My Adventures with Amita - First Crazy Moments

If you need to know what you mean by edgy you can refer my life. I was born at the end of July i.e. July 25th, I was not 5 years (The age required to get admission in June) on June 1988, however I got admission on the edge. While playing cricket my best shot was edging through the slips, I slept on the edge of the bed and many a times making it to the ground. I got both my 12th and engineering admissions on the edge with just enough percentage to make it. I became a BE on the edge by clearing in the Final Semester the only back paper the murderous, "Theory of Machines". In short, it has always been on the edge and I was very much sure that it is going to remain the same in the years to come.

Though I was never crazy all along my life, somehow crazy things happened to me. I knew if I kind of believe that I can get crazy, the things would go out of hand and had become vigorously pathetic rather than funny. With this background, I was told that I am going to get married to this particular girl, whom I had met only once and that too when all the white haired people were around. Like an obedient boy and as I am not a maverick by nature agreed to it. I was as if in a river which takes you only to the sea, you cant come back to the mountains. As all engaged and committed fellows tend to do, we both exchanged phone numbers, started speaking in order make ourselves comfortable with each other and also get to know more about each others behavior. We instantly understood that our frequencies matched to quite a good extent with all the typical feelings of being in love hovering over us. We spoke well on phone and understood and complimented each other well or can I say in software terms we both were "compatible". However, I still could not imagine myself spending my whole subsequent life with her. I suppose this feeling reciprocated as we both were sailing in the same boat.

She said, "Pranav, speaking on phone and being in person with each other are two completely different things". She was actually speaking my mind out.

I said "Yes, that's correct. We are comfortable speaking with each other, however I am not sure if I will be equally comfortable when I am standing in front or besides you".

We had to come to a solution soon as we had only 8 months ahead of us before we get married. And here is when our idea of meeting each other developed. Now the big question, will our parents or even if they agree, the so called thinking hats around them agree?. Hence, we decided that we meet for the first time without our parents having the slightest idea of it. We spoke until around 11:30PM that night with all plans ready for our first chori chori the next morning.

First crazy moments
I told my parents that I was going to meet my friends in Ponda as I am to treat them with some breakfast. She as usual left home saying that she is leaving for office.

We met for the first time early in the morning at 9:30 AM. I had come by bus and hence was waiting at our decided place for her. She came with her nice little two wheeler. I could not believe my eyes. I was actually here, seeing her. I pinched myself hard a couple of times until she almost dashed on to me with her Hero Honda Pleasure and I was compelled to take some breath and avoid myself looking foolish in front of her. After all somebody has said, first impression is the last impression.

I asked her to continue driving with me enjoying the seat behind which allowed me the opportunity to experience the fresh aroma of the shampoo she used. Whichever shampoo it may be it was good and for the first time, I enjoyed sitting behind a girl on a scooter. This in reality meant I was inviting risks of my life, however I was prepared to take that risk to experience her uneasiness while driving, caressing her hand through the hair without any reason and yes just sitting idle.

She might also have so many things going through her mind that once she bumped me in the air over a speed breaker and apologising instantly. I did not hear the apologies and was more interested in seeing her nervous face in the mirror at that point. It was our first date together and everything around had a different feeling to it. The hot sun in May seemed like ordering some of his rays to protect us from sunlight, the breeze used all his might to make us feel comfortable like never before, the bike engine sounded like a musician playing his best notes to make us feel romantic. Everything was so beautiful.

We went to the college and had a nice time together speaking about all the things we could not speak, rather when we were together, we had very little things to speak as our body did all the talking as we just sat without speaking a word. It was the best time I could have had on a hot May morning.More to come. We had many more chori choris further and all those were not as smooth as this one and we had a hard time making those happen without anybody interrupting us. It was fun in any case and I am sure you as readers will love reading it.

Theory of Murdering - Part3 - Concluding Part

I could not keep cursing my past for long. Thats another thing that an engineering college teaches you. Don't waste much time mourning on your past because without even you realising it, your present will turn into past soon as the back papers are fast approaching and you need to study for them besides the current semester.

I had started studying again for the theory of machines or in my context theory of murdering as it was virtually murdering me with its cruel stress/forces and torques. This time I wanted to keep no stone unturned and I understood that this was my last attempt or else I will have to loose six months. I started evaluating my last appearances to that same paper and noted down a few mistakes that I might be doing. Systematically coming up with points that made me falter three times did help a lot and this time I felt far more comfortable, confident and self-assured about myself as far as clearing the subject was concerned, that has been haunting for the past four semesters.

8th semester is usually a time when everybody concentrates on their own projects, however, I was compelled to concentrate on this trecherous subject. I studied day and night, I had the whole syllabus on the tip of my tongue and my mind continuously thought about the forces that I might encounter in the examination paper. My finger automatically revolved in conjunction with my thinking to analyse the forces acting on a car when it took a right turn and they went up and down like a pendulum to understand the stresses that might be faced by a cantilever. I had solved almost all the question papers of the past 10 years and Khurmi (The author of the book we referred) had a surrenderred look and pleaded me not to open him again for the 15004th time.

Finally, the day for the fight appeared. My most dreaded enemy was already in the examination hall, the question papers for the theory of machines paper. Like a skilled worksman, I entered the hall confidently, since I had answered quite a few back papers I could guide or rather console many of the first time answerers. The time when you sit on the desk until you get the question paper is the most scary time. You feel like a Father waiting outside the operation theatre while your wife is being delivered. You are tensed, anxious and happy, all at the same time. I was in a similar situation, not knowing what to expect in the question paper. Finally the questions were in my hand. I started writing the question paper, I had the paper easy and completed it well in advance of the stipulated time. I still did not have the courage to exit the examination hall prior to the time and I checked and rechecked the whole paper a couple of times before the final bell rang.

I had answered the exam well and again I seemed confident of clearing the subject easily. Though I looked happy, something in my mind said, "So you were also confident in all of the earlier attempts, but still you had failed, you had failed, you had failed!!!" and mind you this voice somehow also had the fading effect. I shrugged off the bad thoughts and got back to studies as I had to answer the 8th semester exam in a few days time.
I could relate the quote from "Prestige" movie in here:
"Every great Examination consists of three parts, The first part is called "The Pledge". The student has the books and reference and all ordinary things. He studies the books with utmost interest with the expectation that it will appear in the exam... it probably isn't appearing. The second act is called "The Turn". The student takes all the ordinary knowledge he learnt from the books to the examination hall and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the question that you have studied... you find it, answer it well, but you wont clap for yourself as of yet..... Because answering a examination paper isn't enough; you have to show the results. That's why every examination has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".

Exactly, now it was the third part that I had to be successful in, "The Prestige". It was result time. We tend to get tensed when the results are out, Though we all are aware that getting tensed now, is just greying another hair in your head. I had done all things correct until now, now I just hoped that this thing turns out right. I was waiting outside the academic section along with many other students who were as well keen to know their own results. I am sure, however, that none of them would have been as anxious as me. When we all were waiting patiently for the academic section to open, one of the students got a newspaper which had the results declared. We all plunged on it like hungry lions. When I got my turn I carassed through the numbers impatiently. My number was 32. I could see a 31, 34 as well. However 32 was nowhere to be seen. I was dumped again. I could not believe my fate this time, my feet went numb, my eyes got red, my nervous system failed to respond. I felt like a junk, rusted metal of no use who was on earth only to waste parents money and fail in subjects like Theory of Machines. I still stood there patiently with no expressions on my face only to see whether I have done any improvement as compared to 31 marks I had achieved last time. Simultaneously, I also searched for another person from my batch who had failed so that we can share our sorrows with each other.

The academic section opened, all the students rushed in, I had an un-interested look on my face by now and waited patiently until the academic section got empty and I had loads of time to look at the marks. I checked the 32 number, as expected it showed "Failed", drilling down to the marks displayed nothing and said that I was absent for the exam. I was in double shock now, how could this happen, I had written the exam, rechecked the answers twice and now this results say I was absent for the exam. I said lets check again properly with a cool head from the start. The name that was displayed against the 32 number was "Pritam singh junewalia", for a moment I was shocked for the 3rd time as to how come university also printed my name wrong on the results sheet, before I realised that my seat number was 34 and not 32. I checked 34 and what a relief I had passed and with flambouyant marks of 53. I verified atleast a 10 times before I went out
dancing like a galileo, only difference was I wasn't naked. I called home and cried before declaring that I had saved 6 months of my career and finally the studies and trouble taken before the exams had paid off.

Finally, I had managed engineering in 4 years. All is well that ends well!!