From Ainavaram to IIM: A true life story

Disclaimer: This is my story and I reserve the right to say it the way I like. So I have nothing to disclaim about. This is essentially a non-disclaimer.

Warning: This is a very long post. 

Note: If you’re an IIT or an IIM aspirant, I’d suggest you better not read this. If you still want to read it, I’d like you to treat this as a story. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s neither meant to dishearten you, nor is it meant to inspire you. But if it does, don’t blame me. Either way, it’s a story. A real one nevertheless.

Another Note: If you’re someone who’s close to me and knows me well, you’d know this already for you’d have seen me through this. It’s up to you whether you wanna read it or not.

First of all, let me begin with a small confession. The word “Ainavaram” in the title has no connection to this story. I know Ainavaram to be a place in Chennai. Neither have I been to Ainavaram nor do I have any clue as to what it looks like. I have just heard the name and it struck me when I was thinking of a title for this post. You have those newbie authors giving fancy title to their works to garner attention. So there you go. I’m guilty too :-)

The smooth sailing, the smart kid and the bright student:

 Well, the sailing was smooth. Up to a certain point. I was one of those chirpy kids who get labeled as smart and bright at a very young age. Started quizzing as early as third standard and the inquisitive nature never stopped me. The urge to learn new things led me to read a lot and a smart kid was born. This kid kept building on his strengths and made a mark for himself at the school level. Academically too, I performed well, finishing among the top three of the class always. As a student and a school going kid, it was a relatively smooth sailing for me with the path dotted with many laurels along the way.

 

The high point:

 Every journey has to peak at some point. For me, it happened in 10^th standard. I scored 1025 out of 1100 marks (93.2 percent) in my Board Exams and finished third in the school. More plaudits followed and I was hailed as this kid who’s headed for a great destiny. I was soaking in the limelight and was sailing among the clouds for sometime. I didn’t know what lay ahead then.

The big mistake: the IIT Dream Factory 

Somewhere along the way in my journey, my dad happened to mention the three letters to me. The three letters that could change my life forever; or so, I thought. IIT. Today it’s so popular with the advent of 24X7 media, but back then, about 10 years ago, it was not as popular as it is now. So when you see a bright young kid winning laurels and making a mark in every field, it’s only natural that you suggest him a place that would fulfill his true potential. That was how IIT came into my life. I dreamt about IIT, I longed to be a part of it. That was where my heart was back then. A senior from school had cracked the IIT with an All India Rank of 31 and made it to IIT Madras. He became my role model by default. My food, my drink, my sleep, all resonated the three words – IIT. It started as a passion. Became an obsession. I joined the only centre providing coaching for IIT – JEE back then in Coimbatore. I joined all the Correspondence courses that I could think of. I studied every day. Sometimes every night. I thought I was on the right track. I thought I had it in me. What I failed to realize then was that my efforts then were merely a fraction of the efforts one would require to put in to get into an IIT. I fooled myself into thinking that I had it me, that I could make it. I didn’t realize that staying in Coimbatore, I hardly had any exposure that one would ideally require to make it to an IIT. In this relentless pursuit, my academics began to suffer. I failed for the first time in my life in 11^th standard Half-yearly exams. I failed in Physics, a subject that I liked. I was devastated. But like with so many things, it’s the first time that hurts. Not afterwards. I failed again in 12^th standard Quarterly and Half-yearly exams. This time in Chemistry and Mathematics. I hated Chemistry but I loved Maths. Yet here I was, failing in all three subjects that I was supposed to ace in order to get into an IIT. I was clueless. I was helpless. I didn’t know what to do. In school, I was hiding from the teachers who taught me till 10^th for all they know was that Ashwin was a bright student. I didn’t want them to see this face of Ashwin. This guy who was a failure. 

On the one hand, I believed that I could make it to the IIT even though my preparation on that front dropped significantly. On the other hand, I needed to get serious about my academics, lest I fail in my 12^th Standard. The onus was completely on me for I was this stubborn kid who refused to take up tuitions even when all other students in my class went for tuitions.  So I decided to give this IIT business a break and concentrate on my Academics. So for the next 2 months, I studied and started passing the subjects. But in a state as competitive as Tamilnadu, a pass would get me nowhere. I had to be in the top brass – 95% and above. I did try hard and gave it my best in the exams. But the results were a big letdown.

The worst phase:

I still remember the day very clearly – 22^nd of May, 2006. Probably the worst day in my professional life. I got the results. I passed. I scored 1058 out of 1200 (88 percent). Normally any kid would be happy with that score. But in the environment that I grew up in, that score was a disaster. Being a General category student in Tamilnadu, that score was next to nothing. It was as though my whole world came crashing down. My home bore a look as though it was in a state of mourning that day. Phone calls kept coming in. None of them were congratulatory. It was all commiserations. My parents graciously took responsibility for my failure saying that it was their mistake that they did not guide me properly. I was heartbroken. They trusted me and gave me everything that I asked for and yet I failed them. 

Soon, all entrance exam results followed and as expected, I did not clear any – be it IIT or AIEEE or other tests. Panic struck and in a state of desperation, I was enrolled into a B.Sc. Computer Science course in one of the prestigious Arts & Science Colleges in the city as the Engineering admissions were more than a month away and I faced the real possibility of ending up in a third-rate Engineering college. So I went to this BSc course for a month. People around me were all happy for they had made it to the best college in the city but I could not take it. Here I was, dreaming of getting into IIT only a couple of months back and yet here I am. I hid from everyone back then. From friends, from relatives, from my teachers, from everyone. I didn’t want them to look and sympathize with me. It was probably the worst phase of my life. Engineering admissions happened and I got admission to a decent college in the city. It wasn’t a great college, but it wasn’t bad either. Somehow, I mustered up the courage to come out of my hiding and tell everyone that I got admission to so and so college in the city. 

The vow:

Still the IIT dreams hadn’t left me. I was floating the idea of giving IIT again. I could not bear the fact that I was doing Engineering from an ordinary college when all my friends were in better colleges. Once I was arrogant enough to reply that I won’t look at anything other than IIT when a person suggested the names of Anna University or PSG Tech. On the first day of Engineering, our HOD told us “What you do in the next 4 years will determine how your next 40 years are going to be like.” I took his words seriously.  Even though I had one eye on giving the IIT again, I vowed that it should not let my Academics suffer at any cost. I worked diligently. As a result, I topped my class in the first year of Engineering. Though I gave IIT again, I knew the result beforehand for I hardly put in any effort. I accepted that this was my college and this is where I had to shape my destiny from.

The Redemption: 

The next 3 years saw me redeem myself to my past glory. I started going out to competitions and started winning prizes too. Quiz was my forte and I did not miss any quiz in the city. I was not ashamed of my college anymore. I realized that it was something psychological and it was my own creation. I realized that people saw me for who I was, not for my college. Yet I learnt to feel proud of my college and declare that I was from Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology (SRIT). My school friends stood by me. We were a closely knit group of six people and we had absolutely no ego. We did not care about others’ colleges or other aspects. My quiz partner was one of them. He ensured that he invited me as his partner for every quiz in the city despite the fact that he was from a prestigious college in the city and had better quizzers there.  For the six of us, college hardly mattered. We were the same buddies from school. The world of quizzing introduced me to some of the best people that I have ever known. There was this quizzer from PSG Tech, the most prestigious college in the city, who wrote how people judge him based on his college and how it should not matter if he was from PSG Tech or some XYZ Engg. College. It’s the person that mattered, not the college. Reading that gave me fresh vigour. Now it did not matter to me if I was from IIT or SRIT. Infact during this period, I visited IIT 3 to 4 times and realized that the people studying there were mere mortals too. I revered the students there the first time I visited the campus. The reverence slowly wore off as I began to realize that they were just like me. Infact, I was better than some of them in certain aspects. It’s just because of the fact that they had managed to clear an entrance exam that I could not, they were here and I was elsewhere.

I did well academically too during this phase and landed a good job with Vedanta Resources. My redemption was complete when I was awarded 2 gold medals for being the Best Outgoing student of my college and for being the Department topper. Ashwin Murali was no longer the guy who fared badly in 12^th standard but a gold medallist.

The next dream factory: IIM

When I failed to clear the IIT for the second time, somewhere in my mind I decided to target the other dream factory, namely the IIMs. I started preparing for the CAT from the third year of college onwards. Though I was focused on my preparation, it lacked the intensity that one would require to clear the CAT. As a result, I ended up with an 84.5 percentile score in my first attempt. Since I had a job in hand, it did not bother me much and I went to work with Vedanta Resources in Jharsuguda, Odisha. I gave CAT again, this time with no preparation and ended up with a score of 89 odd percentile. Though it was good, I knew with some more effort, I could hit a 98-99 percentile and target my dream factory. So I started again. In the months that followed my joining Vedanta, I grew really homesick and started cribbing a lot. I’m really thankful to the people who had to put up with me during that phase. I was lucky to have had an excellent bunch of people around me back then, who motivated me enough to take up CAT again. This was going to be my third and hopefully last attempt at CAT, provided I made it to an IIM. I studied hard juggling work and studies. I used to sit and take a mock CAT after a tired day’s work. Though I tried hard, I knew there was something lacking. Still I gave CAT hoping that I could improve on my 89 percentile score from the previous year. Within 20 days of giving my CAT, I was transferred to a plant in Tuticorin. I checked my CAT results from Tuticorin . 83 percentile. I was devastated. Three attempts at CAT and all three were unsuccessful. It was a throwback to the IIT preparation days again. I didn’t know what to do. I decided to concentrate on the work in hand.

The next 4 months in the Tuticorin plant were the hardest that I have ever worked in my life. My job was so hectic that I hardly had any time to think about CAT, leave alone, study for it. It was April 2012 and I knew that I had had enough. Though I was performing well on the job front, I was not enjoying it. I had to do something about it. I thought hard and bravely, I put in my papers. I went to T.I.M.E. Coimbatore and spoke with the Director who I hardly knew back then. He looked at my past CAT scores and was kind enough to offer me a Faculty job in the area of Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation after seeing that I had scored in the high 90s consistently in that area in all my three previous CAT attempts.

The final push: the T.I.M.E. journey:

The one year that I spent at T.I.M.E. was one of the most fruitful periods of my life. I learnt so many things about life during that period. You can read about it here.

After joining T.I.M.E., I made up my mind to give it my all for it’s going to be now or never. I can’t keep postponing my higher studies any longer for age was catching up with me. Within days of joining TIME, I realized that I had to work extra hard for my colleagues were all a step ahead of me for they had been in TIME longer. I slogged real hard for the next two months. I slogged day and night. Slowly my mock CAT scores started improving and I caught up with my colleagues and eventually I overtook them. That was when I started relaxing a bit for I felt contented as my mock CAT scores were soaring high.

I now believe that when you’re competing for something, it’s never ok to feel completely contented. The moment you feel that is the moment your efforts take a backseat. That’s exactly what happened to me. A month before the CAT, I grew confident and was contented and this slackened my preparation. Still I gave CAT and this time, I scored 97 percentile. I knew that I could have scored 99 had my preparation not slackened, yet it was a big relief for me. This score meant that I was going to end up in some good college if not an IIM.  Soon I followed it up with scores of 98 percentile in SNAP and a 95 percentile in XAT.

Four days after my CAT results, I got an interview call from IIM Kashipur. I was overjoyed. Even with a 97 percentile score, it was still possible to get an IIM call. Probably my work experience helped me there. Though it was a call from the newest IIM, it was still an IIM – a dream factory and that’s all that mattered to me. There were also calls from other good colleges like MDI Gurgaon, XIMB, Symbiosis, IMT Ghaziabad, IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur and a couple of other colleges. 

The next one month was spent travelling around the country giving interviews at various locations. I did fairly well in all interviews and got admits to all the colleges except MDI Gurgaon where I was placed in the waitlist. But I was not worried about these. I knew my big prize was waiting. The IIM results got delayed and I kept waiting. Finally the results came and I was wait-listed. Disappointment. But I was hopeful of making it in the second list which was due in 5 days for the IIM interview was probably the best interview that I gave in the entire season. 

Joining XIMB and the good news:

By now I had decided after detailed research that I’d be joining XIMB if IIM doesn’t come through. The second list came and I was again in the waitlist. Disappointment  again. I didn’t know what to do for the date for joining XIMB was getting nearer. With a heavy heart, I decided to bid goodbye to my IIM dreams and join XIMB. I went and joined XIMB, by which time the third list had also come and I was wait-listed in that too. I started liking XIMB and took to the place so much that I even forgot to check the fourth list. In the evening, I opened my mail casually to find a mail from IIM Kashipur saying that I had been admitted. I didn’t know how to react then. It didn’t sink in then. Then slowly I realized. Realized that here was the dream factory, the place I longed to be in for 6 years and I have finally made it. 

The next one week was packed with frantic activities – withdrawing from XIMB, vacating my hostel, booking tickets for Kashipur, Medical tests, etc. The journey has almost always been frantic for me. I’m used to it. 

The dream realized: Just the beginning

Finally I arrived at IIM Kashipur on June 29^th, 2013. A dream was realized. The redemption was complete. But my experience had taught me that this was just the beginning. The Director’s speech echoed the same sentiments – “ How you make use of these 2 years would determine where you end up?”  Sounds familiar? ;-) Time to start all over again :-)

Some Insights:

Looking back, through all these travails, my parents were a huge support for me. They stood by me through thick and thin. So did my brother who believed in me when nobody else did. Then I had this wonderful bunch of friends from school and a small group of friends from college. I also had an excellent group of people around me at Vedanta. Not to mention my favourite gang from TIME. I would be no one but for these people. So my first insight is to surround yourself with the right people and your job is half-done.

I heard a young speaker in a recent TEDx convention say this: “Everyone has an ego. At some point, your ego gets hit. The sooner it gets hit, the better for you.” Mine got hit in 11^th standard. What was till then an infallible impression, got shattered overnight. 

I learnt this important lesson in college – You’re inferior to none and you’re superior to none. The moment you think of yourself as superior to someone is the moment you start losing. Similarly the moment you start thinking of yourself as inferior to someone is the moment you start giving up.

Finally, I’m a firm believer in the immortal words of Swami Vivekananda – “You are the creator of your own destiny.”  

Go ahead and create your destiny!! All the best !!

- Ashwin Murali

PS: I wanted this story to be told for a long time for there could be many out there who might feel like giving up at different points of time. I hope they carve out a path for themselves and realize their dreams.

PPS: Since it’s a real life story, you may have sensed a bit of emotion here and there and I may have unconsciously dramatized certain things. Forgive me if that was the case anywhere.

What they fail to teach us

Hello again. My last post got some of the best responses that I’ve ever got. That includes a girl asking me if I could be the subject for her to practice the groin kick ;-) OMG!!

 I didn’t think then that one incident would affect us all in the way it did. Those rapists are akin to terrorists in the sense that they have managed to create fear in the mind. I could see my female friends worry about their safety. This fear would give rise to paranoia. My suggestion/advice to all my female friends / sisters is not to fear. Please be your normal selves and try to lead a normal life. Just be vigilant and precautious. Also please don’t start hating your friends, colleagues, and people around you just because they are men. Like I said, any man who’s been brought up with the right values inculcated in him would never do anything that’d displease a woman even in the slightest manner. Identify such men and be around them. 

American Way of Life:

Moving on to today’s topic, I’ve often wondered whether the Americans are crazy to be doing what they do – send out their kids once they’re done with school. For those who may not know, the US way of life is such that the children learn to be alone right from their infancy. Yes. A toddler will have his/her own room and that’s where they’re put to sleep while the parents sleep in their bedroom. So the process of learning to be alone starts there. Once they’re done with their school education, they move out of their houses and start leading a life of their own. They work, study, pay their bills, do their chores, etc. without anyone’s support. 

Ofcourse there are exceptions where the parents continue to support their children but the majority is on their own. 

Now thinking again, I wonder, are they crazy or are they brilliant to be doing that? A bit of both, I’d say. 

Crazy ‘cause they fail to support their child realize his/her dream to the fullest; brilliant ‘cause they initiate the process of learning one of the most important lessons in our life – Self Discovery. 

Being on your own will always sound like music to the ears of a teenager who has been craving for his/her privacy, right from adolescence. 

But is being independent & being on your own that easy? Yes, for an American kid. Not for an Indian kid.

 Indian Way of Life:

Now let’s look at the Indian way of life. 

The Indian kid is a parents’ darling. The cherished joy of their lives. They try to stay with their parents for as long as their situation allows them to. Again there are exceptions but I’m not talking about them. Most of them stay with their parents throughout their school lives.  Even when it comes to college, parents don’t send out their kids. They look for a college in their proximity and try to enroll their ward there or they shift to the city of the college where their ward has got admission. They continue this support till the point where they’re forced to give in. Some never give in. 

Parents supporting their kids is not a sin. But they must also impart the essential life skills to their kids. By life skills, I mean anything and everything. Let me talk from my own experience.

Learning Life Skills – the unusual ones:

When I was posted in Jharsuguda, Orissa, at an age of 21 after my college, I realized that I was on my own thereafter. Though there was initial excitement, slowly but surely, I was exposed to my own shortcomings, one by one. Let’s look at them and how I overcame them.

1.      Money: Yes. I was paid for the first time in my life. Though I’ve dealt with money in my life, I’ve never handled such huge amounts of money, that too in a bank account and all. Though I learnt it in due course of time, I realized that people around me who had lived in hostels in their college, were able to manage better. That was the first time I regretted not having been in a hostel in my college life. But I learnt and when we came out of company accommodation, I was the house financier.

2.      Cooking: Once out of the company accommodation, my friends and I were completely on our own in a rented house. That’s where we started cooking. That’s when I realized what I missed out learning, while I was back home. I regretted not joining in when my brother used to cook stuffs with my mom. Yes. My brother cooks well. But learning to cook was fun too.  I did learn to cook, albeit little by little. Still I was able to eat my own cooking and that’s what mattered. 

3.      Washing: One of the most painful exercises. My dad had taught me this while I was young and it helped. Though being the connoisseurs of comfort that we were, had a washing machine, there were days which were spent washing soaked up, dusty clothes.

4.      Doing dishes: Atleast this was one activity I was well trained in. Though it’s a pain, we managed it well.

5.      Cleaning the house: Another activity that came naturally to me. Whether it was sweeping the floor or dusting the roof (once in awhile), we managed it well.

Now looking back, I’m amazed at what I managed. The point here is that these skills should be taught to every individual irrespective of whether you’re a male or a female.  

Gender Disparity/ Reverse Gender Bias:

While the girls are taught all these, the boys are largely ignored, is the common argument. But I beg to disagree. Are girls taught all these? In the present day, the girls are brought up in a competitive environment on par with boys in every sense. In their sense of comforting the girls, many parents fail to teach them these skills. 

Sometimes, girls are comforted to such an extent that they never know hardships in their life. Don’t get me wrong. It’s none of my business to tell parents what to teach their daughters. I insist on teaching all these skills even to your sons. My point is, when it comes to daughter, certain parents shower their wards with so much love and comfort that it becomes difficult for them, if they face hardships future in their life.  Again don’t get me wrong. By future, I don’t mean their married life. Whether you marry or not, is your wish. Even if you don’t, to lead an independent life, all these skills are requisites. Again people may argue saying why should they learn these skills when they could afford a cook or a helper when faced with such a situation. Again my point is not if you could get these works done, but knowing to do them. And this has got nothing to do with getting married et al. In this age when hardly any married couple stays with their parents, such skills are a requisite, not just for the girl. I’ve seen a lot of independent, young, single women leading very good lives on account of them mastering these skills. Same with men. 

It’s ok to give all comforts to your children but please don’t distinguish them. The other day, a friend remarked that his sister wouldn’t have undergone even a fourth of the hardships that he had to undergo in his life. Such distinctions could be avoided. It’s ok to give a little preference to your daughter over your son. But at the same time, the daughter should also be taught the essentials of life and should be exposed to the outside world. 

Yes, the girls should be exposed to the outside world even if it means risking her safety in the present scenario. They should go out and be on their own, atleast for a year. Unless they are exposed to the outside world, they cannot grow in confidence. The same applies to your sons too. And parents needn’t worry about their wards, especially their daughters. 

The world is undergoing a change where the gender bias is tilting the other way. At a time when the top B-schools in the country have relaxed their admission criteria in favour of girls, it’s only fair that parents encourage their daughters to go out and conquer the world. But in doing so, please don’t forget to equip them with all the skills required. 

Also while talking about reverse gender bias, am reminded of a conversation that I had with my mom some time back. She was worried. When asked, she mentioned a cousin who’s getting married and how her sister (my aunt) has presented her future daughter-in-law with a diamond necklace. She said that now it has become a trend to present your daughter-in-law with a diamond necklace and she has started saving to get one for the future wives of my brother and me. I started laughing and asked her what was it for. She replied that it was the price that she has to pay that ‘poor girl’ for “taking care of you”. LOL. I told her that I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, to which, she replied “Unakku adhellaam puriyaadhu” (You won’t understand). I continued laughing. Then I told her that I’d get the bride a necklace myself and that she needn’t worry. LOL. Perhaps, there’s a small change that’s happening in the dowry system. The girl’s side is being paid the dowry. Wow. Sounded cool. Girls reading this, please note the point ;-) Think about it… a diamond necklace “to take care of me” which I am perfectly capable of doing. A big gain ;-) Again, think about it ;-) Also, am not too bad either ;-) ;-) LOL :-D   

Jokes apart, the point is that in certain spheres, girls have developed to such an extent that there’s no point holding them back. Let them be their selves. Let them get exposure, gain knowledge and steer clear of their naivety.  

Another skill that comes to my mind is swimming. Please teach your wards to swim. Swimming is one skill that is taught to every youngster in the Western world whereas hardly a fifth of Indian youngsters can swim. Learn to swim and swim properly. Don’t pretend to know swimming after having attended a 15 day crash course ;-)

Other skills that can be taught are some self defence skills like Karate, Kung fu, Kalari Payattu, etc. Also teach them to drive, both two wheelers and four wheelers.

If you equip them with all these skills and send them out into the world, they’ll face the world confidently and in learning about the world, they will also learn about themselves. The process of Self Discovery will happen. This will prepare them to face anything and everything in life. 

For American youngsters, this process of Self Discovery happens much earlier than us and this makes them, in a sense, more confident than us. But again there are exceptions. If we realize our shortcomings and equip ourselves properly, then there’s absolutely nothing that’d prevent us from matching them in all spheres. 

This is what they fail to teach us.

Wish you all a very happy new year.

Cheers,

Ashwin Murali

PS: The title of this blog post is inspired by the title of Meenakshi Akka’s blog. Meenu ka, if you read this, thank you for the title which I took without your permission. Title credits to you :-)

Disclaimer: The examples cited in this post are based on the author’s experiences and are not intended to refer to or to mean offence to any individual, whomsoever.

What goes around, comes around

“Everything will be fine. This is what you wanted. Now be prepared. An exciting, challenging new phase in your life starts now” Anirudh told himself as he stepped out of the train at Bilaspur. He was one of the countless engineers placed into the corporate world by one of the over 500 Engineering Colleges in Tamilnadu. Though a part of him rued the fact that he had become a victim of the system, the practical part of him accepted reality and embraced it. His mind shot back to the winter of 2008 when he had just finished his sixth semester exams.

His holidays had just begun and he was excited as he along with some eminent seniors had been entrusted the duty of preparing the College magazine for the year. Ranjith, the editor of the magazine, a final year EEE student, had asked him to take care of the “Discussion Board” or DB as they called it. The DB was the most popular feature of the magazine, for it was the only part that was not censored. The rest of the magazine was scrutinised atleast a dozen times before it went to the press. The College Dean, a respectable 70 year old man, believed in the voice of the students and the right to express themselves and hence allowed the students to start the DB which, he had assured, would not be censored. Hence over the years, DB became the most popular feature even though it never had anything that merited censorship.

Editorial teams over the years, never ventured into anything serious or silly, fearing that doing so would lead them to being purposefully targeted in Internal assessments or Job Placements by teachers, who indirectly threatened them of dire consequences.

“This is ridiculous. These articles, even if they had been censored, couldn’t have been more appeasing to the Management”, Ranjith said going through the DBs of the previous years. “Why have they not put the ‘no-censor’ clause to good use?”

“Well, you know that clause for DB is just an eye-wash. We all know that. Our HOD has already mentioned DB when he met Ramesh” said Deepa, a final year ECE student and the Associate Editor of the magazine.

“Oh, screw them. They threaten you with Internals and jobs. Who cares? This is our team and our magazine. It will bear both our names in the Editorial space and it should be different. We should come up with a powerful, stinging DB that will be talked about in the years to come.”

“Easy for you to say when your Dad owns the largest supermarket in the city and you top the class so consistently. You may not need a job or internal marks, but I need them. So keep me out of this. I’m not party to it.”

“Come on Deepa. You know I’m not interested in running a supermarket and who needs the 15 internal marks when you can score 85 through the Externals. This is not about you or me. It’s about us and our magazine. We have to create an impact. How else will it be unique?”

“Ok fine, but I won’t be doing it.”

“I didn’t ask you to and I can’t do it either.”

“What? Why? Afraid? For all your talks, I thought you had some plans?”

“Afraid? Me? No way.”

“Then why?”

“It’s the Principal. He barred me from doing the DB, fearing that I might cause some trouble.”

“He guessed it right, didn’t he? Still you can do it and put someone else’s name.”

“That’s plain cowardice. Plus he has read a lot of my stuff and will easily find out. I can’t change my style too for it’d be artificial then.”

“What to do then? Any plans in place?”

“I do have a plan. I know someone who’d do it. I’ve also told him about it.”

“Who is it? Please don’t tell me it’s Vivek”

“Ofcourse not. It’s Anirudh.”

“You mean the third year Mech student who just joined our team? Or should I say, you recruited into our team?”

“Yes. He’s a rare talent. I’ve been reading his blog for the past two years and he sure writes well. He packs a punch in his posts and is not afraid of the reactions. He writes what he believes in. That’s precisely why I took him into our team. He will do it.”

“Have you given him any topics as such? Have you told him about the consequences – about what it could do to his Internals and Job Opportunities?”

“I did but he’s not bothered at all. He seemed so excited. Plus, if any trouble were to arise, I’ll take full responsibility. I won’t let him face the heat. I haven’t mentioned any topics. I’ve left it to his choice. But if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say he’d write something about the degradation of Engineering Education in TN. A lot of his blog posts talk about it.”

“Wow! Spoken like a true leader. And the topic seems interesting too. We’ll finalize everything in the Team meeting this Friday. See you then.”

The Team was excited for all the plans were to be finalized. The Team had 8 members – 4 girls and 4 boys. Deepa, Swathi and Ramesh were from ECE, Ramya and Suchi were from CSE, while Ranjith and Vivek were from EEE. All were final year students. It was Ranjith who spoke to the Principal about the need to have a third year student in the team so that he/she can be trained to handle the work the next year. And doing so, he got Anirudh into the team. The team was not happy about this. More than the fact that he was a third year guy, it was his Department that irked them.

Mechanical Engg guys had a rule of their own which was to follow no rules. They ran their own show. Though they excelled in all fields including Academics, they were found more often in the Principal’s room than in their classrooms for one offence or the other. The Principal even told them that he is considering a move to shift his room to their classroom. Though they never regretted this, staff from other departments often warned their students not to be close to Mechanical guys. A part of this warning stemmed from their jealousy. Even other students envied these guys for the carefree, happy life that they led inside the campus. All girls adored Mechies, though they never admit it.

Anirudh realized the indifference of all the team members except Ranjith towards him. He also realized that it was more due to the fact that he was a Mechie. When Ranjith introduced him to the team, he felt that he was not welcome there. He felt uneasy. He told Ranjith about it. Ranjith said that things would get better as time progressed and they will start liking him. These words of assurance calmed Anirudh.

He walked to the Students’ Activities Centre or SAC for the meeting. Ranjith had called him a week ago and told him about the DB. He wasn’t sure how to react. Writing an article that’s powerful in nature is something that comes naturally to him. He wasn’t worried about that. He wasn’t worried about the consequences that Ranjith warned him about either. He was worried as to how the team members would take to him doing it for it’d be impossible to do justice to the task at hand without their help. As soon as he entered, he found everyone waiting for him. Ranjith greeted him while the others hardly acknowledged his arrival. Then Ranjith informed everyone about the DB.

“WHAT?” everyone reacted.

But before they could object further, Ranjith pushed Anirudh on to the stage and asked him to introduce himself properly as the introduction during the previous meet lasted barely a couple of minutes and the meeting was called off due to some emergency. Anirudh relished this opportunity. He knew he could talk well and he can win them over through his speech.

He started with a brief intro about himself and continued.

“When Ranjith Anna called me and told me that he wanted me in the team for the magazine this year, I was overjoyed. I’ve written quite a few blog posts but this is different. The whole college will read these articles. It’s an opportunity like never before. But I sense that I’m not so welcome in the team ... would love to learn from you.... you inspire us ...blah...blahh...”

By the time he finished his speech which lasted a good 5 minutes, he could sense a complete change of mood in the room. The team unanimously applauded him. They all shook hands with him. Now he was one of their own. Ranjith gave a wry smile. His plan had worked. He knew this guy had the ability and he was right. The team had accepted Anirudh. Now they can work like they always did. The magazine will be out soon and it’d be a success. It will be talked about for years to come. With all these thoughts in mind, he smiled to himself.


“Those days... I miss them” Anirudh thought as he walked to the Auto stand outside the station. He wasn’t sure if he had to take an auto or a taxi. His HR had only told him to come to the Bachelors’ Hostel in the company premises and contact her.

“Kahaan jaana bhaiya?” a taxi driver asked.

With the little Hindi that he knew he understood what was said.

“Advaita Corporation”

“Baito. Baito”

“How much?”

“Kya?”

“Kitna Bhaiya?”

“200”

He felt shocked. But he had no choice for he could not bargain with his little Hindi and also his company had promised him that his travel expenses would be reimbursed. He got into the taxi. As he looked around the new place from his taxi during the journey, his mind drifted back to another day, another journey.

“Faster Ranjith, the press closes in another 10 minutes” shouted Suchi from the back of the car. Ranjith launched into full throttle. Anirudh gasped in the front seat.

“Relax Akka, they won’t close before taking our order. I’ve spoken to the Manager. They agreed to wait for us.”

Their magazine was now complete and all the editing work was done. Since it was Ranjith who was at the helm of affairs, every article was scrutinized more than the usual no. of times and finally when all the teachers involved were convinced, they gave the go-ahead nod. They weren’t much worried about the DB for they knew that Ranjith did not write it. They didn’t care about the rest. They never suspected that the third year guy would cause any trouble with his DB. Plus they were assured by their pets Deepa and Ramesh that it was all fine. So they left it alone and did not bother. Little did they know what was to come.

Four Days later:

The magazine was released and like the team expected the DB became an instant hit. Anirudh Shankar became a hero all of a sudden. The entire college was talking about him. Ranjith was overjoyed. The team was over the moon. They were overwhelmed by the response. Anirudh struggled to cope up with his newly found celebrity status. Students posted the DB in Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and their own blogs. It became a sensation in the local circles. A small time local newspaper prying for local stories carried it in their op-ed page. Needless to say, the management was furious.

The DB was about Engineering College Education in the state and it compared an Engineering college to a Manufacturing unit. A manufacturing unit takes order from the customer, procures the raw materials, machines them to the required shape and size and delivers the finished product. Similarly an Engineering college looks into the corporate requirements, takes in students suitable for their objective, grinds them hard till they match the requirements and delivers them to the corporate world. Though the comparison made sense, it was written in a sarcastic tone that not only questioned the intention of these colleges but made a complete mockery of the system. The humorous tone added to the sarcasm. It was all too much for the management to take. They set up a committee and called Anirudh for an enquiry. Ranjith spoke to the Principal about how it was his idea and so he was also called for the same enquiry.

A week later at the Enquiry room:

“So you say it was your idea and that he was just a puppet?” the Principal asked.

“Yes sir” answered Ranjith.

“No sir.” Anirudh interrupted. “It may have been his idea that we needed a strong DB but every word written in it is mine and I take full responsibility for it.”

“Stop it Anirudh. It’s my fault and you keep out of this.”

“No Anna. I told you that I am prepared to face the consequences.”

Just then the commotion outside the room grew louder and the next moment, a tall, old man barged into the room.

“What’s going on here?” the Dean asked in an authoritative tone.

Everyone in the room instinctively stood up.

“Enquiry sir”, the Principal answered.

“I get it. But what for? For an honest article? An article that I longed for for all these years? For an article that a young man had the guts to write? For an article, hoping to find which, I allowed the no-censor clause? You must be kidding.”

The faces of the Principal and other members of the committee went blank. Anirudh and Ranjith were surprised.

“Principal Sir, you’re just wasting your time. So are all these Professors. Have you seen the crowd outside? Have you seen the support that these young men have garnered? I have never seen the students so united before. Almost the entire College is behind these walls waiting for the verdict. It’s as if a court case is going on with the innocent about to be punished. Have you ever seen the students so united before for anything? I haven’t. Atleast not in my college. It just shows how much the article had impacted them .I even showed this to some of my friends from the Ministry of Education. Even they liked it and admitted the flaws in the system discretely. Now by punishing these young men, you will only set a bad example. It’d be akin to dictatorship and that’s exactly what has been written in the article. The choice is yours Principal sir. The choice is yours.”

Anirudh felt like crying while Ranjith almost whistled in exultation.

The Principal came to them. “You guys have great guts. Put it to use in a positive way. You’ll go places. Don’t repeat this. The case is dismissed. You may go now.”

The moment they stepped out of the room and informed the crowd of the verdict, pandemonium broke out. The team hugged each other in a huddle. They were in tears. After all, they stood by what they believed in and sanity prevailed in the end. Anirudh and Ranjith were heroes. Ranjith, who was already popular among the girls, saw his popularity hit a new high. Anirudh gained a lot of female fans too. Junior girls were seen walking up to him and shaking hands with him. Now it was his fellow Mechies, who grew jealous of him. It was an unforgettable day. Every moment of it was still clear in his memory.

As they were about to leave in the evening, the Dean caught up with Anirudh.

“Now tell me young man, did you write this for a stunt or do you believe in what you’ve written?”

“Ofcourse I believe in what I write sir”

“Meaning, you will not take up a posh Corporate job, no matter how much they pay you?”

“Yes sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely sir.”

“Good. In a year’s time, if you are as firm in your views as you are now, call me. I have some contacts in newspapers and magazines who might be interested in you. The society needs writers like you” saying so, he handed him his card.

“Thank you sir.”

Thinking about it, brought a tear to Anirudh’s eyes. He looked at the card in his purse and pushed it inside. He paid for the taxi and stepped into Advaita Corporation, ironically, a multi-national Manufacturing Unit. Whether it was the lure of money or parents’ insistence or his own insecure feeling or peer pressure, he could not decide as to what made him accept this job. But life can play games on you, he realized. What once went around, had come around to haunt him. He too had become a victim of the system.

*Note: This is a work of fiction although factual elements have been incorporated into it. I leave it to your imagination to decide what elements are fictional and what are factual. The characters in the story though, are purely fictional and any resemblance to anyone dead or alive is purely a coincidence.*

**This story was written in phases to kill time during work ;-) Bouquets and Brickbats are welcome.**

-Ashwin Murali