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.