The exams were a painful experience as i didn’t perform well in any of the exams apart from AI and Parallel Architecture.Well somehow they got over and we all guys headed for our destinations.I was with the bong group on the train and had one of the best train journeys of my life.Be it the reading of the novel “A thousand splendid suns“,bakr with the group or the late night discussion between me,dada and mayank that irritated our immediate nieghbours , it was a truly enjoyable experience..But the best part of the journey was the “post-late-night talk” with mayank when we both poured our hearts out..My respect for this guy has just kept on exponentially increasing ever since we came close in second year and that day it truly reached the zenith..He is truly an amazing person and i am glad i have had the opportunity to meet him!!



**And then it strikes again**

It was indeed a wonderful journey.I was wondering how on the earth did i ever manage to have a perfect journey.My sixth sense was suggesting me that something bad was about to happen to me.I reached Kharagpur .I hugged my friends and started walking towards the entrance.I had never imagined what was about to follow:

TT:”Ticket please..”.

Me:”Sir i had a combined ticket with my friends who are going to howrah.”

TT:”That’s none of my business.Until unless you produce the ticket you are an offender“.

Me:”Ok sir i will get the ticket for your consideration“.

I ran to my coach and saw Nahata.I told him about the situation and asked him to come with the ticket .He told that the ticket was with another friend,Jalan.He assured me that on telling the TT that i am a student and that we had a combined ticket the TT will surely agree.And at that moment the train started running.I didn’t know what to do!!For a moment i thought of catching the same train and go all the way to Howrah along with my friends.But i didn’t follow my sixth sense,something i would repent for sure.I confidently started walking towards the entrance,only to be caught by that TT again.

TT:”Hello Mr. ticket..”.

Me:”Sir,i had a combined ticket with my friends and they have left for Howrah just a couple of minutes back.”

TT:”That’s not my problem.You are without ticket and an offender and thus have to pay the fine.“

Me:”Sir believe me i have come with a proper ticket.If you want you can talk to my friends on the train.See sir this is my i-card .I am coming all the way from Trichy.Sir why will i lie to you??I am a student sir..“

TT:”See its your mistake .If you had a combined ticket you should have kept a xerox of it and get it signed by the TT for our consideration.Now you will have to pay the fine..“

Me:”Sir i understand its my fault , but sir believe me i am not lying..“

I kept waiting for that time and then i started walking back , when he started shouting at me and called his “hungry” friends too to have their share of me..

TT:”Hey Mr. where are you leaving..You come to the office with me..“

I kept pleading all the time,but never did i allow myself to cry..I kept pleading but to no avail..

Finally ,knowing what they exactly wanted i asked “Sir how much do i have to pay??“

TT:”You will have to pat Rs.434“.

Me:”Sir i don’t have that much money.Sir please reduce it..“

TT:”Ok how much do you have??“

Me(Luckily i had spent considerable money during the journey..):”Sir i have only 260 Rs.Sir i need to reach Chaibasa from here that will cost around 165-170..And sir i haven eaten anything today ..That will cost me another 35-40 Rs.I can only give you 60 Rs. sir..“

TT : “No-no that won’t do.Ok show me your purse.Do you have any cards??“

Me:”Sir see my purse i have only 260Rs.Sir i have a SBI card but its empty because i totally exhausted it in the semester.That’s why i am going to my home to get money from my parents.“(I never knew i was so gifted at lying:)..)

TT:”No no 60 won’t do“.

Me:”Ok sir i will not eat and remain without food till the evening..Ok you take Rs.100 from me“



That finally settled the matter and he let me go after giving some “advice”.I was so hurt by this incident.It was not the fine that was hurting me.It was the greed of that TT and the corruption in general that was hurting me.That guy knew pretty well that i was not lying but he won’t let go because for him this was an opportunity of the lifetime”.I wanted to leave that place at once.On my father’s request i booked a ticket of “Geetanjali express” and had no option but to take the ticket of general class.What was i to know that i hadn’t seen the worst yet!!

My life was never perfect.Not that i ever expected it to be.And the same happened in the 7th sem also.I was having the time of my life.But then somebody nipped in the bud.Guess who?? My internals.Boy i was performing really badly in the exams-at least two of them.Not that i didn’t study for the exam.Its just that this time i too adopted the “cool college strategy” of starting to study one night before the exam,something i’m not pretty comfortable with.I did very well in four subjects,which were pretty theoretical in nature but the other two subjects were pretty application oriented and one needed sufficient practice to crack those exams.But unfortunately that was not to be.I was really embarrassed to be in the bottom twenty of the class in compilers and graph theory.And my “critics” did not lose one such opportunity to question my credentials in the so-called “fundoo compksee” subjects.Be it mayank,dikvaa,madu ..they all had the time of their life mocking me in front of the entire class.It hurt me but as cyber said,”You have nobody to complain to but yourself coz you are solely responsible for the entire mess“.Ya he was probably true,but i didn’t care.I knew i could have still comeback very strongly and shown that “good-for-nothing” dikvaa who i really was!!But was it worth it??No.I had done the same thing repeatedly for the past three years and now i had achieved my goal.I had lived enough for my dreams.It was time to live for myself.I wanted to do all the things that i had sacrificed in the past three years.But still somewhere in the corner of my heart it hurt me!!



And then it got worse!!

It was our compilers lab exam.I was one of the few guys who had done the lab assignments on their own,thanks to guidance from satya and cyber.But still i was not pretty confident of cracking the lab exam.I had heard from mayank how he had fooled the lab assistant the previous day.Considering the kinda dumbo lab assistants we have i thought it would be easy for me too in case the need arose.When we got the question in the lab exam,i immediately completed the theory part , thus ensuring that i would at least pass.Then i started coding and boy that “shift-reduce conflict” error really started pissing me off.I knew that i had coded correctly.I was so close to the answer yet so far.Only one guy among the 35 guys had shown.I had a master plan.I knew the output that was supposed to come.I wrote a simple C code containing the solution and compiled it to get the executable “a.out“.Now i deleted the C source code that contained the answer.Now since my initial lex and yacc code were not compiling and hence they were not giving the “a.out”.So , this is what i planned to do:

**I would write a shell script that would run the lex and yacc files and then clear any error or warning message that would pop because of the mistake in my source code.

**Then i would run my cleverly-generated “a.out” and get the output.

The method was foolproof and luckily i knew the lab assistant pretty well.I thought i will take the risk.And then i did something which i will repent through out my life.I called the lab assistant to show the demo.And since these guys are so dumb and have no idea about any compskee stuff,he called “Leela” mam.I froze.My temperature started soaring up.And then things got worse!!”Hey check whether he has hard-coded anywhere…These guys generally do such things.“.The only thing that i remember was me praying to the God to rewind my life by five minutes.I was shivering and every goddamn eye in the lab was on me.I started seeing the public embarrassment i would have to undergo.And then she appeared.And this is what happened ::

Leela madam :”Show me your code“.

Myself(shivering):”Yes mam!“.

Leela madam :”Check if he has hardcoded anywhere.K no hardcoding.Ok run your code“.

Myself(thought of impressing with some technical jargons..):”Mam i have written a shell script that compiles the lex and yacc code and finally gives the executable a.out“.

Leela madam :”Ok run“.

Myself:”Yes mam..“.

Leela madam (after analysing the output for some time):”Ok change the variable name from ‘a’ to ‘z’ in the output and show me the output“.

Myself(shivering..shellshocked..totally lost):”Yessssssssssssssss mammmmm..“.(I was in such a state of shock that i couldn’t even locate ‘z’ in the keyboard.Finally the lab assistant helped me with the search and i made the desired modification.I ran the output and as madam expected the output didn’t change.)

Leela madam:”How come the output hasn’t changed..we changed only one variable name right??“.

Myself :”Madam let me correct it and then i will let you know.“

Leela madam:”Ok do it immediately“.

Myself(I fiddled around with the keyboard for sometime and then along with others slowly pushed my answer sheet to madam and left the lab).



Though nothing “disastrous” happened , even though madam knew that i had hardcoded the output but she couldn’t figure out how??But at that moment i felt so low.I realized that i had lost something in the last ten minutes.No,not the grade,but my self-respect.Others would have thought it as being cool,going the “college way ” attitude and all that crap.But i knew that this is not who i am.I hung my head in shame to think that i had degraded to that extent , just for a worthless grade.I wanted to trade all my happiness of 7th sem for those ten minutes because that experience made me feel the way i had never felt before..I was hurt by my actions,tormented by my deeds for the next week..But that’s life!!”To err is human ,to learn from your mistakes is divine“.I hope i have learnt my lesson!!

After i got placed it was party time through out the semester.I have lost count of how many treats we had over the course of next 3 months..Every day we will get some bakraa, we would butcher him and then the bakraa will give us the treat..Every alternate day we were going to some restaurant in the city..So much so that the restaurant guys had started recognizing us..

Finally my time had come,when i could do whatever i liked..I asked myself what i liked the most..And the first thing that came to my mind was movies..Boy over the course of the coming months,i saw a hell lot of movies,as if that was the only motive of my life now..I made it a plan to watch at least three movies everyday..In between i also watched some sitcoms..The ones that really attracted me were - “The Wonder Years” and “How i met your mother??“..Boy i just love watching movies and sitcoms!!Meanwhile i had also started participating in some of the activities in college…



**CRY CLASSES**

After much persuasion by Mayank and Kastu i finally agreed for the CRY CLASSES..I was very nervous to start with..But as i started taking classes i really fell in love with it..It was a challenge to stand up in front of those bright kids and to answer their questions..I was screwed on more than one occasion by my students..But i took it positively and tried to teach them to the best of my ability..In the process,i also overcome my stage fear to an extent and developed the confidence to speak in public..I took only 5-6 classes but i can never forget the impact they had on me…



**WISDOM CUP**

I always had a burning desire to prove my critics wrong who always questioned my non-academic abilities..I gave a fitting reply to them by giving consistent sterling performances throughout the tournament and emerged as one of the best performers of the tournament..I will always cherish the memories of that tournament and will try to carry on the confidence that it has imparted to me..



**DRIVING SCHOOL**

Meanwhile i had also enrolled for the DRIVING SCHOOL.We were supposed to report at 6 in the morning every day.Boy for a college student that’s a himalayan task!!Anyways somehow i and dada managed to do that on a regular basis for the next 25 days.It was fun learning driving on our famous “NITT Tracker“.Boy i had a really hard time locating the neutral on its screwed-up gear system.We were nearing the end of our driving course and after a dozen of trips outside college had become quite comfortable driving four-wheeler vehicles.Next in line for us was the “two-wheeler” and our instructor made us believe that it’s a matter of just half an hour.And that’s how it turned out to be!!

So we bunked classes and headed to get our driving license in our “tracker” and “god-knows-which-model-scooter-cum-bike“.We had a painful wait of two hours before we finally arrived at the test center.Surprisingly the test went as well as i could have ever hoped for.The whole exercise looked pretty simple , but the corruption that i had to see both inside and outside the institute during these classes seemed a bit disturbing.But all that was lost when we realized that we had got the “license to explore“..The thought of the great things that lied ahead was amazing!!





**BAKR SESSIONS**

Whenever you think of masti in NITT,you can’t leave BAKR far behind..I still remember the endless BAKR sessions i had with dada,sid,cyber,ghati,vishal,daa,mayank,madu..It really gave me an opportunity to understand my friends better..I came pretty close to cyber this sem..I had a rare privilege to see the non-academic side of this fundoo..I got to see what a wonderful and down-to-earth this guy is!!I also got the chance to know dada better..Had loads of fun with him in our BANGALORE-CUM-CAT trip..But the one guy who really impressed me this sem was my own roomie..I was really amazed to see such delightful changes in him..This sem gave us an opportunity to bridge our differences of the past one year and emerge stronger and closer than ever before..Sometimes i think what will i do without them in the future when none of them will be around me in Hyderabad??..But things can’t always be the way you want them to be!!That’s life for you!!



Be it the “Six sixes in an over challenge”,the morning gym sessions,the late night volleyball sessions,bathing in cauveri,trip to th temple city , we had loads of fun this sem…

A basic post to crack a Windows XP system. So for people who already know this .. wow.. gr8.. you can try something better than this and tell me.. :P For newbies and non-windows users(if interested) , a small hack in windows( which i knew..)

• Go to your command prompt in windows.. i.e Start->Run->type ‘cmd’

you will have your command prompt.. then . .

• type net user/users in the command prompt.

This lists all the users in the present system

• type net user “user name” *

Give the name of the user defined in net users list .. of course, not quotes..lolz..

• It would move on to next line and ask for a password.

The password typed cannot be seen .

• It’ll ask for password retype .

once typed… you have successfully changed the password of a XP system.. :)

happy cracking.. :)

I was fighting a race against time because AURIGO was coming to the campus soon and i needed to get a company before that!!My senior had informed me that DESHAW was coming to the campus on 8th.So i had already started preparing for it..I knew this was my best chance because DESHAW is the only company that gives importance to CGPA and boy i had loads of that!!Boy DESHAW proved to be a tough nut to crack..As opposed to previous year papers,this time DESHAW was much-much tougher ..Thus they were testing us on many fronts simultaneously..It was one hell of an exam!!I was not that hopeful of clearing the written but luckily i did and in fact i topped that test!!So my interview was the first next morning..And boy they lived up to the expectation!!They screwed me all-round up for the next 90 minutes..Two of the interviewers were pretty cool , but the third one was really testing me and trying to create enormous stress during the interview!!Boy i was so dejected after the interview..I thought that i had given away the best opportunity that i had..At around 7 in the night they called us to fill one form and then after they were supposed to announce the results..In the meantime i had told my dad that i had DESHAW interview today and i didn’t perform that well..I was so low that time that when they were about to announce the result , i almost broke down..And then finally it happened ..



I had been selected for DESHAW..I was shouting at the top of my voice as i headed out of T&P..As i reached the hostel , i informed the near and dear ones..Boy but the night had just begun!!..My friends were all waiting for me and i could see that they had the same look in their eyes as a butcher has before it “butchers”..And boy i can never forget what happened that night!!They hit me mercilessly as if there was no tommorrow..I lost count of how many times my ass was smacked but whatever it was , was surely not a pleasing number :)…Then i was taken to gate where i was given a “kela-andaa-mixture-cold drink” bath..Boy i still remember i had developed such a big bump on my ass that i couldn’t sleep the whole night..Thus i turned upside down and kept watching movies whole night long..It was so painful that my situation became very bad next day..I had to take a heavy dose of painkillers to ease my pain..The pain finally subsided after a week and it was not two days after i got placed that i realized that i had finally accomplished my dream!!And the real party was just about to begin,baby!!

**Placement season kicks-initial nervousness**

I had been doing summer internship in Bangalore for two months in Aurigo and due to my and subbu’s remarkable performance there , we had been awarded with a PPO in Aurigo.Thus,there was less pressure on us to get jobs in the college.But i knew that i didn’t want to get into this company.The work there was amazing but it was just a start-up and i didn’t want to start my career with a start-up , especially when i had much better options back in the college.Thus i knew that i have to secure a job in college before Aurigo arrives at the campus.Thus , there was a lot of pressure on me coz neither was i well prepared for the companies that were about to storm the campus , neither did i have much time before Aurigo turned up to the campus.I had to make the most of the limited opportunites that would have come my way before 24th Aug,when Aurigo was scheduled to come and at the same time i had to prepare a hell lot..I was in a panic mode!!



**Google arrives**

The first company to come to our campus was Google.I was supposed to attend a telephonic interview and luckily that was being taken by our college senior,Sundarajan.My interview went decently,though i could have performed better.I was surprised when i wasn’t selected for the second round.Kela No. 1!!I was not that dejected coz i knew that i wasn’t a Google kinda guy!!





**Microsoft ka kela**

The next company was Microsoft.They had an initial written round where they had asked three DS questions.I cracked all three and was quite hopeful of being called for interview.When i was entering the mess then i suddenly realized that i had made one blunder in the first question.I froze there,my heart stopped beating,my hunger died,my eyes swelled with tears..I ran to my room and cried for sometime beneath my pillow..My friends didn’t help my situation by teasing me with the tag of “Microsoft guy” constantly..I was acting madly..I still remember how i was lying

along the metallic rods outside my room as if i’m dead and had no reason , no motivation to live any more..I remember satya coming to me and consoling me..I calmed down myself and somehow motivated myself to prepare for the next company..Then at 4 all of a sudden i got a call from Vivek that my interview was supposed to start in another 10 minutes..Boy i was shocked..I was not expecting the call and thus had made no arrangements..I hurriedly collected stuff from friends and rushed to T&P..As i look back now,i think the thing that saved me was that i used to always write logic first and then code as suggested by my seniors..And boy that did prove very crucial..Once in T&P,we were seated for another round of test..Three questions were given to us and i quickly did the first two but didn’t do the third one that well..Anyways out of the 24 guys , 10 guys were eliminated and i was lucky to be still there in the final 14..As luck would have had it,my interview was the first and it was supposed to be taken by a lady..Boy she was mid-age and beautiful:)..Anyways my interview started with she analyzing my written papers..She immediately asked me to point out the error in my first DS solution..I immediately told her my mistake and the she popped the question, how would you improve this solution?? I kept on beating around the bush and she grew tired of giving me so many chances for that question..In the end she said that you are pretty close to the solution..”give me the exact word im looking for”..and boy i still couldn’t figure it out..Then she asked some other questions which i didn’t answer satisfactorily..The irony of this whole experience is that all the while when she was screwing me all ends up , i wanted to think of the solution but quite surprisingly all i could think at that time was how beautiful was she and how beautiful her eyes were!!..Boy i still can’t believe my mind was doing such dirty stuff amidst the most important interview of my life!!Finally my interview ended and immediately the HR called me to inform me that i have been eliminated!!Boy i was hurt but i knew i had only me to blame..

Well, i have finally completed the 7th sem of my college life and arguably the most exciting and happening sem of my college life.I did lots of things that i had always wanted to do but could never do in pursuit of my goal.I still remember those days when everyone around me used to do all kinds of crazy stuff and i used to silently study in one corner of my room…But i knew that “No pains,no gains..”.So i acted the only way i know - perseverance to achieve my cherished goal.And i did finally achieve it and boy that was the best feeling in the world-to have accomplished an Himalayan task and to prove myself among the very best in India.And what does one do once the goal is achieved - its party time.That was what i did in 7th sem , but between these i did some really crazy things that i could have avoided.Lets go through “the best semester of my college life ” in detail…

There is nothing called the End!

The times are such that every single youth in the country is dreaming of becoming the next tata or ambani or a mittal. The days are gone when people who do not get jobs resort to business as their last hope. In the past few years we have witnessed so many bright young chaps boldly rejecting fabulous international job offers and trying to start their own ventures be it a eat-out or a holiday resort or simple net cafes.

Though most of them are successful in their own way, it should also be noted that the society has started to acknowledge and accept failures. Rather, some high profile concern in the Silicon Valley has openly stated that it would prefer those who have an unsuccessful start-up history to their top managerial jobs.

Being a premier institute admitting in the best of the Indian youth to its courses, many in our college feel accomplished after landing on to a job at the campus. Even those who had those big dreams have started calculating the opportunity costs and few have already decided to grow with their company itself.

Before arriving at such a conclusion, remember that we fall in the top 1 percent country’s youth (at least that’s what statistics say!) and if not us then no one else can even think to follow their dreams. And about the fears of risk etc. I would like to point out that we will not be reduced to rags and start living on the streets if at all failure befalls us. Opportunities are plenty and are everywhere. It is for you to spot and reap or rape them.



I am remembered about this man who makes money in a astonishing way.

The Mumbai metro trains run fully packed day and night. Any one who travels without a valid ticket can be fined up to Rs. 500. Spot checking is carried out occasionally and the person getting caught is fined and a proper bill is given. Now, this brilliant fellow though uneducated has devised something like an insurance plan in which he gives a identification card to his customers at a price which is half the price of the regular season ticket and for the concerned month the customer is entitled to full re-imbursement of the fined amount. So the customer does not sweat or panic on seeing the Traveling Ticket Examiner, he coolly pays the fine but remembers to collect the receipt.

None of us would have ever thought of this idea, though illegal it is innovative and first-class!

So just before deciding your path say to yourself: ‘This is my ONLY life!!’