My first love in Binghamton

She was my first love after coming to the US. And it was really a touching and emotional moment for me when I bid her goodbye on Thursday, Aug 27th, 2009 at the Vestal road near my school. That day will go in as one of the days which I will remember for a long time to come, or atleast till I meet her again. I am sure that even to this day, many of my closest friends, even in Binghamton, know very little about this.

To tell you the truth and disclose matters silently sleeping in the deepest of my hearts, my first acquaintances with her dates back to the 5th of September, 2008. I still remember the evening I first met her, that lovely September evening that sparked initial communications between us. That was the day when we had a set of seniors whom we had invited for dinner. As preparations for the dinner, which was ‘paav bhaaji’, was going on at full swing in the kitchen, I was glued to a world of my own in a curiosity to know her more.

She was basically a soft spoken person, who hardly communicated much during our initial days of acquaintances. Every morning I woke, I was so desperately longing to get in touch with her – God alone can help me describe; I would say that English vocabulary is too unexpressive to help me explain my then frame of mind.

I was staying in the Leroy side of Binghamton (more precisely in a street called Murray street), which made it all the more easy for me to get a glimpse of her during the mornings. And even more to my surprise, she used to be in the same bus as mine when I went to school. Though we did not speak to each other in the bus, I was sure that there was a placid wave of unspoken understanding that passed through the air between us.

Through due course of time, we became a little more than just friends. Morning meetings extended to an additional dose of evening chats. Classes at school played a villain for me as it started becoming more hectic. Our friendly meetings started turning out into just meeting for the sake of meeting, friendly meetings now started becoming more professional interactions for the sole sake of meeting. Everything started to end slowly. Too many ‘meetings’ in the previous sentence, but too few in reality that I have relished wholly.

However, whenever I got some time, I made it a point to talk to her and try to get as closer as possible. But as fate would have it, classes, assignments and such other more important things predominated my schedule, and I put aside everything until summer would start. I was sure of being able to convince several things then.

India trip at the beginning of summer, and as things would have it, once I got back we were back to touch. It was a lot of one-on-one discussions trying to restore a relationship that was lost in the midst of two busy semesters. I believed that more leisure time would help building a stronger relationship. But to be honest, none of our lengthier conversations ever ended without a heated confrontation. I hardly remember one that ended on a cooler note. I knew that proceeding any further was not going to be fruitful for either of us. Long talks and prolonged attempts to get things fixed followed, and final attempts for restoring relationships were made on the 21st of Aug. I made up my mind to let go her for she needed a solace, a cure far beyond what I could offer her. I would not put the brunt of the blame on fate for it was my decision too to part with her. And finally 27th of August, 2009 – a day I never wanted to face in my life dawned. The last place I met her to send her off was at a place opposite to the Nirchis Pizza on the Vestal road. She then embarked on her way to Texas as I bid goodbye.

PS 1: The ‘She’ here is actually my HP notebook which I have sent to the company for replacing the thermal sink which is not working fine now. Too much of heat(ed) (confrontations) being generated. The meetings that turned professional refer to all the assignments and stuff done using the laptop rather than the much relished chattings and orkuttings!
It’s like a hand lost – without a laptop, gosh, how could things run around?? How could I keep checking the numerous number of e-mails that flood my mail box (yet causing the count of e-mails to remain statically glued to the same number that I saw the last time I checked my mails)? How could I keep track of the latest Airtel Super singer junior on Vijay TV?
I hope I get back my laptop in better condition soon. Please pray for her to return to me safely! :P

PS 2: I said this was my first love, not the only love in Binghamton ;)

From CET Times

College of Engineering, Trivandrum (a.k.a. CET), also referred to as the King of Engineering Colleges in Kerala, has had a profound influence on me. I belong to the 2004 mechanical batch, and as Royal Mexx, we always have the ‘lion's share’ of everything in college. Some anecdotes from this temple of engineers on its 70th year –

First signs of a group of engineers-to-be talking with each other way back in Nov 2000. Yes, that was when my college commenced. First days at college were really exciting, not because of the engineering techniques I would master here, but for various reasons which would unfold during the course of this blog.

Photos Courtesy: Anoop MR, another CET-ian

College always started at 9 in the morning. I would reach college by about 8:50 (provided I got the college bus on time!) and stroll into the college cafeteria for breakfast. We were a gang of four – 2 from Mechanical, one from Industrial and one from Electronics & Commn. Much part of the enjoyment at the canteen during breakfast was when the canteen-in-charge (loving referred to as “Prem annan”) would try to hoax us into buying ‘thayir vadai’ (which is vadai soaked in curd) claiming it to be the healthiest breakfast as served in IITs, a place he had never been to nor met anyone from. Tactics are that these were left-over vadais from the previous days evening snacks, carefully dipped into a very sour white liquid (so-called curd), and passed on the next day. We were already there the previous evening for our quota of snacks, and have already taken note of the left-overs! Would we want to take a chance with the ‘IIT breakfast’? ‘No Prem annan, we’ll surely have it later some time ;-)’

A quick stroll around the main lobby of the college at 9 would give us indications if the college is set for a strike that day, else quietly enter the classes for the first hour attendance. First hours usually tend to see a very haphazardous class, mostly assignments being written from each other. One hour into college, and we all know how much more to write to complete our assignments. Attending the next couple of hours no longer would do good to complete our assignments, and we slowly spread out, but surely out of the class. Not-so-busy days (which mostly was that way) would be spent playing cards during the free hours either in the class or inside the Acassia forest. It was a much sought after place in the college by the male population for not only the shade it provided for playing cards as well as taking a short nap, but also for the close proximity it had to the LH (Ladies Hostel). And if there was a cricket match on a day, praise the lord, the professors could rather take their attendance at the sallap tea stall !!

Come afternoons - my preferred place for lunch was the cafeteria for who else would provide a wonderful meal for just Rs. 8. Please do not ask me about the veg. biryani they served, delicious like the ‘thayir vadai’ I have already mentioned ;-) Once my lunch was done, it was customary for the Royal Mexx to get together at the ‘Mexx Corner’, a primary location inside the college where no student from another department dare come close to. It is just opposite the Acassia trees, and so you could guess why we have generously taken charge of this strategic position for generations together. :D

Chit-chats, vaai-nottam (bird-watching), ‘panjara-adi’ etc. mark a much busier college at 4 PM when waiting for the buses to drop us back home. As the sun sets, we await dawn, to get back here for the morning breakfast.

Out of this interesting life, things that have made CET a unique place and made it a lot more fascinating place to ‘live’ in are the College elections, the after-election fights, the strikes, the technical events, the various sports tournaments conducted, the college cultural fests, the campus placement seasons, and many more. Something that’s brought most of the batch together was the placements season – a set of 550 students striving to strike a point to the companies to make a living. The Konandrifications that prevail during this season is endless. It is during this time of the year that you see students beginning to refresh their command over the English alphabets, a time when simple things such as “Beggars are not choosers” would be better said as “Sorting on the part of mendicants must be interdicted” - a time to impress the corporate wizards!

A sense of healthy competition to better the others exists, days when the placed students would sit down late nights before the interview with the unplaced students giving mock interviews, words of encouragement, signs of brotherhood, hopes of good-luck, screams of joyous moments, a potpourri of everything that marks the beginning few months of a final year at college.

A year back, when in the third year, tradition would have it for us to conduct all shows at college – be it the elections, the cultural fests, and anything. Final year is a lot more relaxing and nice to see the various events taking place, a time to sit back and enjoy the hard work put in by our juniors, a time to act as mentors and Godfathers to a bunch of 1500+ students who look up to you for all that reputation and experience you have earned as a CET-ian. A time when you sit back to relish and recollect the various moments that carved the 4 yrs of life in CET.

And the best part is the final week at college, it’s a ‘demo week’ when final year students dress in various attires each day, a Black day, a ‘pandi’ day (red, green and yellow dresses), school day (dressed in school uniform) and so on. A search for "CET demo week" in youtube would give you some of the best results!! A statutory warning always comes with this when you dare to watch the videos – “Viewer’s risk” :P

Days when responsibilities were 0%, time pass was 100%, when seriousness and life meant nothing more than enjoyment and hanging around with friends. Suddenly it was all May 31st 2004, the last day of our exams. Even as exams ended by noon, most of us roamed about the campus to get a glimpse of the last moments of our CET life – until it was time for the last bus back home, a new journey to begin.

Those four years in CET will always be carved as one of the best times in life, that has taught me everything from mass cuts to extra classes, assignments to partying, cranks and engine shafts at the lab to the same in the hands for a fight, with of course, a mild dose of professionalism and engineering. Thanks CET.

A whole year outside my homeland

It has been a year now since I left my country to pursue my higher studies. It was 3:00 AM, August 7th 2008. I was sitting at the waiting lounge of the Chennai International airport waiting for the boarding call from Qatar Airways. I knew it was going to be close to an hour before they made a call. Having just completed the immigration formalities and the security check, there was nothing much for me to do as I sat in the lounge. I was going to make my first trip overseas, something I had not dreamt of until a few months back.

A little rewind will show that (thanks to Kurmi for such kind of phrases – all mechanical engineers will know what I refer to!), it was only in April 2008 that I put in my papers at UST Global for joining an MBA course at TAPMI. Soon after that, as I was serving my notice period there, I was lucky to get an admission into the State University of New York at Binghamton for doing my MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering. I then decided to take up the latter because of the ‘exposure’ (any interpretation allowed as a reader!) I might get as a result of a foreign education. All set and done, here I was at the airport lounge.

As I sat there, my mind was switching frames very frequently, between whether my choice of doing an MS over an MBA was the right one I was making in life? Is the decision of leaving behind my family a right choice? – I knew very well the pros and cons of going abroad that my father had told me when I decided to do my MS – life in the US is not easy, you are not going to think of coming back for some time at least, you are going to a place with a totally different culture, climate, etc. Well, it was my decision and my parents have always stood with me on my decisions. But was it all going to be reversible? Could I get back to my family? Could I be back in that same comfort zone I am used to? Time will answer

There was a sudden break of silence at the lounge - “Passengers traveling by Qatar Airways…. are requested to board through gate number…”, and I embarked the flight. I was all excited about my first overseas flight. Well, all my excitement came to a sudden stop when I saw that all air hostesses in the flight were East-Asians, while I was expecting American models to help me cross the pacific. First ball – and I was clean bowled. I sat there, grabbed some candies that the air hostess offered me, ate the food she gave me and off I went to sleep. Gosh, just imagine, it was around 5 in the morning and I had not slept all night. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Then it was all quick, my change of flight at Doha, landing at Washington DC followed by a midnight arrival at Binghamton Airport. Thanks to Akiev for making it to the airport to pick me up! Binghamton is an interesting place, and what interests me is how come this place be so different from the US I had imagined when I came from India. It’s basically a university town with its own merits and demerits, but I got accustomed to it soon. Classes began soon.

The first semester was not an easy one for me, for I had not been studying for the past 4 years. Three courses (of which 2 were core courses), 12 assignments, 3 take-home exams, 3 mid-term exams, 3 book reviews, 1 term paper, 2 term projects and 3 final exams – gosh all these in just 3 and a ½ months! Survived it! I am not mentioning anything about my research activities – that’s a different long story  I was thinking that statements like ‘grad school is not easy’ were just over-estimated statements, but now I realize it is not like that. You know what, I have not written an assignment on my own in my undergrad , and here they want me to write something on my own. Bhoo hoooo. Thanks to Special English course, it has helped me convert ‘active voice’ sentences to ‘passive voice’ ones and vice versa and escape the so-called crime of plagiarism!

Once the sem ended, I escaped Binghamton, and what a week that was in December! NJ, NYC, DC and some Virginia. Enjoyed a lot and that was when I saw some real US and some life on the roads! Dec – Jan were the coldest months here. Sem 2 started and same school, different courses (this time I had 3.3 courses!) and some work. The only motivation behind this sem was the fact that once it ended, I would be flying to India the very next day for my sister’s marriage! I went for the marriage in mid May, had some wonderful time with family and friends, and got back to work here. It is summer time here now (temp reached max of 28, whereas in TVM the min is around that range  ). But it’s okay, I am getting used to this kind of a funny weather, I am becoming ‘Americanized’!! Well, summer is not hectic with loads of work, and more staring down the pipe line.

I still remember September 7th, 2008 when I thought “OMG, it’s been one month since I came to the US, see how fast time flies”. Now I rephrase it – “A year has passed now; take me safely through all the tough times. Thanks Almighty!”

Missing India... I am currently listening to -

'Hello Dr.'

It has been a real long time since I talked to myself over this cyber space. One thing that has really interested me in this cyber property of mine is the fact that I get to read my mind here, even long after the thoughts have struck me and translated into words. You might then ask me why I haven’t blogged for quite a long time. Well, I was bogged down with other stuff that took to the driver’s seat that I had very little time for some self-retrospection. It’s been close to two long years, and a lot have moved around me. I am now in the US doing my masters at SUNY, Binghamton, NY. Over the last two years, you could say, a considerable time was spent on preparation to get to this place as well as sustaining my life here! Well more on my life in the US as a later blog, for now let’s get to business.

I am today overwhelmed by the honorary doctorate awarded to M.K. Stalin. Really guys, no sarcasm intended (please read otherwise, I am sure you will ;-)). In the line of great men who have received a doctorate by either pursuing research or having lived themselves for genuine reasons, this award comes as a big surprise. Yes friends, a real surprise in the sense that this has come very late considering the fact that actors like Vijay have been awarded this much earlier!! I am still wondering how come we, the citizens of India, still stand applauding to such political comics that continue. Now the tactics of promoting this ‘Dr.’ up the political ranks to a specially crafted position of a Deputy Chief Minister becomes obvious. More is sure in stock.

My mind flies off to a similar incident of creating a totally new position of the Deputy Prime Minister a few years back, and that time it was at the center of a so called democratic nation. Well, people (read as ‘influential’ politicians, since there are more timid and placid ones in the form of our present PM!) tend to use their position and power for rewriting the democratic rule. I have spent a lot of lengthy ‘office-tea-hours’ discussing why Vijay was awarded a doctorate. He is after all an entertainer who acts to make his daily living. I have watched Vijay movies, and have no comments to pass at this point of time (probably we could take it as a totally different blog).

I personally believe that there should be an unbiased body of intellects who scrutinize these candidates before the prestigious doctorate is awarded to them. After all, we should not be looking to belittle the intelligence of other deserving ‘Dr.s’.