FlashBack 2009 - Lessons Learnt…..

The memory of the times just a year back sends a chill down my spine. Only god knows how I have endured those days. Unable to walk even a little, I was handicapped. Our registration at NIT was on 1st of January and classes started on 2nd. But I was in no condition going there any time soon. Vivek handled my registration by putting fake signature for me (with my name spelled wrong ...:P) and I reached RKL 4 or 5 days late.

I had already missed a few classes and coping was a bit difficult that too in such circumstances. The classes were held in the 2nd floor of the insti building and reaching there cud have been difficult but thank god!!! there is a lift.

The first few days were really arduous. Doing my daily works were difficult. I was living just on painkillers and steroid. Those days were tensed ones. Even doubt aroused in my minds if I m going to walk again or not. I missed playing TT and going out. Thanks to Vivek for the lifts on his bicycle that I was able to reach the classes. A depressed mind and a handicapped body was a very dreadful condition. Most of the times were spent on my laptop browsing, playing and watching movies. Add to that the lift becoming defunct was another problem. But what I am proud of myself is that I didn’t miss even a single class those days. The jogging classes were another problem. Waking early and going there even if to take attendance was a problem taking into view of my condition. And those merciless P.E.Ts… ohh what a mess??

One weekend I set out for bbsr for my MRI check at Kalinga Hospital, dad met me there at bbsr. Only after the MRI scan it was clear that I was having a Meniscus tear rather than rheumatoid arthritis and I was under wrong treatment till then.

So, I am back at rkl again and I visited another doc at rkl. I was under treatment of two doc, one without medicine but only exercises and vitamins and another a high dose of medicine. Slowly the pain started to recede.

Meanwhile this tear was never going to prevent me from pursuing what my interest were. We prepared for the tech-fest with our parallel port bots made just 1 day before the competition and our line follower bot. Our twin bots (American muscles with lock head) made their way to the quarters easily. But my bot ended its journey there losing to the ultimate winners. The other bot went on to the semis but ended 4th. And our line follower didn’t work at all. Suraj, Alok and me came 3rd in physics quiz. It was really good for a change and a distractor from the pain. But I skipped the spring fest to be at home. But returned to just catch up with the celebrity night (ended mid way due to the stone throwing).

Time went on and my tear too receded. Now I am fit again. At least started to ride my bicycle. And now comes the mid sem. The exams went really well except Data Structure. Sometimes being overconfident pays and it was one of those circumstances. Even after looking at the question paper, I was confident of getting full marks but ended up getting half of it. But getting full marks in Math ( thanks to GKP) gave greater pleasure then the disappointment due to DS.

The remaining sem went as usual. Enjoyed the farewell party of Cyborg and Bam zone. Pressure was on me to prepare for IIT-JEE. But getting CSE in IITs is impossible, so no preparing ( :P). Neways gave the IIT exam without much hope. The end sems are now closer, and this time was confident of making it at least into the 9 pointers.

The first exam exam was Physics and went well. And the second was DS. I was confident of making up what I wasted in the mid sem. That day I spent teaching others rather than reading myself, this is what my confidence was.

That scene is still loud and clear in front my eyes. A lesson I am never going to forget in my whole life. I know those events will haunt my whole life. DS question paper was on my desk and with confidence I am on it. Confident of doing well. ***some text missing***

The evening I attended the MALCO meeting. Could still remember the brute smile on the face of the profs. it was decided that I was going to get 2 Grade Backs but nothing was finalized.

The other exams went as usual. Who can expect to recover from such a shocker so soon???

It is now the summers and I am back at home. BITSAT was on the line and for some times I thought it as a good escape route from all these mess that are happening at rkl. Meanwhile I joined a JAVA course to keep myself engrossed and do something productive in the vacation. The results soon came out and there was another jolt awaiting. My score was 7.87.

Never in my dreams have I thought of getting such low score. It is only later I realized that the paper for DS was scratched and I have to reappear the exam. At my home during the vacation i caught chicken pox. but the bad news doesn't end here. Soon BITSAT was closer, and I was least prepared. I had to give the exam with the chicken pox still on and the performance was dismal. And then, my laptop gets stolen (oooops). AM I DONE YET???????

I had to pay a visit to rkl to give the supplementary exam for DS. Got some chances to meet some friends who were doing summer courses there. And soon the vacs were coming to an end. And time to return to rkl. But this time determined to be a new me. The lessons had been learnt.

The third semester was a easy going one. The subjects were relatively easy and hope was there to fetch some better marks. It was also time to get involved in other works. At cyborg, we started our work on AGV even if our attempt proved futile later. Also tried to make an amphibot for vahaan, but that too didn’t work as it did well in water but not on land :'(. Time went on. Everything went on as usual. Enjoyed the birthday bashes of alok, vivek and my own :P. Soon the semester ended.

And now the winter vacation. But having decided to two courses in the winter has backfired. The days have been really hectic. But anyways had taken out some time to roam around some of the places around bbsr. What I enjoyed most in the vacation was the visit to nicco park and gopalpur beach when I was back at bam on a Sunday. Finally the vac ends. Not have been quite an enjoyable one, but happy to get some experience being in a new place all by own.

And now I am finshing this article while I am still on the train on my way to rkl. Spending the zero night on the train is a new experience. Roamed around the train wishing new year to anyone who looked familiar.

What a year it had been!!! Lets see what is in the store for the upcoming year.

Year 2008 Flashback-------The Most Happening Year of my life.

Indeed 2008 was the most happening year of my life. This is the year with moments of sadness, ecstasy, pain, disappointment , fun and what not.

The year started with arduous notes-preparation for board exams to add to that IIT-JEE, AIEEE…….

Those were the times of intense pressure. No time to rest just keep on studying and studying. Too much of competition and expectations. I was fearful if I could walk through it or not?

There came the shocking news of the demise of my maternal grandmother. This was just a shock for me. The one who showed so much love and affection is no more. I was unable to attend even her funeral services due to my exams.

The spotlight were now on the board exams. Preparation was not up to the level and the nervousness was at the Everest height. Thankfully the exams went well but "history repeats itself", what happened in the 10th class board exams happened again my Maths and English papers didn’t go well.

The board exams ended but still no respite now the entrance exams!!?!!

IIT-JEE exam was round the corner and my brain was blank. There was no confidence in me as I took the IIT exam. But post exam analysis showed I did relatively well, there was some hope that I would be in the merit list(at least). This instigated new confidence in me for the other exams. So armed with new vigor and confidence I started to prepare.

The other exams went as planned. Hopefully, I also mastered mathematics which has been my weak points in the exams at Career Point and in IIT-JEE. VIT, AIEEE, BITSAT, OJEE all went as expected. BITSAT was extraordinarily good while I expected bad rank in OJEE due to my carelessness( I didn’t prepare for it actually).

Meanwhile, it was fun time. I enjoyed the break. I saw a lot of films. Went to the film hall to see 'jaane tu ya jaane na' and 'hancock' along with my friends.

Now it is the result time and my finger were crossed. First the board exam results, the horror of English returned, my %age this time too stayed below 90 just due to it.

Well the result of the board exams was not for which I was excited about, but the entrance exams.

First the VITEEE results and as expected I got a good rank but that didn’t interest me. Then IIT-JEE results, to my surprise I was in the merit list but not a good rank to get a seat in any IIT in any good stream. AIEEE results came out much earlier than expected. It was nearly 9pm on that day when I heard that the results are out. I ran to the nearest cyber café to get the result. And the result, 30th state rank. My happiness had no bounds. So, I dropped the thought to join in any IIT or to prepare for a year. My mind was now to join in any NIT, may it be Warangal, Trichy, Suratkal or Rourkela or IIIT Hyderabad.

Then the OJEE results, I didn’t cared about the result and I expected it around 200 with the performance I gave. But, I got a rank of 21. It was a great surprise.

Now, the counseling time, first the IITs. Even if I was unwilling to go for counseling, my father insisted. So, I agreed to go at least to gain experience, how the system of counseling works. We stayed at an acquaintance's house. The day we reached there, it rained incessantly. I made my choice sheet ready.

It was raining cats and dogs. The counseling went well (is what I thought then). We had the train the next morning. But alas!! A flood like situation developed in Balasore (station in our way), so all trains were cancelled. And we were stuck. After a day we decided to take an alternative route. And set out in a rented car to Baripada. The journey took far more time than it would have taken in an ordinary day. I the way I saw the catastrophe created by the rain. Roads flooded, houses washed, helpless people having nowhere to go. From Baripada, we took bus to Berhampur via Bhubaneswar.

What a day it was!! A totally forgettable misadventure.

The counseling results came out. But what happened was totally unexpected. I had kept a M.Sc. Subject in applied physics that too in ISMU Dhanbad as my 3rd preference and I got that one. That was a terrible mistake.

The time for applying for BITS came. With such mark I had no chance of joining was what I thought then. And I had no intention of joining in any branch other than computer science. So, I prepared the choice sheet carelessly. But when the result for this counselling came out, there came another jolt. My mark was increased to 340 as there were error in the questions. But I had no chance to change the choice sheet. I rued for what I did. I got CSE in BITS, Goa and I was unable to see any chance of me getting into BITS, Pilani. So, I dropped the thought of joining BITS.

It was time for the AIEEE counseling and I was determined to take CSE in the best NIT I can get. I reached Rourkela on the day before the counseling unaware what destiny has to unfold before me here.

The counseling went well and I got a seat in CSE at NIT Rourkela. I was happy that I would be studying in my home state, but there was gloom in my parent's face. They expected me to study outside Orissa. The day after the counseling I went to IG park and surprisingly I found some of my friends there. We had a great time visiting the animal galleries and boating. It was a surprise to me that many of my friends got seats in NIT, Rourkela. I came back to Rourkela after 15 days for my admission and this time I had the opportunity to visit Hanuman Vatika (which has one of the tallest statue in Asia).

The days before I had to join the institute were full of fun and frolics. I enjoyed my time going to my friends places and going to cinemas with my friend. At the same time the idea of going away from my friends made me uneasy. I knew I would miss them.

The day of joining NIT, Rourkela arrived. I arrived at Rourkela with my parents (my brother didn’t came as he was having exams). I was allotted a room in the second floor of our hostel (G.D. Birla hall of residence). But most of my friends were having their room in the ground floor. So, I insisted the officials to allot me a room in the ground floor and I got one. Room no. 9, which was already allotted to Suraj, Nihar (both were my friends in my secondary schooling time) and Ajit (from Dhenkanal). After room allocation we went to our relative's house and also visited Hanuman Vatika again as my mother had not come the last time.

The next day my parents left for Berhampur. There was a tint of sadness that I will be living without them. But having my friends around, never a feeling came that this place is alien to me. We also got two more room mates, one-Shakti who is from Tamil Nadu but lives in Kuwait and other Chaitanya who was also a classmate in KV. Those were the days of enjoyment. The days were full of fun and frolics. We roamed around a lot and played a lot too.

Enjoyed times at the night canteen and yes, table tennis at the midnights.

This hostel became a home far away from my home. We enjoyed a lot but we neglected our studies a bit. The result, we were unable to perform well in our midsem. The situation at the hostel during the examination times is worth seeing. Everybody in a tense mood, studying the whole nights. As soon as the exams ended we got a short vacation and we went to Berhampur.

In Berhampur too, we roamed a lot, visited each others' home, went to film hall to see 'kidnap'. I played a lot in the computer. It was a good experience to be back to home for the first time after admission in NIT. Our AECS batch had a wonderful get together party at Gopalpur beach. I had the opportunity to meet my old friends there.

After returning to Rourkela, life went as usual. After the end-semester exams ended we returned home.

The day I reached home I got my laptop which was gifted by my uncle. The next day I had a visit to my father's aunt house along with my parents and brother. At night I gave the selection test for overnite, a coding competition by IIT, Kharagpur. But the very next day the unexpected happened. I had some problems in my right knee. I was unable to bend it. I had no choice but to stay at home for the whole vacation. It was such a disappointment that I was unable to enjoy the vacation.

New year came I returned back to Rourkela with the knee not properly healed. The real reason of this was even not known. Only later, it was realized that I am having a meniscus tear.

This is how the year 2008 had been for me.