@the realization continued

hmmm..... so we continue now....

Actually, i need to go a little back. It has to do with the encounter with the Canadian I talked about in 'the realisation'. It started with a casual talk. He came up with a cup of coffee in his hand, and sat at one of the benches near us. A little bit of introduction, and then he asked us, "do you people have to make a choice in Power Engg. and Electronics while pursuing a course in Electrical Engg.???", to which Nikhil promplty replied "we major in Power Engg. but Electronics is also taught to us reasonably". Then Aprajita asked him "it must be very cold in Canada??", and this marked the beginning of his non-stop narration. He told us, that certainly Canada was a cold country but it was not the same cold everywhere in Canada and that it very much depended on location. He said (pointing his finger towards the monogram on his jacket), that he had worked in such-and-such place and that average temperature there was around -25 degree!! which could be interpreted as, the lowest temperature was around -30 degree!!! Then he told us, how they people relied very much on Electricity in Canada. Electricity was life for them. They could not even light the gas stove to cook food without electricity, nor the furnace would work without electricity.

He told us about an incident when he had to go out of Canada for a few days. One of his neighbors would check everyday that the furnace was working properly and that the house was well warmed. Once there was a gap of about 30hrs for checking the furnace, and unfortunately the furnace did develop some fault and stopped heating. When the neighbor came next day, he found that the water supply pipes were all frozen, and the water inside had expanded to ice, so the pipes were all burst. It had cost him $500 to replace the pipes and $2000 for the furnace. After this he narrated the most disastrous incident that took place in 1998 probably.

It was winter season. Rain was pouring. And the cold was such, that as soon as the rain drops came into contact with any physical thing, it froze to ice. So was the case with the power transmission lines. The rain drops were pouring continuously which resulted in a 15cm ice-loading on the transmission lines, which they could not withstand, and all the towers collapsed one-by-one. This aggravated the disaster in a way, nothing else could do. As soon as the transmission lines collapsed, there was no electricity because of which many people froze to death in their own homes!!!

It was then that I realized, that many things which we take for granted, carry the importance of life to some other people. It was then, that I realized, that how important my discipline of study was to the outer world. How much they expect of us!!!! It was then, that I started respecting my own discipline of study. It was then, that for the first time, I felt proud to be an Electrical Engg. student.

@the realization

Last night, I was feeling sleepy by 10 pm, quite early by the standards of typical IIT junta. But then, sleep is not something anybody would like to compromise on.. not at all when it is chilling cold outside your room. So I put off lights, and went inside my fur blanket which acted like a narcotic in aggravating the sleepy feeling. And as soon as I fell asleep, tring tring..... tring tring... tring tring.... Damn!!! I forgot to put my phone on silent. I must have considered that it was too early to fall asleep here in IITR. Anyways it was from a friend who had called me to inform me about the IBM's test for internships. He told me that there was no eligibility criteria for the test, and that anybody could take the test. Fuck him... Fuck IBM..... I cursed for disturbing me in my sleep.

Anyways, I got up by 9 today morning luckily, did my breakfast and then moved towards the test venue. It was Electronics Engg. Deptt., about one kilometer away from my hostel. So I moved towards it, on my legs, all alone. Some other electronics student passed me by from behind me and went towards the same venue for the same purpose, but on a bicycle. As I reached the deptt. I saw Nikhil coming. I had sent him and 2 other friends an sms last night after that disturbing call, telling about the test and the 'open for all' clause. We went upstairs together. He asked me if I was sure that this test was open for all, I assured him of that and then we moved towards the auditorium in the deptt. Then there was a brief introduction of the internships program 'Extreme Blue' that IBM was carrying out in IITR, under which this test was organized. After that they asked us to move to so-and-so rooms where the test would be conducted. The crowd rushed to grab the easy positions in those rooms, and by the time we reached there, they were all full to their capacity, except for the front benches. So we took the front bench. Now I was all prepared mentally to take the test, waiting for the test papers to come, a feeling of anxiety was arousing. And then there was this announcement....

'This test is for computer science students only, not for electrical engg students, not for electronics students, only computer science students.'

Snap!!! Fuck him... Fuck IBM... (for misinforming the students this time)

Anyways, I acted cool!! Then three of us (I guess everybody reading this post knows who three, so no need of names ) went to Nesci. We sat there for some time, a Canadian also joined us, who told us that he was doing some work here in AHEC deptt. and that he has been in IITR for past 9 months. He left, after talking for about 15-20 min. and then we 3 also left the place and moved to our respective hostels!!!

After I reached my hostel, it buzzed me that I had to go for my CAT coaching class to Career Launcher i.e. CL, but i did not know the timings. So I called that same friend, who had called me last night, to ask him about the timings of todays class (he also goes to the same coaching class), but he didn't answer the call. I tried again after 15 min. at 11:15 am, he did not reply this time also. Then came his sms... 'CL class going'

grrrrr.... Fuck him... Fuck IBM... I thought once again in fury!!!!



Update*- Latest information (as told to me at 3:30 pm today) is that the test was again made 'open for all' 5 min later.... i.e after we left the place!!!

Fuck IBM in all styles now!!

* All those who are thinking now about what was the realization in this whole thing.... wait for 'the realization continued'