The past few weeks...

A blog entry after quite some time. I’ve been quite busy over the past few weeks. Exams kept me occupied from the day before the first to three days before the last (refer to our crazy time tables for further details). I’ll go on typing whatever comes to my mind. The stuff I say might not even be in chronological order.

Incident and midsems...

The highlight of my month so far (and this holds good for most of my college mates at NITK) was our college cult fest Incident. The Fest To Die For, The End Of The World Party and other titles abound, the fest really was a masterclass in planning and finances, from what little I saw of the workings behind it. With a dedicated bunch of students working on everything from how to get the money for the fest to how to spend it, Incident ’12 was perhaps the most meticulously and creatively conceived fest to date. Few people from outside NITK (or even inside for that matter) realise why Incident is different. Let me put it simply. EVERYTHING that happens is handled by students. Whatever can go right is done by students. Whatever can go wrong... well let’s just say that is taken care of by enemies both foreign and domestic (I’m sorely tempted to use emoticons right now, but I won’t. Instead, I shall continue to misuse parentheses). Anyway, there you go. Incident ’12 happened, but not quite as we planned it.

The Empire struck. Well actually it did not strike, it just lay back in its cool cloistered abode and watched the dream of its ‘subjects’ come crashing down. Incident ’12 was an example of how the actions of many can be negated by the inaction of a few.  The midsems came and went in the week before Incident and now we await the results of the same. I’m not even bothering to cross my fingers.

Notice the amount of space Incident took up in comparison with the part about tests? That should tell you the story.

Our consolation was a performance by a GNR tribute band, Jailbreak. I heard that this was pretty good, and so was the opening act by a local band which actually performed Tulu rock songs! I missed it all as I had to leave for Bangalore that night.

Tiruchi Venganur Sundaram...

Yup, that’s the full form of TVS which I finally checked after a very namkeen reminder. Why TVS? Well, a week before our midsems, we had a test conducted in college. It was on a Saturday, and for once I actually took the effort to go back to college on a Saturday. The test was by TVS Motocorp, who by the way make 3 wheelers as well, to hire (on what seems like a subsistence wage basis) a few young engineers to work for them over the summer. To be honest, before I wrote the test I wasn’t even sure the Apache was a TVSM product. Yes, I still aim to be a mechanical engineer.

Anyway, I wrote the test. After some really shady elimination process (inverted pyramid stuff, I tell you!) 14 of us Mechies were invited to their plant in Hosur for a day. So, back to the last day of Incident. While the rest of the college swayed to the tunes, or whatever it was they did, of Jailbreak, we set off for Bangalore. I won’t tell you stories of my trip to Blore. But I shall give a few points.  I like saying things in points.

1. Never switch off your Nokia 7210 thinking you’ll conserve battery life. You’ll end up without a mobile for days. Unfortunately for me, this happened on this trip. Allow me to say “Saavu marre!”.

2. Bangalore, despite the myths, doesn’t always have great weather.

3. If any place needs a change of name, it is the supposedly Majestic bus stand of Bangalore.

4. Cousins are indeed your first and best friends for life, no matter how infrequently you meet.

5. Infosys, Biocon and all those fancy companies you hear about are NOT in Bangalore. They’re a torturous bus ride away. And Hosur is in Tamil Nadu.

6. TVS Motors has one of the finest manufacturing/assembling facilities for bikes in India.

7. Songwriters beware. The Tamil film industry is always on the lookout to ‘improve’ your songs.

8. We seriously need a national language. I vote for Tulu.

9. But seriously, I vote for English.

10. No one knows Bangalore, which in my opinion is a case study on how NOT to connect a city. If you have so many awesome places (which you do, no doubt), please set up an efficient transport system.

11. I saw the Manchester United bar. I just saw it.

12. Mangalore Special Bhel Puri exists. Supposedly we make it sweet.

13. If you want a cool new phone, please don’t take your recently deceased phone to the service centre.

Well, that should be enough for now.  I’m trying my best to keep this blog from turning into a diary and yes, I’m failing miserably. Time for an abrupt ending.

No seriously, that’s it.