"Which branch do you want??"
"Computer", I replied, my voice quivering.
I was trying hard to contain my excitement. After the debacle by MSBTE which resulted in me losing 20 marks for no fault of mine, I was thrilled to be offered this choice in one of the leading engineering colleges of Mumbai.
I'm talking about the direct second year admissions for diploma students. The process tends to be long and draining and the anticipation takes a lot out of you. Stepping out of the admission hall did it. I broke into an impromptu jig to celebrate. I was celebrating my emancipation from the bureaucracy so that I could be a teen again and just go to college. Of course, I was definitely not going to attend the same day.
The next day, I along with my friends gingerly stepped in the class to the different looks of the students. Some were suprised, some smiling, some indifferent, and some had looks like CIA agents checking out potential foreign spies. The experience was similar to the 'first day in college' situation, and yet it was different. We were newcomers, but everyone else knew each other. A few good samaritans approached us, asked us about our path to engineering. But it wasn't long before I realised that the bonds were already formed, and that we'd have to work to get them to accept us as part of SE COMPS B. Each day was a new experience, as we tried to connect with our comrades. Games, of course were one way, but reading's my thing, and i was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few readers in the class. For me, there's something immensely calming about an intellectual conversation that nothing else possesses. As we got used to the atmosphere, lectures and days went by in a flurry as we leveraged our (very)late entry to get extended deadlines for submissions. My initial inhibitions also started to fade away as we became part of SE COMPS B, rather than be known as the diploma people.
As our first techfest neared, one could sense the eagerness. The atmosphere was electric, the enthusiasm, infectious. The day of the fest arrived, and i could see many people from both our and other colleges. The inaguration involved a great contraption prepared by the students which declared the fest open. I'd participated in a few events, and enjoyed a lot. And it was also a lucky day for me, as I won the LAN gaming event for racing. First techfest, and I'd won. That, was awesome! Once the techfest ended, it was once again back to studies and submissions. Pandemonium ensued every day, as people rushed to complete any and all assignments that they were left with. November brought in the chill, exams. The 2 month long affair, including all practicals, preparatory leave and the main event was very much like time spent in slow periodic torture. Prepare like you never had for some days, and then go through 3 hours of head-scratching, pen-scribbling torture.
The good thing was that we had the last day of the year to ourselves. But the relief was short-lived. Results come sooner or later, yes, but this time, they decided sooner. Amid the rush for Symphony. It was a bit of a dampener, if you ask me. Some moods were sombre, some ecstatic. But Symphony was coming, and no one could afford to agonize over the results. The time was to stand up, dust oneself off, and go on. Symphony was a great success, even bigger than the techfest. Being in diploma, we didn't have fests, we had "Annual Days", as if we were in school. Being a part of something this big was new, and I must say, thoroughly entertaining. Returning back to college the coming Monday was kind of difficult, as most of them had the Symphony hangover. But, life goes on.
To end this, The journey has been smooth till now, with a few of my friends even trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to coax me into asking a girl out on V-Day. Thank God I survived that. My fellow SE COMPS B students have also been wonderfully accomodating, and slowly, the tag of diploma has faded into the bigger brand of KJSCE COMPS. I'm thankful to all my friends who welcomed me even though I was more than a bit apprehensive. I hope to enjoy my remaining years here as much as I can.
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