HOTC Ch 7: The Rains Went By

A new semester, a new hope, a new beginning.. No No! we were right in the middle of the storm like in the beginning of HP7 and we didn't have time to appreciate the change in classroom. We were Potters in search of the horcrux jobs, with Albus Samson helping us out at CGPU. That's when the bubble-that-must-not-be-named burst (literally) into scene. Things never got better after that and even after a year our batch is still bathing in the aftershock. (pardon me for the absurd allegory in previous statements :-) . The fact that our class secured the most number of jobs in the batch was little consolation for what happened.

Looking at the smaller picture, the placement season was an 'experience'. There were the PPTs of companies in the beginning. The real deal didn't bore us as much as the PPTs though. It was a special sight seeing us dressed well, as executives for a change (got to say our ladies looked better those days too.. ;-). Those days provided some unforgettable scenes.. The joy after getting a job, the disappointed figures being consoled by friends. I was able to stay back many of those days 'cuz of the proximity of my house. Saw a lot of gr8 friends groups around CGPU including ours - staying together during the hard times. It had the funny moments too.. Sure going round and round the pillar before an interview and three guys doing the same after he'd gone in, AS claiming 'I love japanese people, I love japanese culture' at Toshiba interview and a lot more..

Then came one day that could be named the Happiest day in HOTC. It was our onam celebration. There wasn't any celebration to tell about the previous year. But this was to be our final onam celebration and the AE batch of '09 rocked it Applied style. Back were the laughter, the energy that had gone dim after S5 tour. After our customary trip around the campus (esp civil for obvious reasons), we were back in our class. Thanks to some organising by LN, we'd plenty of payasam and sweets. Then a session of onappattu accompanied by traditional dances (dappankkuthu). There were many cameras around and none of them were disappointed. We made all kinda permutations and combinations for group photos sessions which lasted well into the evening. There were even absurd ones like Akashagopuram kandu thenjavar.

Robotics was still in our veins and another Shaastra was coming along. This time we secured entry in two competitions (thanks to AS). Sleepless preparation nights (mostly just chatting around) and countless screwings (?) 'n debuggings later, we'd three bots ready. One was shaped futuristic-ally like a bat-mobile though it ended up having stability issues. This time, there were more of us making the trip. But we couldn't roam around the campus as much as previous time 'cuz we'd competitions on two days. The robotics competition was real tuff and we were a tad disappointed by it's organisation. Else might've had a chance at winning a prize. The laser show was stupendous! We did go to the beach and spencer plaza. The time we spend at CCD were enjoyable too.

Towards the end of the sem, we went for another robotics competition at GEC, Trissur as part of their tech fest - Resonance. Our group had become professional by then, each knew his part of the work. We were rewarded with 4000 bucks too though the organisers were reluctant at giving out prizes. We also witnessed the first and last Sargam (inter-sem) which went through without much fanfare. I believe Jisha (in pic) won many dance prizes. Another thing to take notice was that the teachers were in charge of the events, which told a lot about the political scenario.

In academics, lectures became more of a formality even though teachers showed their love by drawing hearts in class. We had our seminar and preliminary presentation(s) of main projects throughout the sem. We'd thought of them with reverence in the previous sems. But as usual, most of the work was done at the last minute, keeping up the CET tradition and most of us got through fine. The university exams came along dragging it's feet. We didn't have proper answers to his questions, but survived somehow thanks to our combined efforts. Thus ended the prefinal semester of CETlife and the fact that it would be ending soon was dawning on us.

-JFx

Coming up: Ch 8 - And Road Goes On