Memoirs of a Kone - Part II
Continuing from the previous post ......
Third year was the most exciting year both academically and other wise. The course load was comparatively less and moreover we began to understand the tricks of the trade (read getting grades). Here in IIT, a grade point average is not a true indicator of a person's intelligence or capability. Its a totally different ball game where the qualities of sincerity, dedication, determination and all that crap come into picture. Ofcourse for those who want to get good grades by hook or crook, there are other means like CCP(Cut Copy Paste), licking the profs in and out and myriad other such things. By this time, the scenario was clear among the students..those who wanted grades knew what they wanted to do..and those who didn't give a damn (mind you there were some excellent students in this category too) about grades stopped worrying about them. I realized that IITs are IITs not because of the faculty and the infrastructure...but because of the great bunch of students and the atmosphere. All in all it was peace.
The most exhilarating time during the 3rd year was the custom of doing internship abroad during the summers. It was a great avenue to improve your academic credentials on one hand and experiencing a new culture of western countries. Ofcourse, this was preceded by countless no.of emails by students trying to woo the profs of european, canadian and even australian nations. The resumes and skills claimed by us would put to shame even the most accomplished professionals in our fields :P. Such was the dedication or desperation whichever you might think among us. Some lucky bastards got intern offers after a few mails itself and other poor souls like me had to spam 200-300 emails to bag the offers. There were two other kinds, those who got internships passed on from their friends (yeah most of us were blessed with good souls with a ring on top of our heads) and those who didn't get offers or those who didn't even try. After the offers, began the running around police stations and going to embassies for visa stamps. For some it was hell n for others it went smoothly. Thus began our exploitations abroad.....
Me, I accepted the offer from one Salzburg Research center under a Mr. Hofmann working on Synchronized access networks. Work was fun because there was very less to do (though the folks out there felt we had done some excellent work ;) ) and the work culture was totally cool. After running at the heels of the profs bak in iit for every little thing, it was a welcome relief during internship where we were treated like equals. My prof was especially cool...he sponsored my trip to Berlin and Dresden and also drove me till Dresden in his car with his family. I had made some good friends in my hostel during that time and they were really good to me. My room mate, Jaffer, was a turkish guy studying law and he showed me around the city of Salzburg apart from playing tt with me. Gerald and Teresa were the two other good friends of mine who invited me to parties. Teresa even cooked turkey for us on Mother's day and wanted me to cook her an Indian dinner, but I never did for some reason or another. Coming to sightseeing, I had been to Vienna, Venice (the most beautiful and different city I have seen so far), Verona, Dresden, Berlin and Paris. Many of our friends were able to meet at some or others place and used to hang out. Myself, I hosted 3-4 groups of my friends when they visited my place. Suffice to say that it was a memorable 3 month period in our undergrad life.
There came the 7th semester of 4th year and then started struggle. It was the most crucial period of our lives coz we had to decide what we wanted to do or be in future atleast near future. I had plans to write CAT and do an MBA from IIMs (infact I mobilized the students of our batch to join IMS coaching in our campus) but after internship I decided that I wanted to be in the technical field. So I decided "I don't want CAT , I would rather stick to my mouse" :). Some of my frenz were preparing for giving gre (I had given it in the previous year itself) or going for CAT coaching or both. Then came the apping period...where we had the arduous trouble of selecting universities, trying to make pacts with frenz to avoid clashes (tho we ended up clashing almost everywhere) and preparing sops, resumes and all that shit. As all things come to an end, good or bad, the apping and CAT was done with by the end of 7th semester. Due to change of plans among iits, we had the placement period after 7th semester. CS placements were great as usual (I was placed with Microsoft IDC, Hyderabad) and the overall scenario was also quite successful compared to previous years. The management realized that the placements would have been even better, if companies were allowed in 7th semester itself as most of them couldn't wait and went to other colleges.
The final semester was the most enjoyed in our entire iit life, never did we feel better about being in IIT (intern being an exception). With only the thesis in hand, we had loads of time left and we utilized it the best as can be expected from a bunch of blood sucked bodies...yeah we played games (computer games mostly) like hell. The multi-player games in hostels and the computer lab were unforgettable. As the semester was coming to an end, the results of apping and CAT started pouring in. Anoop, a friend of mine, secured All India Rank of 1 !! and that was an highlight in the CAT results. On the apping front, many people got offers from top 10 right from the biggies of MIT and UCB (both to Mohit, another friend of mine) and the scenario in CS was better than others. Me, finally accepted PhD offer from Univ of California Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Time raced swiftly with project presentations and it was time for (under) graduation. Emotions started flowing left right and center as we realized that we won't be able to hang out as before. We promised each other that we would keep in touch though we knew that its very difficult. I would have cried if my tears can bring back my friends, but I didn't coz I knew the times are not gonna come back.I might not able be to bring back the times...but I have the memories which can bring a smile on my face whenever I feel nostalgic.I would like to take this opportunity, to thank all my friends who have helped me and been there for me when I needed them and am sorry to all those who have been hurt by me either knowingly or unknowingly. We may not meet each other in future or even be able to be in contact but my friend I ask you only one thing...Never forget Me....Kabhi Alvida Na Kehnaa.
Third year was the most exciting year both academically and other wise. The course load was comparatively less and moreover we began to understand the tricks of the trade (read getting grades). Here in IIT, a grade point average is not a true indicator of a person's intelligence or capability. Its a totally different ball game where the qualities of sincerity, dedication, determination and all that crap come into picture. Ofcourse for those who want to get good grades by hook or crook, there are other means like CCP(Cut Copy Paste), licking the profs in and out and myriad other such things. By this time, the scenario was clear among the students..those who wanted grades knew what they wanted to do..and those who didn't give a damn (mind you there were some excellent students in this category too) about grades stopped worrying about them. I realized that IITs are IITs not because of the faculty and the infrastructure...but because of the great bunch of students and the atmosphere. All in all it was peace.
The most exhilarating time during the 3rd year was the custom of doing internship abroad during the summers. It was a great avenue to improve your academic credentials on one hand and experiencing a new culture of western countries. Ofcourse, this was preceded by countless no.of emails by students trying to woo the profs of european, canadian and even australian nations. The resumes and skills claimed by us would put to shame even the most accomplished professionals in our fields :P. Such was the dedication or desperation whichever you might think among us. Some lucky bastards got intern offers after a few mails itself and other poor souls like me had to spam 200-300 emails to bag the offers. There were two other kinds, those who got internships passed on from their friends (yeah most of us were blessed with good souls with a ring on top of our heads) and those who didn't get offers or those who didn't even try. After the offers, began the running around police stations and going to embassies for visa stamps. For some it was hell n for others it went smoothly. Thus began our exploitations abroad.....
Me, I accepted the offer from one Salzburg Research center under a Mr. Hofmann working on Synchronized access networks. Work was fun because there was very less to do (though the folks out there felt we had done some excellent work ;) ) and the work culture was totally cool. After running at the heels of the profs bak in iit for every little thing, it was a welcome relief during internship where we were treated like equals. My prof was especially cool...he sponsored my trip to Berlin and Dresden and also drove me till Dresden in his car with his family. I had made some good friends in my hostel during that time and they were really good to me. My room mate, Jaffer, was a turkish guy studying law and he showed me around the city of Salzburg apart from playing tt with me. Gerald and Teresa were the two other good friends of mine who invited me to parties. Teresa even cooked turkey for us on Mother's day and wanted me to cook her an Indian dinner, but I never did for some reason or another. Coming to sightseeing, I had been to Vienna, Venice (the most beautiful and different city I have seen so far), Verona, Dresden, Berlin and Paris. Many of our friends were able to meet at some or others place and used to hang out. Myself, I hosted 3-4 groups of my friends when they visited my place. Suffice to say that it was a memorable 3 month period in our undergrad life.
There came the 7th semester of 4th year and then started struggle. It was the most crucial period of our lives coz we had to decide what we wanted to do or be in future atleast near future. I had plans to write CAT and do an MBA from IIMs (infact I mobilized the students of our batch to join IMS coaching in our campus) but after internship I decided that I wanted to be in the technical field. So I decided "I don't want CAT , I would rather stick to my mouse" :). Some of my frenz were preparing for giving gre (I had given it in the previous year itself) or going for CAT coaching or both. Then came the apping period...where we had the arduous trouble of selecting universities, trying to make pacts with frenz to avoid clashes (tho we ended up clashing almost everywhere) and preparing sops, resumes and all that shit. As all things come to an end, good or bad, the apping and CAT was done with by the end of 7th semester. Due to change of plans among iits, we had the placement period after 7th semester. CS placements were great as usual (I was placed with Microsoft IDC, Hyderabad) and the overall scenario was also quite successful compared to previous years. The management realized that the placements would have been even better, if companies were allowed in 7th semester itself as most of them couldn't wait and went to other colleges.
The final semester was the most enjoyed in our entire iit life, never did we feel better about being in IIT (intern being an exception). With only the thesis in hand, we had loads of time left and we utilized it the best as can be expected from a bunch of blood sucked bodies...yeah we played games (computer games mostly) like hell. The multi-player games in hostels and the computer lab were unforgettable. As the semester was coming to an end, the results of apping and CAT started pouring in. Anoop, a friend of mine, secured All India Rank of 1 !! and that was an highlight in the CAT results. On the apping front, many people got offers from top 10 right from the biggies of MIT and UCB (both to Mohit, another friend of mine) and the scenario in CS was better than others. Me, finally accepted PhD offer from Univ of California Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Time raced swiftly with project presentations and it was time for (under) graduation. Emotions started flowing left right and center as we realized that we won't be able to hang out as before. We promised each other that we would keep in touch though we knew that its very difficult. I would have cried if my tears can bring back my friends, but I didn't coz I knew the times are not gonna come back.I might not able be to bring back the times...but I have the memories which can bring a smile on my face whenever I feel nostalgic.I would like to take this opportunity, to thank all my friends who have helped me and been there for me when I needed them and am sorry to all those who have been hurt by me either knowingly or unknowingly. We may not meet each other in future or even be able to be in contact but my friend I ask you only one thing...Never forget Me....Kabhi Alvida Na Kehnaa.
