Back to PEC !

It seems like yesterday when I stood on the same building, waiting, expecting...the longest wait that lasted only for a few minutes when finally my name was announced by my placement officer on behalf of Vanenburg Business IT Solutions. I went to the same college again, this time to stand on the other side of the dais, for the same company (now called Cordys). I am feeling nostalgic for my college days now and the only cure for this is a trip down my memory lane.
My fruitful, funny, adventurous and energetic 7 years in Cordys melted right in front of me when I visited PEC (Pondicherry Engineering College), as one of the panel members for the recruitment drive.

As I gave a short speech to share my experiences with Cordys, I was no more an “industry guy sharing my experiences to students”, I almost became the student myself, the old days passing my mind, days which were truly wonderful though they did not seem the same at that time...

The hall at admin block where we conducted the exam brought back fond memories in which I saw myself sweating, bent-headed, doing engineering drawing, the same hall which I now supervised the exams we conducted - believe me, I felt horns sprouting from my head making me feel that the world is round.

That’s the beauty of looking back – it turns the ordinary into memorable, the mundane into magical...

I visited the computer lab that I so stealthily visited during the brief stint of my college life. Remember there is a reason to be in college...the next 30 to 40 years of your life will shape up on the basis of how your spend your time in college.

The final day of our campus visit from which we picked 4 students into Cordys family is memorable in many ways. This is when I visited the classrooms and professors from my Department of Civil Engineering. Oh, its nice to feel the classrooms occupied by me, the sounds of slamming books and dropping bags, the thrills of bunking classes, the fun of movie-going, the joys and embarrassments of facing the person you were talking about, when the same person come standing behind you, everything came rushing to me.

These were the classrooms we sat, letting our minds wander, thinking about canteen or someone ‘special’...

I was never the brilliant student of my department; I sat the 2nd row merely because of my height...but even after these 7 years of my neglecting to visit the college, my Professors still remembered me...!

I promised a sure visit sometime in November again for a quality time spending with my gurus who are still an inspiration to many of us including me...

I looked back just once when I started to leave from campus and smiled to myself. It doesn’t matter so much that I never trekked Himalayas, never scored a single run for the country, never even got married till now.

What's Happening?

And it just happened...the Hyderabad Twin Blasts; it really shook the city...!

Both the blasts happened at the crowded places of the city:

· An open air theatre in Lumbini Park, and

· Gokul Chat - the only branch of the famous chat center

Initially, all fingers pointed to terrorist group(s). As of now, some suspects were identified. You can Google and find this. And this one too.

There has been no denying that the terrorist activities are now shaping up to new forms and possibilities, but it really shocks you when it happens in your city - the place where you live. While we communicate from/to our nears-and-dears to confirm nothing worse happened, you can't stop feeling sad for what really happened for others.

Just like the ones that rocked Mumbai in 1993, some more in Coimbatore, the attack on Benaras temples, and then one near Charminar, Hyderabad (barely 5 months ago), we forget incidents. Some of them surface after years which create a different interest, now that the incidents are past.

But, there are some things we can really do help in such situations:

1) When the securities on our office gates try to check us, our cars, our bags, don't deny. Using our power at that time thinking "How dare he check me" or thinking naively as "How come he checks me, he sees me daily!" will surely not help.

2) Note down helpline numbers, message friends; call the ones we know for confirmation. We may not be able to stop the incident, but can at least help in minimizing the damaging after-effects.

Oh, and there are new ones, recent one...this is the collapse of a new bridge (under construction). Life goes on.