AL-MA MATER(S)

I thought it would be appropriate for my first ever blog to be about my college,the place where I picked up a few traits like street smartness,studying smart(and not hard) and knowing about the college-ki-murgi dal barabar syndrome.Love you BMS on that count.. :)

The journey began in 2001.I was confident that my CET rank would be somewhere in the 300s and that I would get an admit in Electronics in my dream college SJCE in mysore.But come the physics CET paper and life got screwed.I dint want to leave home for computer/info science in SJCE and decided I will do my engineering in Bangalore.Also I had made a decision that I will not take a payment seat.For a rank of 853,a seat in BMS or RV or PESIT was unthinkable because I was adamant about the evergreen branch of Electronics.

Suddenly someone told me that UVCE(University Visweswaraya College of Engineering) was a very good college,the oldest one at that.The name dint ring a bell to me but I was told that my uncle studied there long time ago. One call and a few parleys later,I still wasnt convinced whether I should indeed study there,because of the BU tag.

Come the first round of counselling and I was in two minds whether to choose UVCE or another college in south bangalore which a moron had told me was very good.It turned out that the particular college was not at all special and generally roped in people in hordes if they had a longshot ranking.

I made a tough decision that I will go to UVCE,located in the heart of this great city,Bangalore.

Now started the tough time.Whomever I met thought I was going to RVCE and not UVCE and when I told them it was UVCE,they were candid and went"UVCE na? adu bangalore university alva? adu chennagilla anta keliddini" and I went in my mind "nan karma.decision final aytu.innenu madakke agalla".As a parting repartee they tried to console me so as to think,saying that this was old news and may be its gotten better now. But the wounds were inflicted and the damage was done.

When I entered the college on 1st October 2001,my preconcieved notions were only justified.It was located in the heart of the city yes but the campus was sprawling and well maintained(pun intended).It looked like it was Visweswaraya's dream project and that they had not made any changes to it after he left mother earth. The windows were scary to say the least and antique to put it best.

2001 was a time when on campus placements were at the nadir and UVCE was known for its good placements being a government college.This was another decision that drove me to KR Circle.

Classes were about to begin that day and we had a cross section of people pouring in.The rich,poor,middle class,aunties,uncles,but strictly no eye candy.It felt strange after being in the midst of a glam crowd in my previous college in Mangalore.

As days went on and classes came and went,we got used to the sound of automobiles zooming past us when class was in full swing and it became a part of life almost.

Time passed by and when I turned around, I found many other people who were in the same boat,some worse off. As we formed a gang of our own and started cribbing about the college and consoling each other to study we began to realise that we were getting better.

The apathy of the college authorities,if taken in the literal sense was enough to drive you mad,but surprisingly it made us independent and we began to ignore the negative points.

There wasnt any spoon feeding going on and I have never learnt so much from discussion with peers.This was a new setup and it was slowly sinking in.

Then came the fun time.Bunking classes,eating food in a morose canteen,exploring all the movies in town,going to each others place for timepass were a part of the strict regimen.

The college was least bothered about us but we somehow thrived in the environ.It gave us a reason to smile,to enjoy,while at the same time remember that exams were serious business.

Internals were always fun time and for details have a look at
http://prometheus0611.blogspot.com/
in the internal matters section.

The icing on the cake was great placements in 6th and 7th semester where most of the eligible people got placed on campus,which reaffirmed our faith in our college.

The irony is that after we pass out of college,whenever I go to meet my friends on weekends,I see some strange faces whom I never saw in 2001-05 there.Before I continue they are indeed my classmates but only that their trips to college has increased manifold now, after passing out because they realise its importance now.

Before I get emotional on the subject,I would like to end this blog.

Hope it has made a small place in your hearts. :)