An Official IV and an Unofficial Tour

I have been in the same batch for the past two years. I have wasted two years in my college life! I haven't talked to nearly half of my batch mates properly till the event. I haven't known the names of some till that event. I haven't seen some of the faces clearly till the same event.

That event was Industrial Visit which should have been a tour with a visit to at-least an industry. But ours had only been a tour. A tour which showed the fourth face of the Ashoka lion. A tour which made us enjoy every day, every hour, every minute and every second. A tour which made us understand the coordination, discipline (:D), affection, respect, trust, friendship, responsibility of our batch mates.

From now on, They are my friends and not just batch mates.

Whoa! What a batch! What a coordination! I am dazzled. I am amazed.

Day 1 (22 Aug) :

The tour kick started on 22 August at 5 P.M. Day-scholars directly reached Chennai central. The hostelites started their delectation en route from college to Central in bus. We boarded the Mangalore express. We weren't together since the seats had been allocated in different compartments. It took nearly an hour to settle and people in each compartment formed a group and started enjoying. Me, Sathish, Dewa, Deepak, Venky, Ganesh, Saravanan, Anushia, Abhirami, Abinaya, Danisha, Bhargavi, Naren, Mega, Nagalakshmi, Banu, KK, Karpaga priya, Senthamarai, Meenakshi, Sano, Leela, Mathi and others. We played cards, dumb-c, truth or dare. We sang. We danced. We criticized. We mocked. We imitated. What not! The seats were allocated under RAC and so we didn't get the berths till 1 A.M. We were widely awake.

Day 2 (23 Aug) :

This day was entirely devoted to the train journey except for a halt in Mangalore. We got down at Mangalore around 8.30 A.M. and accommodated in a lodge for refreshment. We had our brunch around 11 in a scanty restaurant. It was the first time we struggled. None of us at the restaurant knew Kannada and none of the people working there knew Tamil. We used a few Hindi words and managed. We vacated the lodge and boarded the Matsyaganda express to Madgaon. Songs by our Venky were more hilarious. 

An interesting yet a bad incident happened en route to Madgaon in train. A transgender. How can we forget her? OMG! She came asking for money. It wasn't begging. She knew Tamil and easily found that we were Tamilians. The way she asked money. Phew! All the worst words in Tamil in a flow. Yappa! Pardha, you won't forget it in your life. I still remember the way Krishnakumar climbed the upper berth when she came again. We all were in a shocked state for the next half an hour yet we were laughing out loud at the incident. Giri, Kalai, Hari, Sathish, Athip and me will never forget this. We never forget to talk about that during the entire IV.

We finally reached the place by 8.30. We took a bus to our resort and had our dinner. Speaking about the food, we didn't have proper food for the entire day in the train and even in night. It was tolerable and we settled in our rooms at 10. The discussions and talks went on till 1 A.M. Hari! The way you talked is still making me laugh! Yes! Definitely some went out in night to the famous beaches. Bouncers!!!!!

Day 3 (24 Aug) :

Goa! Goa! Goa! What else! Aguada fort. The scenario was excellent. Two South African women told us to dance and captured a video of it. We visited three beaches. The Calangute beach, the Anjuna beach and one more. Played football and bathed in the first one. It was a memorable one. Had our lunch in a small hotel near the beach. The day was so hot. The climate wasn't on our side. 

Boat Cruise! An awe-inspiring one! The view! Amazing. The DJ was the most enthralling one. We danced. Yeah fellas, Everyone of us danced to the full spirit there! We found our way out after an hour of mind-blowing dance which ended with a traditional Portuguese dance. We reached the hotel around 9 P.M. and had our dinner. Some of us retired to the room. But the guys visited the famous Baga beach and returned to the hotel around 2 A.M. Four of us went to a nearby restaurant and had palatable coffee!

Day 4 (25 Aug) :

We proceeded to South Goa. We burst out laughing seeing the way Guhan talked in bus. Visited an old church. It was a splendid one! An heavenly one! We continued to Colva beach and straight to Madgaon railway station. Devoured our lunch at a hotel in the platform. All 64 in a single compartment. Enjoyed every second of it. Truth or dare was the ultimate one in that journey. GV, sathish, Kumar, Deepak, Pramoth and others. Relished the dumb-c. Uma mam made it even more exciting. We reached the destination around 10. And oh! The dinner! We went to a hotel. There was only Paratha and Ghee rice at that ghostly hour. We nibbled some pieces and continued our journey to Coorg by bus. Everyone was fast asleep and we arrived to Coorg by 6 A.M. the next morning.

Day 5 (26 Aug) :

Coorg! It should be renamed as "The Bliss". The climate, the mist, the drizzle, the chill, the mountain, the valley, the greenery. It was appealing to the senses. We all got ready around 10 A.M. We had our breakfast and proceeded to the Abbi falls a.k.a. the Jessy falls. The route to the falls was astonishing. Full of green plants and shrubs. The falls was mind-boggling. The bridge in front of the falls made me lose my nerve. It was a life time moment. A worthy one. 

We returned to the room, had our lunch and visited the Raja seat. Hooooo! We were shivering. We could see our breath. Astonishing view of the beautiful place. Photo sessions, Train ride, shopping made us jump in joy. DJ! Whoa! Dancing (Solo, group and pair), Singing, Mimicry. Kudos to Praveen, Venky, Vishnu, Ganesh, KK, Pramodh, Naren, Hary, Laya, Moni and others who rocked the stage. We retired to bed after dinner around 10.30. A sad thing is that Aravind ended up with an a injury in his leg after dancing. And you people, you took great care of him.

Day 6 (27 Aug) :

Wonderla!

We commenced our journey to Bangalore by bus at 5 A.M. Several dozed off till 8. Then the next three hours were singing session. We sang loads and loads of songs. Started with an Anthakshari and ended up with all Kuthu songs. Hariharan rocked the place with his database. Had a bite. We entered Wonderla with a bang. The dry rides flabbergasted everone. The twisters! Yappa! It made our large and small intestines come out. Thanks to Sathish, Kalai, Dewa, Hari, Abi, Bhargavi and Subhashri who were with me through out the day. We had a luscious lunch at wonderla and continued with the water rides. Wave pool was excellent with artificial waves drenching us completely. Rain disco. The entire batch danced, danced and danced. None of us would have danced that way ever before. Kalaivanan showed his energy for the first time. Then came the lazy river. We pushed everyone into water from their tube. It was a complete fun. Then we advanced with the photo sessions. And we started our journey to Bangalore station. We went for shopping to Mantri mall where almost all shops had been closed. We were nearing the end of the IV. We boarded the Chennai express and all except a few slept in the train.

Day 7 (27 Aug) :

Chennai!

சார், சூடா டீ, வடை, காபி .....

Chennai central. End of our IV. We shared all our care, affection, friendship, trust! This IV made every one energetic and exuberant. We loved every single moment. This batch is gonna rock for the two years. Thanks and Kudos to all the IV organizers. Sathish, KK, Lal, Saravanan, Ramp, Ganesh, Venky, Sarath, Mega, Abi, Banu and all the others who made this possible! Thanks to Giri, Kalai, Hari, Sathish, Athip and Srichandran who were with me through out the IV. Thanks to Uma ma'am, Bharani and Benz who were so friendly to us. Thanks to Krishna and Jeeva for their photography. Jagan, MK, Eka, Santhosh, Shivaram, Raghavan,Mani, Thamil, Ezhil, Preethi, Priya, Uma, Sangeetha, Prasad, Keerthana, Swarna. Thanks to all who came and rocked the IV.

To those who missed it:

Dear people, seriously you have missed something important in your life. If you had thought that you had something more important than this, you had been mistaken. The IV was soo exciting. I don't think anything else could be more enthralling than this. If there is an IV in 8th sem, please don't miss it for God's sake.

P.S: Hope there will be another IV in eighth sem! 

Enga batch ECE-AB ku peria whistle adinga!!!!

Death, Debris and Decay!

A 19 year old second-year engineering student died after he fell from a four-storey hostel! This could not have been an accident told his friends. He had committed suicide. 

Everyone in the city is very much shocked to hear the news of his suicide. After all, this isn't the first one in this year. There are four or five such suicides in the prestigious institutions of CEG, MIT and IIT in this year alone. This guy who died recently was supposed to be a bright student scoring 1160 marks in his plus two board examinations with a cut off of 198 out of 200. The situation is the same in all the four other cases. The students who committed suicide had been the pride of their schools. These were the sources of inspiration to their juniors in school whose ultimate ambition was to get into the esteemed institutions across the state. Their parents had pinned their hope on them that their son/daughter would make prosperity in their lives. Now the hopes of every single one of them is been shattered into pieces. 

What can be the potential reasons of the suicides of these younger minds? They are supposed to be the most brilliant students. They belonged to the creamy layer of the state. They should have certainly worked hard in their school to get into these places. The minds of these students should have been that of a genius. But why did they turn into cowards and weak-minded? 

1) Adaptation: The students who come from rural areas or the districts down south find it very difficult to adapt to the new environment. The metropolitan life is certainly very much difficult to live when compared to the places they are from. The vast place, the huge population, the complex transport system, the fashion, the standard of living, the type of food, the competition and what not! The very first thought that encounters a guy's mind, who visits the metropolitan city, is how difficult it is to lead one's life in here?! Only a few overcome all these difficulties and survive. 

2) Longing for affection and care: It is evident that almost all who had committed suicide were the hostelites. There must have been people in their place who had taken very good care of them. They must have shown them, all their love and affection. They would not have let them do their works and instead they would have done every thing for them right from polishing their shoes to combing their hair. I don't accuse parents but that they should have let them do their work so that they could get adapted to the situation where there could be no care or affection. 

3) Lack of responsibility: Responsible students never get these cowardly thoughts. If you had been brought up responsible, you would certainly be responsible now. The parents should make their children aware of their responsibilities in the family and the society. On the contrary they always hide their difficulties from their progeny thinking that they need not know difficulties at that age. This never helps them. If they had known your difficulties, they would not have been irresponsible and certainly would not have taken this decision. Be responsible, friends. Think about your parents every time you feel depressed. The so-called difficulties you face are next to nothing when compared to your parents' sufferings. 

4) Fear about the future: If you are not living properly in the present, you don't have the rights to fear about your future. It is rightly said "Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. And that is why we call it the present." Live in your present. Put the maximum effort in what you do and don't worry about the result. 

5) Ignorance and Insult: This is not the fault of those students. This is our fault, my friends. A guy can bear insults but not ignorance. Think about this. They come from different sections of the society to a new surrounding. They are already facing many a problems. We must talk to them, help and make them feel at home. How many of us do that? We see them as a Martian. We should not ignore them just because they are not from our sect. We form our own groups but we don't consider to include them. They are separated and left alone. That is terrible.  

6) Pressure: You are pressurized. Aren't you? There are always the desperate parents who tell their children this. “You have got school first in your plus two yet you have an arrears now. How could we walk with our heads high? You are a disgrace to the family!” Dear parents, remember that this same child made you proud a few years back. The school and the college aren't the same. They are entirely different. It isn't a must that those who have topped their school should maintain that in college. The education in school is reading and in contrast the education in college is learning and not reading. First try to understand the situation in which your child lives. Don’t  induce a peer pressure. 

7) Lack of support: Now-a-days it has become the style of a professor to quote this especially when a student couldn't answer his/her question. “You should have mugged up the contents of the book and cleared the paper without understanding. You may have got 200 cut off in your board exams but it’s difficult to survive here. Remember those times when the students were so smart and so knowledgeable.” If you learned people do this, how will the parents understand? A good teacher is one who understands the student well and helps him in his life and leads him through his difficulties. Not a guy like you! You are only a disgrace and he is not! 

8) Lack of belief: Have confidence in you. When you don’t believe your own potential, how can you expect others to believe yours and help you? What matters if you have arrears when you excel in another field? Life isn't only about studies. There are several things other than that. There is a whole new thing waiting for you outside the premises of your college. If you don’t fight against these difficulties and come up, how will you see those splendid things waiting for you? Believe in your potential and that will change these things! 

9) Adolescence: This is the age of adolescence. You are prone to love, lust and indulge in smoking and drinking. There is no love on this earth equal to your mother’s. There is no care equal to the God’s on this earth. There is no affection on this earth as your father’s. Yet you choose to die just because a girl/boy rejected you? This is the sense of insanity. Think high of you. If you are responsible, you will think there are much more important now than this. If you scold me that I don’t know the feeling, well, yeah. I don’t know! I may not know. But I am sure that your love can wait till you get a job and get stable in your life. What about your parents and others who believe that you will improve the condition of your family? What about the people who have hope in you that you will take care of them in their final days? Don’t lose that! If your dad had this practice of smoking or drinking, what would have happened to you? Will you be in this place at this time? That's a doubt! Even if you are here, you must have undergone a great stress to get into this institution. They have sacrificed a lot for you. And it is a MUST that you must take care of them. 

Life isn't something given by God for you just to end it because you are in distress. It is something more that that. Here is a famous dialogue from the film called “Rocky Balboa” released in 2006. 

I'd hold you up to say to your mother, "this kid's gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid's going to be somebody better than anybody I ever knew." And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilege. Then the time comes for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it isn't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you aren't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that isn't you! You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you ain't gonna have a life. 

அரிது அரிது மானிடராய் பிறத்தல் அரிது 

அதனினும் அரிது கூன், குருடு செவிடு இன்றி பிறத்தல் அரிது! 

(Its rare to be born as humans and it's even rare to be born without any impairment!) 

This is a famous verse of Avvaiyar. Life is a gift for us. Please don’t waste it for mean reasons!

P.S: A few days back, a guy from a big institution threw himself before the train because he couldn't get to the second round of an interview.