Discovered the print-out this article, while digging through my old stuff, a few days back. Scanned it, and converted it to a document using an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software, and put it up here... Mainly, coz this was one of my first write-ups which I was very satisfied with since I got kudos from all those who read it in our magazine
"Been there, done that". The journey of becoming Electrical and Electronics engineers from this institute, will undoubtedly rate as one of the finest phases in all our lives. Standing on the threshold of completing this journey, looking back, brings a deluge of mixed emotions and memories…
First Year
Spread in various sections in the first year, our daily menu contained warnings and jeering, from seniors and peers, both from our own, and more so, from the other branches, about the impending doom that we had all embraced. Amidst these, was the heartening rise of stars, Mochi and Sushmita, who scored whopping percentages in the semester exams of both Physics and Chemistry cycles. But the critics just said "abhi chance hai, toh ud rahe hain! Aage unke branch mein jaane ke baad, aisa kahan hoga?!" But they'd spoken a bit too early.
Semester III
The top three students applying for branch change - Sushmita, Mochi and Prasad - were from our branch. But their aspirations of jumping the boat to tronics were quashed, with no seats being offered in the already overflowing tronics class. At that time, we didn't know if we had to rejoice or feel depressed with this, but today, we're glad, we retained the gems. We were formally welcomed into the branch in a sad fresher’s party, given by our immediate seniors. The sem contained basic courses in Electrical machines, measurements, circuits and field theory, which were served to us with huge helpings of discipline. The CR elections, keenly contested between Ibrahim and Rohan ended in a dramatic tie, and a coin toss saw Rohan take the reins. But the election fever elicited stinging responses from Rao sir, the election officer, which manifested in verbal bashing the following day. The sem exams came by, and the much feared machines lab viva, by Sridhar sir witnessed an unbelievable incident - Boosnur's explanation on eddy currents in transformer cores, and related electric shocks, christened "Finger Burn Theory" by Sridhar himself, saw the latter nearly fall of his chair laughing! Another Faraday was born.
Semester IV
Determined not to be deterred by the misconception of being a no-fun branch, we decide to let our hair down and planned a class trip to Karkala, Kudlu falls, Sringeri and Kigga falls. The trip was a runaway success and helped change many an opinion, but Dasi's alleged ulterior motive behind having the dinner on the trip day at his home, was the topic of hot speculation for quite a few days to follow. The trip saw us spiritedly through the rest of the semester, with the classes plagued with more machines (ugh!), op-amps, network analysis and T&D. In the sem exams, Mochi and Sushmita hit records out of the park scoring 96 and 95 percent respectively, unheard in the history of the college. The critics, cynical about the scoring in our branch were silenced forever.
Semester V
Third year brought with it the onus of being seniors in the branch. The freshers party we threw to the second years was honestly, far better than the one we were given. We, the hosts enjoyed it more thoroughly than the guests. The party encouraged many to shed their inhibitions and come together and have the maximum fun. (Jello turned out to be the chupa rustum) In class, Smash stopped asking questions in the dying moments of Economics classes after being threatened to be beaten. Object oriented programming concepts taught using java, saw arrows flying all over the board, and made us a jack in yet another 'hot' field. j.1P by Rao, arguably the best taught course in our curriculum, saw most resumes registering it as the favorite subject - although the 'don't-drag-the-chairs' j.1P lab was seldom visited by many. And the star electronics course - Digital Systems Design, taught us an even more important lesson in human relations, when the sem paper showed who the ring master was.
Semester VI
The presence of only one examiner in the fifth sem μP lab, saw our results being held up, and a viva conducted. Although it was "rules being followed", the entire incident reeked of clash of egos. Even sem became necessarily synonymous with the class trip and with the girls dropping out, the guys had a superb time at Attur church, Jomlu and Onake Abbe falls, without having to bother to remain within limits. Mudit's DJing ("Everybody now ... aah aah") showed our true colors to our staff escort, and the look it left on his face, made the trip even more memorable!! Power systems, advanced controls and Special Machines were around in the class. But mention worthy was the DSP course, where most classes saw 'the caravan proceed' (!) and students stand as pillars unable to answer 'simple' questions, and stories about the great food at IISc. The meticulously planned Java lab went a long way in improving our position, from the previous sem, from "we've-heard-it" to "we've-worked-on-it". Placement fever started catching up, with meetings with the placement officer, Vijayan sir, pep talks, and noisy debates during the company-ranking process and a brief stint of GDs with Rao sir as the overseer. Although aptis were being practiced, refreshing the subject knowledge took a back seat, with the consolation of a two month vacation after the sem exams.
Semester VII
Final year is about a potpourri of emotions - being beneath none, placements, realization of time running out and the need to live life to the hilt... Placements ruled the roost in the initial days. Thanks largely to the wonderful effort by our own Vijayan sir (the best thing to happen to the placements) and his team, and the buoyant economy, most students were placed in the first month itself. Classes were mostly cancelled, but even later on, were thinly populated, initially, to appear for the placements, and then to celebrate the success - the 'chill out' mantra didn't spare us too. Mochi's perfect 1600 in GRE was the talk of the college. The Fuzzy Logic - ANN elective, although brilliant, mainly helped us by gifting a refined word to our vocabulary, to represent anything incomprehensible. Students given assignments in 1M class, either vanished, or rarely strayed to the class. The 'do-it-when-you-want Controls' and Power System Lab, was a harrowing experience, and most forgettable. And the computer networking (one of the most loathed subjects) power point presentation classes had few takers, most of who dozed through them. And did someone say project work? What was that?!!
Semester VIII
The most dreaded sights now in class (for the few who turn up), is the right top corner of the board, which reads: 'The Final Countdown - Days to go: 50' (a la The Girl Next Door). Roshan, one of the few trical ICONs in several years has just lead the silver jubilee celebration of INCI to a phenomenal success. The long awaited branch t-shirt, has final materialized and has been the neighbors' envy and owners' pride, and has also seen a great photo session. Prasad and Smash have redeemed their rightful place by notching up the 5th and 31" ranks in GATE. The CR leads most guys in cooling their heels back in the blocks and occasionally paying visits to the classes. And hoping a teacher does not tur'1 up, is synonymous to ensuring that Bhupesh is in the class this charm has worked for us over a dozen times, and almost always, when he's been on time!! Most people came to know of their electives on the day of the first sessionals, i.e., those who attended them! And people are slowly waking up to finally acknowledge the presence of a project and seminar.
As the time, we are left with, here in the college, is being led to the gallows, the four years spent here in college and our branch flashes back as a movie strip. And saying that, it seems just yesterday that we came in is definitely not speaking in cosmic terms. Although we'll be walking with a heavy heart, lots of memories and experiences, and electrical engineering in our blood, we'll definitely have the satisfaction of having left a unique and indelible mark in the history of our department at KREC / NITK.
The Unforgettables:-
- Smash on being caught in the class - "Your class is boring ma'am" .
- "They are the scum of the abyss"
- “You will fail…” (and a nasty smile)
- "Aakara pushti. naivedya nashti "
- "I know how to cut the tails of the monkeys" .
- "I think the figure is self - explanatory" .
- "I don't know that. You refer senior faculty ... Do it, Do it. .. "
Proudly yours
TRICAL 05
- Subhash HS
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