Goodbye!

10th June 2015

I glimpsed across the semi-rusty door of the train and watched as two young men ran along , gaining speed desperately trying to keep up with the train, they knew will soon outclass them. The inevitable truth slowly sunk into my heart. A realization that I eluded for the last 6 months of college hit me hard. Tears rolled down my eyes, as two of my best friends waved goodbye fiercely, gradually tending towards becoming a distant blur.

I had left the place I called home for the last four years, for good. I remember my first few days as an undergraduate student of engineering, involved a great deal of fear, of uncertainties that lay ahead. I was a pampered single child who had left the warmth and protective surrounding of my parents and travelled 2000km from a major metropolitan city, to a university somewhere amidst the Himalayas of which I knew squat about. Truth be told, I never completely understood my decision of joining SMIT back then. I did have other options back in my city.

Today, I realized I didn't need a college in my city, with  abundant opportunities. I needed a college which was willing to give me the freedom to try, fail and get back on my feet. I needed to build the optimistic approach of creating opportunities, when we don't have many, A situation, quiet common at some point or the other, in life.

I needed the environment where, no one including my parents could protect me from facing problems, fighting challenges. I wanted to break free of my preconceived notions, test myself, to discover my potential, to build my grit, and keep up levels of optimism as high as possible even on days which weren't mine. I become independent and learnt to access untapped creative potential. 

In the first few months I used to believe that I was far from home. I was alone in this place, where I could barely manage to get by in the common tongue. I was alone in my fight for survival in engineering, pursuing challenging courses I knew nothing of. Over the years a lot of things changed, those initial feelings of solitude vanished within the first semester. I met some of my best friends in college. 

My friends became my family, my college became my home. Together, we pulled some impressive feats. We experimented with life with every opportunity we got. We discovered the joy in dancing on stage like wild buffoons in front of 500 people in a cultural event, in winning debate competitions that had nail-biting finishes. The excitement of presenting research papers in an auditorium full of people, where everyone except you and your friend seemed to be a subject expert on the topic, that you unintentionally chose for a project. When you are among friends, you lose all inhibitions of the mind. You wouldn’t mind looking like clowns on the dance floor, despite photographs going viral post culturals. It becomes a treasured memory, despite it having a strong effect on your judgment towards the idea of dancing in public.

If you succeed in something you try together, there is an unparalleled joy in winning. If you get screwed while studying together for an exam, there is the satisfying feeling that you are all screwed together. Time is faster that we think and even before you realize it, some of the best moments of your life pass you by.  

There are unspoken words that I couldn't tell these remarkable people I called best friends. If I dont pen it down, I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

Surendranath Reddy : From the first day of college till the last second I spent of campus, he has been my greatest source of support and courage whenever I have wanted to do anything constructive. From starting literary clubs, teaming up for university debates to presenting our research work together in International Conferences where we were the only idiots present, we have faced innumerable tight situations together. Heck we even got blasted by our teachers together. None of these experiences would have been possible, if you weren't around to help me come out of my shell. I probably wouldn't have lasted the first week of college, if it weren't for you. Its been a real pleasure working with you and knowing you.

Pushpak Chakraborty : The man who keeps me in check and constantly pushes me into becoming a better person. You have made me strong, by putting me through hell. You have made me do some crazy things I would normally never do, and have given me memories that I associate as the best time in my life. Thank you.

KRN Kashyap : Life in smit is incomplete without you. My senior, mentor, my guide, and one of my best friends. You have encouraged me when I tried anything new and corrected me innumerable times when I was wrong. Thank you for everything Anna!

Siddarth Surya: My labpartner for 3 years. Over time we have collaborated and worked on many things. I love those 9 hours in lab which we wasted every week, talking and mocking other people. You have been one of my best friends, and my only regret is that I wish we had known  eachother since 1st year! You are an amazing friend, you black piece of shit!

Rupam Sinha : Shortie! The time I have truely known you has been short and sweet! I wouldn't have cleared B.Tech if it wasn't for your helpful notes before every exam. You are kind, mature, smart and above all, a fierce friend, whome I know I can count on. The latest addition to my inner circle of friends and the only girl in it. You truly are an exceptional person. Cheers!

Ritik Kumar Singh : I met you in 1st year, and thought you were some sort of quiet guy, who is shy. I met you again in Second year, and found out I was wrong. You have made unbearably boring classes a completely entertaining one. You have the gift. Most of the time, you sprout out absolute rubbish, and nonsense. Yet you throw people into fits of laughter. You can change anyone's mood with your gift. Your the guy to come to, when I am depressed and screwed. Ritik, you are an amazing friend who I will always treasure. I love you man! Stay awesome

I cannot begin to describe, what I would give, to spend another day, to spend with these remarkable people. To walk in those lousy corridors and listen to those mundane classes together.

College, excuse me for my language, screws you in so many ways that after certain time, you grow numb to the fear of failure. You only remember the pain of it all, which ultimately transforms you into a stronger individual.

When I left college yesterday, I still have the same confused mindset on my career and life that I arrived in college with. I haven't succeeded yet in my goals, but I learnt the art of pursuing them relentlessly until I reach my pinnacle of success. I learnt to rise back up, every time I fall down. I learnt to be responsible for my life and give every opportunity my best. I learnt to treat my wins and losses impartially and constantly strive for the better tomorrow. I learnt that the world has many talented and remarkable people, and that each of them have something we can learn from. Yet it is important to never forget that we as individuals have something to offer too.

I learnt that life is short, and what we do in our lives may never really have an impact on the world, yet it is important that we do it anyway. Because, our decisions affect the lives of people around us and in essence, the world.

" Once again, we are strangers in this world, but this time, with memories"

The Value of Self Decipline

When one thinks about success and what it takes to be successful, self-discipline is certainly not the first thing that occurs to our mind. We attribute success to hard work or the never say die attitude. Hard work is certainly the key ingredient to success. When the burning desire to succeed takes physical form, it’s called hard work. But blindly working hard is not sufficient.

A large group of people believe that belief in ideas and in ourselves can play a pivotal role on your road to success. But we also bear the risk of blind belief and faith with no sense of logic or motivation that could lead to a disaster in the personality.

Clearly success can be attributed to several other factors but all of them remain incomplete without one important aspect. Your planning can be perfect but it’s equally pointless when you cannot execute your plan, and execution requires something more. It’s what completes all the above attributes. Yes, self-discipline. Hard work could work for a day, but it takes perseverance in your work to be successful and perseverance takes self-discipline. A committed effort cannot be put in a work without self-discipline.

Steve Jobs, in an interview, told that the most important thing required for success is doing what you love, because to be successful at something requires immense perseverance and any sane person would eventually give up if it’s not something he loves to do.

Once again perusing what we love is important but it takes self-discipline in us to keep going and not quit half the way. One does encounter triumph and disaster in life, we often get carried away by either of them, we either become over confident when we are doing well which will eventually lead to failure or we become depressed over our losses. To see success at the end of the tunnel, in the words of Rudyard Kipling, one must learn to treat both these imposters, just the same.

Again it takes self-discipline to keep ourselves grounded to our aims, to not deviate or give up.   

Belief in one’s ideas is necessary, but blind belief is sure to end in a disaster, one must admit when one is wrong and be disciplined enough to correct himself and progress towards success

When we extrapolate our reasoning we realize that self-discipline is probably the most important component for success, it’s what drives us to think different and peruse success beyond realms of competition, it’s what drives us to never give up on dreams and peruse them irrespective of our past. It’s what drives a mother to not give up on her child when he makes a mistake and what makes a leader stand tall and cheer his team to not give up even on the face of defeat, it’s what unites us with our dreams and ambitions and gives us the strength to push ourselves beyond our limits. It’s the voice inside the child that tells him that the world is his playground and that the sky is the limit to achievement; it’s what makes winners become champions and champions break their own records, thereby setting a new record.

Lastly I would like to leave you pondering on a quote by Albert Einstein

"If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.” and that too requires self-discipline!

The Refusal.

What are we afraid of?

What is it that stops us from asking another anything,.

It’s quiet simple actually, refusal , the fear of refusal to be more precise

I remember my lesson on refusal clearly. Back when I was a child, I had an extreme craze for toys. The brand of hot wheels was new in the country. It was what every 10 year old yearned for. Very few kids in class actually had the entire set. Most kids had to be content with just the car.

My dad had been generous with regard to almost anything that I had ever asked. For most of the time I didn’t even have to ask, he would buy it for me. Sometimes even before I got the feeling that I wanted something, I had it. Yeah you could say that I was one of those happy kids with great dads who would spoil them with everything they could ever want.

So one fine day I decided to ask him for the new hot wheels set(which basically included a car, and a racing track to run the car). My father , like most fathers had this immense interest in the newspaper every morning, which a ten year old me could not understand, the truth is even the 20 year old me can’t understand that keen an interest in reading the newspaper. Most fathers are so engrossed in reading the newspaper that they are hardly listening to what you are saying during that time and nod their heads almost automatically, to almost anything you say. I used to use this small time period for breaking all the bad news from school and asking whatever I wanted which included signatures in my report cards , toys, eat out’s, and at a later time in my life, money.

Anyway the ten year old me , like me, was a smart kid. Very observant. I used this gap and asked him for the hot wheels toy and he gave his usual reply “hmmm..” which I could interpret as a yes and a promise that can be redeemed at any later time.

Two months passed, my toy was still not with me, I was growing impatient.  During the holidays, we were planning to visit some relatives and my dad took me along for buying some toys for the kids. I asked him if I could finally get what I wanted so badly.  “Not today Saketh, maybe next time” he said. I was growing impatient, I was losing my cool. To a child, the world is small and there are few things that could possibly attract. When children don’t get what they want, they throw a tantrum. I was no different, I made a fuss that I badly wanted the toy. But like all parents my dad was firm on what he said.

That one incident that happened almost ten years back, taught me a lesson, something small yet significant, it was something that I would remember for years later.

What was it that I learnt? To understand that , we need to understand what really hurt me that day.

Most people would tell me what appears rather obvious and deceivingly true. Most people would say that it was the fact that I did not get the toy that hit me hard. For many years of my life, I thought so too. But if we carefully observe, its not the fact that I didn’t get what I wanted that let me down. It was my dad refusing to buy me.

Let me explain

I expected my dad to buy me the toy, and more often than not, I used to get whatever I asked for. But that day when I was refused the toy, it hurt badly. I understood that being refused something from people we rely upon to deliver could hurt us very badly

Years later when my friend and I were planning on a road trip, we needed our parents’ consent for adventuring out. My friend had been postponing the task of talking to his parents, for that matter so was I. When I asked him, what it was that stopped him from talking it out with his dad, he replied “It’s not that he wouldn’t’ allow, it’s just that I am afraid that he might say no. and if does say no, it would hurt me”

Parents often give children whatever they want, sometimes even without asking. But as children grow up, and mature they stop asking their parents for everything they desire. They hide what they like and grow afraid to open up to the people who love them the most in this world, and the reason they hide themselves, their likes and dislikes, is the fact that they are afraid, afraid that their parents won’t approve of it, afraid that their parents would refuse them what they desire in their hearts.

Disapproval or refusal amounts to just one thing in the eyes of the person expecting, it makes them feel really bad, even make them regret that they even asked or sought after.

Unlike my subjects, people’s minds do not follow a pattern, they cannot be learnt, and they cannot be predicted.

But just because we are afraid of being refused, does it mean that we do not even ask? A wise man once said “if you never try, then you will never know”

Yet it’s the trying that most of us fear

Two of my close friends, both of them happened to be a few years elder to me, happened to be in a relationship. I had known these people for years now. They were always the best of friends since high school and they had been going out since college. They understood each other‘s goals, aspirations and what they desired out of life. They loved each other and were practically inseparable. Obviously like all love stories, the climax is most cases and the beginning in some, happens to be the part where they tell their parents and decide to get married.

 Unlike what they show in movies, reality too disappoints. Most of the couples live the rest of their lives trying to convince their parents, some give up and some even die trying.

Well unfortunately, I am single so I really don’t get what the hype and drama is really all about, nor am I interested in finding out. All I did know was that these two seemed happy together and they both were really good friends of mine.

One evening, my friend turns up and tells me that he is thinking of telling his parents and asked me for ideas. I told him that I neither had the knowledge on relationships nor experience to advise him and told him that I was the least qualified person on earth to help him.

He told me his fears, the fear of his parents disapproving, the fear of refusal.

I smiled. Our parents love us more than anyone in this world. They nurtured us taught us and still continue teaching us. Compared to what they know, what we know and understand is negligible. True, but there is something they taught us. They taught us to learn, learn from what you really believe in your heart, and follow that dream no matter what. And no matter how hard it may be to believe sometimes, they do desire our happiness.

That evening, I told him what I knew, “if you never try, you will never know”

Sure the fear of refusal often gets in our way. Some famous person once said “We create our own demons”. To fear something and not even try , to give up in what you really believe, to fear that you would fail or that you would be denied what you really like all amounts to one strong characteristic trait – A coward.

I say that it’s much better to fail, much better to lose, and rather to be disappointed, hurt and denied.

My friend listened quietly as I inspired him. In the end he asked me a question that I did not know the answer for. “What if they say no?” I instantaneously replied “Then god help you!”

People often need to learn to speak up, ask for what you desire and maybe even fight for it. Even a mother does not know that a child is hungry unless the child cries. If a mother cannot figure out what exactly you want, how can we expect the world to do so. It is ridiculous to think that people would pay attention and somehow figure what you have to say and spare you the effort of saying it, and would instantaneously help you get what you want

The world is made up with different people, some aggressive, some passive, some so quiet that you don’t even notice their existence. To get what we want, we need to speak up, to raise our voice, to get used to being refused and yet not give up.

Emotion

It’s a regular phenomenon in each of our heads. Once in a while we are reminded of what we want to achieve in life, ponder on how close we are to it, which in most cases is nowhere close (yet). A few weeks ago I completed my fourth semester in engineering, which felt strange, and not because I had got more marks than I had expected (which happens like once in a millennium, usually its lesser than what I expect it to be), but because I was under the impression that I had joined this course recently , or at least that was the feeling that I had in my head. I had convinced myself that I had time before I faced the larger question in life, “What’s next?” It occurred to me that I had no clue on what I wanted to do next, suddenly everyone around me seemed to know and I was a lone nomad in a desert of uncertainty.

Family get-togethers often subject the younger generation to a lot of questioning, and some even throw in opinions and judgments on you. Most of the time, the questioning is on their favourite topic ‘what are you planning to do with your life?’

In general I hate being questioned, even over casual conversation. The reason is pretty simple actually, I simply do not have the answers to those questions. Sometimes I even want to tell them the truth, “I like eating, sleeping and spending time with my friends lazing around ,pointlessly roaming and pretty much end up doing nothing useful throughout the day. Since they don’t pay people to be on a vacation I decided to do engineering and the frank truth is, although most people think it’s easy, because half the country ends up doing it, this course is very hard and most of the time bores me to death. I can’t wait to get back from class because half the time I don’t even get what the teacher is saying and therefore find these classes totally useless. When the exams come, I read on my own, ensure my scores are good, just so that I don’t have to face a round of questioning from miserable people like you “

As tempting as it may be, I simply reply ”I think I will take up a job or continue on to pursue my post-graduation”

Post-graduation is the better choice they would all say

Post-graduation? Why in the world would I want to jump into a well that took me four years to get out of? Just so that I can do it in two this time?

Most people struggle to find out what exactly they want to do in life. They are confused. Society often remarks that my generation gets a lot more opportunities and options. They call it a boon. In reality it’s more of a curse, most people love doing more than just one thing and more often than not they never like anything completely. The era of questioning whether one is capable is long gone, there are more than a million universities waiting to boost your ego and let you pursue whatever you want.

The main problem is, you don’t know what you want. We hear of people who pursue a Masters degree in engineering and end up pursuing music as a profession, because they found a passion. The truth is, we like more than just one thing. Half the engineering lot ends up doing an MBA, not because they hated engineering. It’s because they are passionate about more than just a single subject.

Most people don’t know what they want, even at the age of forty we hear of people changing careers. If someone that old had not figured it out, isn’t it cruel to question young minds, uncorrupted my society “what they really wanted to do”. Most students in India who choose science group after 10^th , had not the slightest clue on what commerce had to offer. The ones who chose engineering after their 12^th did not know what a pure science subject had to offer.

What is the goal of an education system?

It should not be to generate individuals the society needs, it’s to generate individuals who shape society to a better tomorrow, not the other way round.

The reason all the ambiguity on what one really wants to peruse arises because higher secondary education fails to deliver its purpose. The system is flawed in its root level.

They tell the young and brilliant that exam results play the biggest role in shaping one’s career. How can the results of a mere test decide on whether a person is brilliant or not at a subject? Isn’t it wrong to define a student based on his academic record alone and force him/her to choose the course he gets in the university he gets. Added to this we have several parents who spoil young minds by telling them which subject they think is good to make a career out of?  Fast-forward five years, society questions them on what they want to do next? Naturally most of them do not have the answer. Fast-forward 20 years, naturally you will have people changing fields overnight.

Society often remarks that brilliant people like Einstein, Hawking or Steve jobs are born in every 150 -200 years. 

Here is the fact- they are born every day, it’s just that we kill their creativity, their instincts and their enthusiasm with what we think is better for them.

Every year we hear leaders say that education is the key to making the world better better. Society, it’s the same society that increases the tuition fee for higher education. it is the same society that will praise an individual on his success and condemn another for thinking differently.

To those losers, backbenchers, eccentric  dreamers, to those dream catchers and entrepreneurs, to those who believe in what they want and in themselves, let alone society, the world is too small a place to conclude whether we are capable or not.

Let alone a grade sheet.

We will not allow anyone define who we are.

Steve jobs once said “Because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are, the ones who do”

The Google Students Club diaries : The doodle contest!

There are several events in human history that deserve to be remembered,like birthdays of famous people, and major events, such as the Olympics. Google provides an artistic solution to this using what we call the google doodles. To put it in a nutshell,the Google Doodle is an artistic version of the Google logo with a very  intriguing significance. TheGoogle for Doodle is an contest to bring out the artist and creative brain within students.

The target objectives of this event were-:

1. To create a general awareness on the brilliant concept of a doodle
2. To bring out the artist in students
3. To foster creativity. Participants realized that the concept was more than just an art contest, people had to find meaning and significance to their idea of a doodle which we believe fostered their creativity like never before.
4. Just the idea of a doodle design ,with no restrictions on how you designed it( you could use a software or do it on pen and paper) gives people an intense freedom of thought which brings out the best out of us.

The event received a warm response in college. We got a participation of approximately 30students. Being one of the first few GSC events to be conducted in college,there was curiosity and excitement in the air. The event  managed to capture the curiosity of even our ex-director MajGen. SS Dasaka who came to see some of the best brains in college at work. The event took students back to their school days, the joy of painting and drawing was once again visible on the faces that gleamed at the break from the moribund engineering life. The effect this event had was seen clearly in the huge participation we got in the event that followed . People got a glimpse of what the GSC events had  to offer.

The event was conducted beautifully ,participants were prompt, registrations were conducted in an orderly manner. There was music playing and different existing doodles being shown in the projector to inspire students and daring participants to do better. Many students found the event synonymous to fun. People were enjoying themselves and lost in thought. The melodious music made the event more of a carnival than a contest. Students were completely involved in their individual work and were doing their best. The joy in creativity with the ambiance and the enthusiasm made the event complete

Many were eager to participate in more such events. An event that promotes artistic creativity in an technical institution is rare, and something that requires immense thought and something like the doodle contest is even less seen. On the whole the google student club was able to win a reputation as a club that promoted creativity and talent through interesting means by showing different products of google to express themselves better .

The event did not see many challenges. The college was completely cooperative and the event was conducted in an open space. The college provided us with projectors and other equipment on request. The major challenge was to convince students to participate. Being one or the new clubs,the doodle for google was the very first event. People were curious and inquisitive but also were afraid that they had lost their talent for artistic thinking which was proved wrong during the course of the event. The students proved to be nothing less than brilliant in their work, the ideas were incredible and showed us the immense potential in some of our students. This event’s success meant a lot to the team. the event that followed the doodle for google received almost 4 times the number of participants. Many asked if the doodle contest would be conducted again . Clearly the doodle was google earned us more future participants and made the club and its events more popular. Students now know that learning and fun can get along here in the google student club of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology.

This was our first time working as a team and the functioning of the team was completely smooth. We were completely coordinated and everyone had a clear idea on what had to be done. Our teamwork was beautifully coordinated as our ideas resonated and converged. The success of this event promoted our bonding and trust further. There were several brainstorming sessions that took place before the event. we often debated for the better idea. We learnt to understand each other’s skills and utilize them as a team. We began to resonate in thought which was one of the contributing reasons for the success of thisevent.The event was a complete learning experience that helped foster our team work and motivated us to strive for better.

Personally speaking this event helped me break the ice with the members of the core team. we got familiar with each other’s skills and could now collectively work in sync. Sure  it wasn’t the best event but it certainly meant a good beginning!

AESTHETICS OF AN INSTANT

The world in general believes that more often than not, half knowledge is far worse than no knowledge. Half knowledge without knowing how to use it is as good as knowing nothing and even if you do put it to use how bad can it get? I mean logically one does realize that one does not achieve his aim with no knowledge. But half knowledge? I mean you did spend some time, learning it didn't you? Can it really be harmful? Well, it isn't. At least not in my world…..

My subjects involve a lot of work and more often than not, it is not completely possible to give them the attention they demand. The semester pattern is designed such that you have enough time but not too much. An engineer can notify himself on the good looking girls in his batch. He can even run about trying to find out their name, or write a program for the color of dress she will wear the next day(believe me people have done it!) ,but to sit for long hours and chit chat with them would cost him, not money, but marks. Yes friends before one can find out whether the girl is single or not the semester exams will arrive and hell will break loose, and after that we don’t get to see those beautiful faces anymore. The thrill of taking two months to find out their name or writing a C program on them is now a distant memory. We go home and stare at the same faces we have been seeing since the day we were born. Yes parents, and yes you do get to see the variety in their facial expressions from the time of receiving you in the railway station to seeing your results, you get to see all the expressions you missed for six months so much that, you don’t miss them anymore.

What happens when we come back? That’s the interesting thing about college; you get new subjects and new faces every semester. In fact in the beginning you find it hard to pick your entertainment, so hard that you forget which one of them you were patronizing last semester. So as I was saying, my subjects do demand effort and attention, a great deal of both, and often we devote neither time nor effort. But we do study something; I mean everybody does want to score after all, you don’t want too much variety in the facial expressions part when you get home, do you?  So we all put in our efforts and study. Now surely you cannot remember everything when going for an exam. That’s when the real talent of an engineer is seen. Convert what you know to what they want, without getting it wrong. This is obviously a challenge, but once you get a hold of it, it’s your best arsenal in college life

I present before you three cases from my own life

Case 1- Workshop Exam

The workshop is basically where they make you do things you will seldom do in the rest of your engineering life-carpentry, plumbing, fitting and soldering. Each of them I hate doing for a different reason

Fitting-takes too much effort, almost makes me feel like I have donated all the blood in my body just to cut some piece of metal

Plumbing-worse than fitting, takes so much effort that two people have to do it

Carpentry-you cut, cut, and oops you’ve cut the wrong part. Do the whole thing again

Soldering-I don’t particularly hate it, but then again I don’t like it too much either

So the semester somehow passed, with me completing all the above four tasks. Finally the workshop pre-finals came and I got carpentry as my experiment. I looked at the rather shabby piece of wood. I remember reading in the procedure that I had to cut it along some particular line in order to make a joint. Simple enough I had to cut it along some line. But problem was that there were three lines and I dint know which one to cut. I looked at the examiner; he was checking the wood samples of the previous batch. I stared at the wood hard, visualizing what I had to create . I then started to work on it. In half an hour I was done. Then came my viva, he showed me some tool that looked like a wooden hammer and asked me “What is this tool?”. “A wooden hammer sir”, I replied. He made a frown. I suddenly found my wood more interesting and decided to look away. Apparently the wooden hammer in carpentry was called a mallet. I lost my marks.

Case 2- Computer Programming

Next practical was computer programming. This time too I studied very little, but decided to take it more optimistically. Viva came again with my question being, ”What is a structure?”.

As usual I dint know what it was, but I decided to answer it anyway. I told the examiner all about Union and how it was related to ‘Structure ‘ (with  good vocabulary in the middle) which made her all the more confused. But hey, I got the marks! I didn’t know that chapter and yet I pulled off a good viva.

Case 3- Workshop Final

Again the same workshop, same carpentry. But this time I knew which line to cut from the beginning (thanks to the pre-final),and again came the viva.this time I did however read a little about tools and went. The same examiner asked me, “What is this?” pointing at the same wooden hammer. Oh no! I went blank. I was suffering from a case 2 engineering exam disorder, I read it, but forgot! The examiner smiled, I smiled back. This time I decided that I was going to give it a try anyway. I remembered faintly the functions of the tool and started enlisting them. The examiner was pleased. If he asked for alphabet A I was giving him alphabets B to Z, for free. Finally the question boiled down to the same thing “So what is it called?“ he asked. I said “sir ma ma ma …”. “Mallet “, he completed. Yes sir i said. “ Stupid name sir, not able to pronounce it” I said.

Seriously not able to pronounce it?

Who cares anyway, he bought it. I got full in my viva.

Here is my take home message to everyone here, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull shit”.

But never give up. Who said that? Not anyone famous (yet). It’s just me.

I know that what happened with me was the mere aesthetics of an instant, that instant. But nevertheless there is no harm in trying.

“Whatever you can do, begin it, boldness has a genius, power and magic in it”-Goethe

                                                                          

Few days ago I was doing the usual what every student does on a holiday. I was browsing on Facebook with a friend of mine. I came across a post that read “if half knowledge is dangerous then engineers are nuclear weapons”. My friend, a medical student looked and asked, ”Are you offended?. “No”, I replied. “I’m just amused!”.

Down but back again

I was having  pretty much a great week,I got decent grades in competitive exams , my mom was happy that my admission was secure and my dad was trying his best to look happy. I was partying with friends to celebrate the fact that those horrible things in life called examinations were finally over.My paternal grandmother  was having a knee replacement surgery in Hyderabad , both my parents had to go there in order to look after her & my maternal grandmother wanted a holiday with her cousins in Australia ,look at these old people,I write the exams and they get the holiday. 
So that leaves me.If you are sympathizing that I didn't  get a holiday ,don’t. 
Ladies and gentlemen I was going to have the entire house for myself . I could call all my friends and party,well at-least that’s what I thought I would do, until that fateful night

I had this crazy idea to go to a nearby ice-cream parlor at 11 pm in the night. That wasn't necessarily crazy part . I wanted to drive there in the car like a cool guy,Now that was a crazy idea considering that I had no license and that I had been attending driving school only for a week now .I did think it was crazy idea even then,what if I made a mistake and something went wrong. That’s when I saw this Albert Einstein quote that was on my wall “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. “.
I smiled. I went through the streets like a thief ,afraid that the police would get me, but how could they? I give infiltration a new meaning . It would take the Indian police another 10 years to catch me! I reached the parlor , I got out and locked my door using the door lock. The car was quite old and the key lock was not completely functional so we always locked the door from inside. I smiled as I walked, thinking of what to have and was caught in a mental debate between french fries and sandwich.Sandwich is 60 rupees fries is 50 rupees. After a lot of consideration I declared fries the winner.

I checked my pockets on a whim just to see if I had the money.House keys? –check, wallet?-check ,discount coupon? check. Car keys? Where were the car keys?oh mother of god.! I knew where the car keys were, they were in the car, but with the door locked!

No need to panic I told myself desperately. Of course I needed to panic,think about the mess I was in. For the next one hour I tried opening the car door in as many ways there were.People passing by looked at me like I were a mad person trying to steal someone’s car.

One of them actually remarked "Look at that kid trying to steal the car when he doesn't have a license to even drive”. I turned at the lady.and gave her a cold stare. I sat on the platform & started to think.

This is how my thought process would go-“ OK what if I break the door,use my pocket money I have and get it fixed tomorrow, no Amma will find out & then they will kill me, I will be scolded and banned from every outing I would have wanted. No I cannot risk that . This vacation is too precious. I still have four more movies that I wanted to watch in addition to that 2 more ice cream coupons…cant let go of all, that….,Idiot,focus on the problem in hand” that’s when I remembered  another quote  Albert Einstein " Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.”

I reached one important conclusion that minute –‘I needed to go home,leaving the car like this? "Who could possibly steal the car…" I thought "I am the owner and I couldn't open it…how would a thief with average  brains do it? Well if I stayed I could perhaps find out how to steal a locked car" I went home and thought very carefully and I couldn't think of anything…"tic toc tic toc…the clock went on and on….oh god couldn't they have a digital clock? It was 5 am in the morning & my parents were coming back that evening …and they wanted to go out as well……  great!" I thought carefully and  ran out on all ideas

Finally I called my mom at 8 in the morning "hey amma just wanted to ask u about  some problem my friend has”…I explained my situation in a third person’s view and believe me she did'nt guess that it was actually me who was in trouble. "Has your friend tried using the duplicate ?" Wait a second ,why did I not think of that? I thanked my mom and ended the call

Problem solved I just needed a duplicate….but wait ,where is the duplicate?I did not have the answer to that question…but I felt I was in a better position than I was before …I thought carefully. I couldn't search the entire house and sort it back within the given time.

I made a call and they were at my service ,friends to the rescue…they laughed their fullest when they heard my story but they helped me.

Within 3 hours I had the duplicate, I guess my parents weren't that good in hide and seek …
they hid the key in a pretty obvious location,in a key bunch…..maybe not…because they didn't anticipate me to do the crazy thing I did . I got the car back

And I treated my friends to ice cream .There is a incredible feeling you get when you solve a math problem . Today I was experiencing that for solving one of the toughest situations I had been

That evening my parents were back, we went to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate my grandmothers recovery from that surgery.As my dad parked the car and was closing the door he commented “Stupid door ,we need to lock it from the inside” and I smiled “yeah, I know” 

Wonder how sometimes we feel totally hopeless about our life's , but when we carefully think about it. We realize its not totally hopeless .There is always a solution to every problem ..all we need is the immense desire to find it… after all Albert Einstein did  once say “ Admist ever problem lies opportunity”