5 point someone ::Living the story:: Part 3

The second rung of tests had already pushed my morale so low that the potholes in the college ground also seemed flat. Thus oasis was the only highlight in an otherwise dull and depressing week. The anxiety levels had touched a new high among the first years specially. With all the fuss, it seemed to me like it was less of a college fest and I pictured it something like a live linkin park performance or some BIG FAMOUS event with many (if not “all”) colleges all over India competing to get in!! Lost in this daze and reason clouded with fancy dreams, I waited rather impatiently for the event. This was also the time I found out that actual work had to be done when you are part of a department.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Department and Club “thing” at our place. So, Bits-Pilani, the no.1 ranked private institute in the country is virtually controlled by students when it comes to internal affairs! Everything ranging from security to sponsorship is student run. To some extent I support this system as it is what I dreamt of. By the students, for the students! As nice as it may sound, that sentence has a small devil. That brings us to the first lesson you “actually learn” here (the acad stuff is… well... mostly just required to be mugged up). Gather around kids and clear all the wax from your ear, lesson one: IT IS EASIER TO APPEASE A PISSED OFF PROF AS COMPARED TO A PISSED SENIOR!! Yes... that’s true and the ugly truth too. So, keep your seniors happy… and good things will just HAPPEN. Getting back to the point, even these departments, amongst themselves are divided into levels. Two things at Bits-Pilani will take you more than one stint at the college to learn, one being ALL the short-forms and what means what in which context and where! And the other is all the departments and clubs and associations and forums and ****gasping for breath*****, how they function, operation, and other balderdash. So, I am (proudly) a part of one of these “minor departments” called CCTV which does all the stereotypical “geeky” stuff that makes people drop down their jaws in awe. So, I’ve been glorifying this department and all its operations all this while, where lies the catch? There has to be one right? Well, not one, there are two! The first being the old stereotyping problem. Girls look upon you as being the typical “smart-ass” know-it-all shy nerd who neither knows nor gives two hoots about girls (NOT TRUE!!! Quite a few dudes are in the department.) The second was a perennial drought of girls IN the department (for obvious reasons, though those who DID use their brain effectively did make it in). No offence.

During recruitment we were told a lot about the kind and magnitude of work to expect in the months to come. It seemed easy to handle and light at the time. As the much-hyped cul-fest was around the corner, the jobs and more so the pressure was mounting. Night-outs became something common. So much so that I remember seeing the time as 2 am more than I saw my own face in the mirror every morning…. rather afternoon (if I got up early) As I guess I said before, sunrise and sunset were indistinguishable only that we knew we never could possibly see the former, as it always took place at unearthly hours (as far as we were concerned). It was during this period that the All Night Canteen (ANC, going to get to that in a later post) became our favorite haunt. Work hours extended early into the morning hours on days, with gaming being one way to relax ourselves. Finally as the day arrived, anxiety was at fever pitch!

Continued Part 4…….. 