocked...5 days of fun...5 days when you forget everything...thats saarang!!!!!!!!!!
feb 1st week:
my friend and i were in the smithy workshop...i was holding a red hot iron piece through a pair of handles...my friend was banging on it to bring it to the required shape...and a slip in balance...bang...the piece shot up in air...fell right on my friend's right hand...he was shivering in pain...later after consulting doctors at the insti hospital(and undergoing treatment of course) he came to know that the burn would create a permanent scar on his hand...i felt so bad for him..but i couldnt help it nor express it...it was a bad thing to happen really..
feb 3rd week,mid sem1:
disaster-thats one way of putting it...i made many crude errors...and after the first four exams i felt devastated...some overwhelming force made those errors for me..and i had never done four exams in a row so badly..was feeling let down...and moreover i was studying alone and the solitude about my room did hurt me a lot...i did reasonably well in the other two exams to acquire a sense of relief..
feb 4th week:
mid sems results came and i was filled with relief as i had done physics and my dept exam actually well comparing my fellow mates...so damage done only to the other two of the four exams i had thought i did badly...some consolation in the end and my mind was beginning to feel relaxed...i also bought a comp during the course of this week..served as a distraction as well as reduced my anxiety...
feb28-march2:
Amalgam finally took place...i had also become an event coord for jaagruthi(a school students awareness programme)and i had to conduct a cluedo event for them...hurriedly prepared a question paper the previous night of the event and got it bulk printed with the help of my classmates(they helped a lot)...and the event was pretty good...i conducted it as smoothly as i could and received some compliments from some of the audiences(that was nice...that was the second time i got such compliments and first in my college)..the event had a prelims and a final..prelims was written and in the finals the participants had to play the board game of cluedo...
Our EP work was a reasonable success as totally close to 200 people turned up for amalgam...our boss was happy with our work...
there was this SoME(analogous to shaastra's SOE)and they did produce a tank of non newtonian fluid..it was fun to play with it...they also created a solar powered bicycle...nice work really...
so overall amalgam was a nice experience...and served up a good weekend..
march beginning:
worst part of the semester...depressed due to the sudden wave of solitude..was missing most of my friends..for long my comp was my only companion...
march 2nd week,mid sem2:
pulled off well this time...the work that had gone into it showed..finally full relief..
april beginning:
solitude was still there..but i was not disappointed as i was in march...saw a lot of movies(alone this time around)...hammered myself into my room...and also managed to become a coord for shaastra 09(ya...luck involved for sure...agree)..
april end,end sem:
the most anticipated time of the year...i wanted to fight harder this time around than i did the last time... wanted to put up a reasonably better show...did well in my dept course,math and ee...not so well in cs and phy...so..overall it was an "ok" feel...it all came down to chemistry
the day before:
after math exam i had lunch and returned to the room...somehow i slept and bathed and read(newspapers)my time till about 7 in the night...then had dinner...had a chat with friends..(as usual these people belonged to the RG gang...so obviously they boosted me for no reason)..i finally started chemistry at 9 in the night(most people had almost finished half the portions by then)..i read and read and read and finally finished organic by 2 in the night...then had some snacks to quell my hunger..then started inorganic...it was close to day break and still i hadnt completed one important portion of it...it was 4 45 by my watch...i gave up and slept the next two hours...
the morning:
i woke up to a very sunny day clouded by a fog(actually it was a fog in my mind...everything seemed to be covered in a whitish cloud)...went to the mess and had one big gulp of hot coffee(took a lot more than usual)...by the time i reached the exam hall the fog had partially disappeared...but then my brain was refusing to think...refusing to think of anything at all...it was just blank...it wanted to be blank...and then deep down a fear rose within me whether i would even pass this exam...coz my brain just wouldnt think...the paper was given...for the first fifteen mins i was dizzy...i hadnt cracked any of the questions..got no momentum going in my favour and i couldnt think sequentially...but luckily i didnt panic and the dizzyness slowly went off...and luck again(rather divine intervention, thats more i like it)no tough question had been asked from the portion i had omitted to read the previous night...did the exam reasonably well..
came back to the room..downloaded a lot of movies...packed my belongings...slept a little...and looked forward to three months of rest, of holidays, of sheer relaxation....
and there ends my first year at iitm....a memorable one...looking forward to more memorable experiences and thought-filled years..
cheers,
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