Summer of '01

Well..

This is about a day... About a single day which changed the course of history... Err.. Something like that...

So.. There i was in the summer of '01.. I had completed 3 years of engineering. In my college, placements start in the beginning of your final year of college.. So.. before the placements started I was ruminating the plus' and minuses of my current status.. I had a pathetic score.. With an arrear in first year on a simple subject and an overall cgpa of around 7.3.. 38th rank in my class... Knowledge on mechanical fundas and stuff..? Well.. Zero.. What do I remember of stuff that's been taught in the last 3 years..? None.. Mmm.. Not a very good picture.. I could sense that..)


What were my plus'..? A decent amount of English knowledge.. And a liking toward math which means a pretty well-developed problem solving ability.. mm.. And a couple of extracurricular stuff.. And.. oh.. dats it.. mm.. I did not need help to tell myself that I was basically in a hot and sour soup with an extra helping of Pepper...


So.. About 2 days later I was sharing my bed with this huge GATE book that I had bought long back… In one tiresome plan to crack GATE and join the IITs.. This book was so big that I could not use it even as a pillow.. It was bigger than a pillow.. *Ladies and Gentlemen! to work out.. you dont need to hit the gym.. You just need to carry this book around... Proven technology..  * Was trying to mug up all the one-marks and understand the concepts involved in Mechanical Engineering... Man.. Came across concepts that I never knew existed in Mechanical Engineering.. mm.. Cams, thermal equations, Gears.. Yawn.. Why did I choose mechanical..? So much to study.. mm..


The placements started.. The first company to grace our campus then was Cognizant Technology Solutions... Each of us was given a huge form to fill in with details.... The form looked easy.. "What is ur career objective?".. "What are ur short-term goals?".. "What are your strengths?".. I decided to take out my pen and start attacking it.. 1 hour gone.. 2 hours gone.. And… And… I am yet to start writing..  I was clueless..  I did not understand the difference between a career objective, long-term goal and Ambition.. I realised that understanding oneself is much more difficult than math or Physics or even more difficult than understanding why artists are a perverted lot or why a sculptor's portrayal of women is almost always voluptuous and attractive.. Ultimately, I had chalked out a career objective, short term, long term goal and some strengths and weaknesses as well.. But, unfortunately, the company had a cutoff of 7.8 cgpa.. And I was not short-listed for any interview…


Next, I cleared a Mahindra British Telecom apti test. But, could not convert the interview.. Then, came the aptitude test of i-flex solutions.. Had only been ditched by MBT the previous day… Was still in a pretty much dejected mood.. Got up.. Had a go at the apti test and was back.. Was too tired to do anything in life that in the slightest way resembles what anyone would do on the day you have an important interview... So dozed off.. .. In the middle of my beautiful dream with Aishwarya Rai… I had already married her and was about to take her out on a honeymoon when I was woken up violently by a classmate of mine.. Argh.. I hate these moments.. I had an interview at 1:00 PM and the time is 12:55 PM.. And to make things worse I did not have a single copy of my resume and I had to fill in a huge form here.. With the help of my classmates with taking print-outs of the resume and the filling up of the forms.. My resume and form were ready and I was in front of the interview panel at 1:00 PM… Did not even have time to comb my hair..


Now.. This was a software interview and I am.. not in the littlest bit related to software.. Was proficient in handling a few movie players but if it C or C++ or Java.. I had no clue other than that there was a huge cult following for all this stuff.. Guys walk to the computer centre in college armed with these books and fight it out with the computer… At the end of these fights, either the guy or the computer comes running out in frustration… And these were subjects that the geeks in my class deal with… I had a technical interview and a HR interview.. Not much of mechanical questions or software questions were asked to me.. and the HR interview was a breeze through… I remember coming out of the interview hall pretty confident..


And, of course, the history redefining moment came up when my name was called up.. mm.. felt good.. really good to get placed.. mm.. I owe most of it to all my classmates who were there for me that day...


Ok.. So.,. what was the history that was changed..? My dad vowed that he would buy me some cows to take care of in case I end up in Chennai without a job.. So.. Dats the difference.. I would have now been managing a herd of cattle that would have to listen to my tune.. With no cows to woo here in the company.. My fantasy of a romantic shepherd is not a reality.. All because of the summer of ’01

Geeky ?

The year was 1997 and I had just started to prepare for my Higher Secondary Exams.. I was lying on my favourite couch @ home and trying to master the art of sleeping and studying together.. When we had a surprise visitor.. There was this person was kinda tall and in his 20's.. He looked geeky and wore a pair of thick glasses... Or looked exactly what we can say in one word "Studious"...

My mom is a higher secondary school teacher.. and luckily .. in fact, very luckily, not in my school... There is a certain amount of unfortuneity that comes up when your mom is a teacher.. For one.. you can't hide lot of stuff... She knows what a good score in every subject in your class should be like.. She can decipher your report card even faster than Jon Nash could decipher the russian code in The beautiful mind.. And no matter what kind of subtle laziness or complacency creeps into your learning system.. She will sniff it out just fast.. And give you the right impetus to ensure that it is corrected.. So.. basically to be simply put.. it's either that you stay at home and study well or else you are disowned... :)

Coming back to the geeky studious bloke who just walked into my house.. There he was sipping slowly and intently into the tea served by my mom like it was some tasteless medicine that he's supposed to take in slowly and as if one fast sip would send him reeling down into the depths of hell.. mm. Neways.. So there I was with the math book in hand watching him drinking his tea.. He had come to talk to my mom about his college and in general get her good wishes.. So.. during the course of their chat my mom turned to me and said "Dey Reuben... Ivar Pona varusham 12th nallaa eludhi nalla mark eduthu.. inga chennai-la Sri Perumbudur-la Engineering padichikittu irukaaru... Neeyum ivara maadhiri nallaa padikkanum.." (Translated.. Reuben.. he wrote his 12th board exams last year.. Got good marks and he is doing his engineering here in Chennai itself... You should study well like him…. )... And I just gaped at awe looking at him... And he gave me a Mona Lisa smile... looking through his thick glasses.. "Obvious rite.. A person who looks this geeky should be involved in one of those professional courses.”

So.. I did give a good shot at the board exams the next year.. And there was this unfortunate Engineering College in Coimbatore that decided to take me in… So.. This was the summer of 1998.. And I have some 10 days to while away the time till I join this college and start off on my engineering.. There I was lying on the same couch no book in hand this time.... and trying to only dream about me and my new college and girls (what else would you expect a teenage guy to dream about.. ???) We had our uncle and his son visiting us.. There was just some friendly chit-chat going on.. And uncle suddenly turned to his son who was in his teens.. “Dey mavanae… Indha anna paaru olunga padichi nalla mark eduthu.. Coimbatore-la engineering panna poraanga… Neeyum avara maadhiri nallaa padikknum” (Translated : Son.. see this big bro has studied well and got good marks.. he’ll be doing his Engineering in Coimbatore.. You too should study well like him….).. So.. I had to give a satisfied greek God smile (which, I discovered, was very hard to do especially when you are laughing on the inside)… I could sense the awe in the kid’s eyes…

So.. my uncle left in some time, after my having my mom’s trademark tea of course.. With his son still giving the awe-ish looks.. I got tired of giving the satisfied greek God smile.. As soon as they left I rushed to the mirror.. “Do I look geeky??”…