Have your ever had a dream like a dream that you would do anything to see it for real, a dream that is like only yours, a dream too good to be true? Engineering was mine <3 span="">
September 13TH 2009 will always be a very memorable day for me. My first surprise birthday party at home. My school friends had organized it, it was kind of a fare-well, since I was starting the same day night to my college at Tiruchirappalli, a place I had gone once or twice as a kid, 300 km from home.
September 13TH 2009 will always be a very memorable day for me. My first surprise birthday party at home. My school friends had organized it, it was kind of a fare-well, since I was starting the same day night to my college at Tiruchirappalli, a place I had gone once or twice as a kid, 300 km from home.
‘She
was so good at studies, she got a fine enough score, that is good for a
studious person, but not good enough to be a topper. 190 was my cut off on a
scale of 200. 10 marks lost, life ended. I never thought so though, I wonder
why. I was always propelled ahead by my passion, rather than driven by the fear
to fail. She could get a good private Engineering college, or parents are rich-
they could pay for a medical seat too.’
Medicine,
I will tell you today why I never went for it! Doctors are probably the people
I consider next to God, I respect the profession so much that I would never
consider myself fit enough to be one. I had once witnessed them at work, when
my father got heart attack. I felt that is something, I should admire from a
distance. To be frank I would do true justice even if I did it and I was
capable enough and meticulous at work too, somehow My respect for the
profession also became a reason for me to stay away from it!
I
wonder why people attributed the loss of 10 marks to my mother’s new Tata sky
connection at home. I, even today am not TV addict, Funny actually!
Then
came the options- my mother, the poor lady till today has been trying hard to
me a perfect girl, in the sense make me stay close to her, adorn in beauty, see
me grow up and stuff. I know mom you would have imagined me travelling in all
those hi-tech buses at the start of the day, with a big grin and waving you
good bye. I am sorry I never gave you the chance to pack my lunch box, both at
school and college. I am sorry to have moved away for a span of four years and
Again I am moving away, I am sorry.
Sigh!
So much to pen down actually, m being washed in a whirlpool of emotions. I do
know millions of people are passing out as Engineers along with me, millions
have done and millions are on the road to do the same. But I am selfish, I am
going to tell you all that I so badly wanted to say all these days. Cuz my UG
journey is over. Over.
Then
came the department in Engineering. I was never good at electricals, not even
putting battery in my remotes :P Dad was a genius at it, seriously in his work,
he drew respect of mine. I still remember when I was in 4th – 5th
he used to sit with his big board charting out the stuff for his Ph.D thesis
report. He hated getting disturbed at work and mom used to warn me and bro to
stay away from him. But I silently would pull up my homework note and silently
sit by his side and write something. To which, he would look up and smile.
People are asking me today why it is a big day? You have no idea how happy I
feel holding a copy of my thesis. Yes, I have grown up!
Now
that electrical was ruled out of the place, mechanical drew my attention on the
large. To an extent, that was what you would expect someone to like. I had
spent all my kindergarten holidays at the workshop of H.I.E.T college, playing
with screws and nuts, my grandpa being a mechie himself. Used to sit and listen
to whatever he taught to them, go around doing vroom vroom :P And Barbie dolls?
Nope! Never!
You
can’t take away the passion, can you? In blood is always a part of yours. Even
though you forget it, it never forgets you!
Automobile-
the decision I had finally zoomed into. The options I had for college –the
prestigious MIT at Chennai, a college that decided to kick me out based on
merit, PSG tech a college my dad had denied, since it was autonomous and
finally AUT- a college that I never ever in my wildest dreams thought I would
join. It was never my option list! I was open to anything staying at home or
far away, but somehow I felt Chennai culture was going to distract me from
work. AUT seemed to have all that I needed then- a govt college, a good dept
and away from home.
Nevertheless,
it was a bomb shell to my mom she still feels I should have stayed at Chennai.
But then I respect you for respecting my decision J
Four
years ago, on September 14TH I left my hometown Chennai out on a
completely new venture called ‘Engineering’ to a place called Trichy. Dad had
set out to drop me at hostel. The day I still remember, we sat in inauguration
ceremony. I was good at speaking English even at school, I asked some doubt to
a NSS senior that day, the way he stammered to give a proper reply I was shell
shocked.
That
was just the start, the first 15-20 days I was stepping out of my shell, my
mindset. I could see people who were far below my expectation levels at hostel.
Their hygiene, food, thoughts and vocab was, to be frank, pathetic! I judge
people a lot, I even now do. I believe to judge them by work, so I decided to
give them another shot. I was wondering why even people would be interested in
wedding after engineering, I was wondering why it was necessary to difference
between mascara and kajal (I donot know if both are same, I am noob at all this
:P)
Even
these to an extent, dad had warned me and I was aware of. What came as a big
surprise was the single girl thing. Yes I was the only girl in my batch. Till
today it envies many, brings out disgust in some and brings out respect in many
others. I always had good friends in the
opposite gender till today; Many of them who I know more than ten years or so.
I never thought it would be a problem to be with them. But in Trichy it was a
different story altogether, many of my batchmates itself looked at me like from
an alien land. I was in a fix, I wasn’t able to judge at all. The ones who
seemed good, seemed to be fake. The ones who seemed to be of more help, were
far from my reach. Some people avoided me because they thought I would take in
the wrong sense, some people I had to avoid, since they seemed to be upto no
good.
One
bizzare comment on ridiculing my passion happened in hostel, something that I
can never forget in my life. Some people who believed that I took this to make
sure I was in company of the guys. The most ridiculous doubt on my character. I
made a mental note of it and decided that no one could make a mark in my life,
like the people from school.
I
was distracted way too much, though I topped my exams at that time also, I knew
I was drifting off-track. Silly questions pondered me on the large. Why didn’t
I have an elder brother to call me and take care? Why didn’t people worry about
me and all such random stupid stuff. Should I have taken the other depts. And
gone for being with girls? At that point
of time, I was questioning and contradicting myself.
But
then the dawning day wasn’t far away either. The day we were given to assemble
a diesel engine- Me, Sridhar, Sriram, Senthil, Basha, Thirumudi and Uday. A set
of people I am highly indebted, for all their good will and assistance at
laboratory sessions. All the four years, through ups and downs, they never
ignored me nor overloaded me with work! Sometimes I really wonder what I would
have done without them! Thank you again J
That
day was awesomaticaly fantastic :P When the engine ran in the laboratory, I
knew for sure that I was never been so happy in all my life. I wanted this,
That day I knew I wanted this more than anything else.
It
is amazing feeling, like a glow worm in dark, still you trust it to take you to
your destination!
Now
that it had been decided that I was going to be in there for four years, I
wanted to ensure that as I returned back home after my degree, nobody should
question my expertise or knowledge in my subject. That the quest was all about
what I learnt more than what was being taught again caught my notice. Again
thanks to my super scientist daddy and internet I got all the materials I
needed at the right phases, I did the best of whatever I could. Ended up being
on toppers list again.
The
formula was working out, or so I believed! Till another laboratory class. Where
I couldn’t recognize a single component of a Gearbox, I did so many sketches,
got all the design formulae right, yet I realised the lack of practical
approach and its disastrous effect was evident then! I looked like an idiot to
myself.
You
know I love those long walks I used to take with dad as a kid, till 8Th
I guess. Infact today I miss those more than my mom’s cooked food. Well, that
Is another story altogether :D
But
nevertheless till today I never did miss home, of course whenever I was free, I
used to run back and see people in there and Uthra priya, one lady who
virtually stood by my side in the four long years.
Internal
politics had been on at large at that phase, due to coincidential and strange
misunderstandings, my batch mates were forced to believe that I had a lodged a
complaint against them, owing to which they decided to boycott me. Those 10
long days was the worst part of my college life, with no smiles being returned
to being seen in hatred. It would have lasted forever if not for a few people-
Madhan, Senthil and Vivek- who coincidentally saw me crying alone in empty
classroom after the classes were over- totally wrecked and in havoc, I had a break
down that day. They didn’t give me much reassurance, they promised I would have
the best of my college life, which I have today!
Focussing
again on the major part, when I realised the importance of practicals, my
faculties came into play big time and dad again. Being an ex-profy himself, he
told me to do the IPT and IV.
2nd
year Industrial visit to HAL was again a very good one. Again I was the only girl with a batch of 56+
guys- 3 days- Bangalore- Mysore and Trichy was the plan. I organized it, maybe
that is why they let me go. Our organizational skills were so fabulous that me,
vignesh and Sridhar had lost 10,000 bucks sitting in the same place, yet got
it. So good were our calculations! Anyways I Had a lot of people to convince
for it actually- my parents, my faculties, my batchmates and lastly myself. For
outsiders, it might have seemed that I never convinced myself, but I did a lot
of thought study, actually, it was necessary.
And
it paid off very well, from all the jeering and happy times during the travel
to the photography session to the first live witnessing of the mechie gizmos,
it did draw a lot of inspiration. That was the first place I visited all by
myself, I puffed up in pride. Again since I organized it, there was not a
single person whom I hadn’t spoken to in the batch, so everyone was good with
me!
One
big event happened that time. Yes, I fell in love, got immediate rejection,
from a person who knew me for a long time. The only good part? I didn’t let it
affect my studies, hence well save the sob story later.
Again
mechanical is considered to be tough for girls. Yes, doing mensuration phases,
it was difficult for me. Rest was fine enough. But I scarcely ate back those
days, fell unconscious a lot of times in labs. Again my batchmates know all
this story.
One
big accident that left a scar on my hand was at hostel, surprisingly. I
expected it to be at college :P I inserted the whole of my hand in the open end
of an iron cot, during night due to imbalance. Blood was dripping like hell and
It was one phase when I seriously wished I had someone. And I like a pro idiot
stuffed cotton in it in haste, which got stuck in the wound. The nurse was so
annoyed with my work and it was a painful task to pull out every bit. When I
went for hospital to bandage it up, the way nurse poured tincture into the
whole would apart from injecting me, apart from asking me half scared, if no
one accompanied me? I felt sorry for myself.
That
is just one half of the story, the second half? When a few people from my class
knew it, they came over ensured I had my breakfast, gave me my tablets, had
obviously bunked off their lectures to sit in canteen and make fun of me as I
was sitting there crying in pain :P That day if not for them I would have never
been able to feel fine! Thanks again!
And
me like a goody good soul became the class rep for 2 years of my four years,
ensuring all got 90% attendance, while truth was far from it. But then I learnt
a lot about taking responsibilities and being politically right during these
phases. That is to be favorite person among staffs and students you have to synchronize
stuffs in the right way! Helped me a lot during the internship phase.
Again
off the official work track, I made a lot of friends in my college days. That
kallanai trip was one of the awesomatic experience in my college life! I still
adore it..
Apart
from this my birthday celebrations in Canteen the second year was nice!
Actually my birthday celebrations got bigger and better with every year!
Much
of the success that I got has to be attributed to the mechie seniors. Sakthi,
Harini, Praveen, Preethi and Murali for starters- if you guys hadn’t taken me
to NITT for the electrical symposium, then I probably would have never been to
any college. Indirectly you guys instilled the feeling that we were no less
than anyone. Of course that was yet another memorable day! Especially the quiz,
we had no idea what we were doing, especially me :D
These
were probably the best of college life, in the first two year phases.
As
I opted out as a rep in the 3RD year, I knew very well what to do
next- improve my profile. 1 Industrial visit, 1 internship, 2 Inplant
trainings, 5 presentations and 10 + conferences, I seemed to have done
something, looking back today!
The
first IPT of mine was at Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment
(CVRDE) at DRDO chennai. I was at dad’s work den in short with Riyaz and
Venkatramana. One heck time we had going to places seeing the best of
engineering at work. Again, a very good inspiration for me.
The
second one was Integral Coach factory, Perambur, Chennai. It was a
manufacturing unit 24 * 7 buzzing with work. How pieces of metal which we would
scrap transforms into a beautiful locomotive was what it showed. I could get
into details of what machines I saw and how utterly amazing they were, but it
might bore you, so I’ll leave!
And
the I completely begun a journey on my own!
Yes,
I did go to a lot of top colleges for work sake. Started off with the ones that
rejected my admission outright. Techofest with Vignesh and SS karthik for
starters, in second year had gone with them. But during the third I went on my
own, visiting stalls seeing people in groups wondering why I was alone, peer
pressure to some extent.
I
decided that if I didn’t have any work to do, I shouldn’t go anywhere.
The
meticulous planning gave rise to the biggest achievement in my four year span.
The NITT Concept Car Design Challenge! One solid month It took me to draft the
whole concept into two sets of presentations- ne for car assistance and safety.
The second one RUV vehicle! The judges were from Mahindra group, seemed interested
in my off road Rural utility vehicle concept. I happily completed my ppt and
sat along with Murali one of my friends at NITT. When 3rd and 2nd
was announced I was pretty sure I had lost it again! But there came the jolt from
the blue, I won the first prize. One it
was a core competition and lets face it was tough- 2000 + designs had been
rejected at prelims stage! But I did it yay! Thankfully my friend had
congratulated me and I was on my own to trichy.
That
1 and half hour journey back to college was very different, since I wanted to
like say to everyone, share my happiness and all, but then I was alone that
time. Like an idiot, I was smiling again in thoughts.
That
had greatly instilled the faith that I could do a lot more. Ended up doing a
presentation at CEG, the reputed AU with my junior Prasanna, the biggest
mistake of my life. You know ‘research’ and ‘studies’ are different. I presented
a fab idea to professors, ended up being asked randomly ridiculous questions on
2nd semester theory. A waste of time! As I ended up third in there,
I knew very well that PG in here wasn’t going to work out any time. The term ‘research’
was a living dead concept.
One
more opportunity was given by my faculties, to represent my college at the
French auto firm Valeo, in Chennai. I went with my friend Uday. Okay lets admit
it, I always thought IT firms were AC cooled fancy types, again I was proved
wrong at Valeo. A presentation on emissions, I did not end up winning, since
frankly I did not work hard, a wee bit of problems in relationships and overloaded
with work at that phase. Nevertheless made it to the top ten in India, for that
conference. Got a trophy, which I value with all my life.
I
became restless when I didn’t have work, I was achieving but till today
something seems to be staggering, I don’t know what.
Okay,
again in the last phase of my college life, I was a ruckus frankly. A thing was
troubling me a lot, the grades hadn’t tumbled nor did the presentations stop.
But I had been a very unhappy person. Three people actually made sure I was
perfect- Uthra, Sathyanarayanan and Ashfaq. Uthra had focused on pulling me out
of the past, Ashfaq was making me do the best at present, Sathya was helping
about the future.
One
person who surely came back with a bang in this phase was Ashfaq, with the
internship at Renault-Nissan. Something that was absolutely my dream! And a
very very worthwhile experience. Working with someone who is absolutely pro at
his work is always a pleasure! I learnt a lot and simultaneously I pulled
myself from everything and started focusing on the bigger part of life!
Yet
again, my plans after this are crystal clear, but
I
would love to tell you only after I make it absolutely real!
Thanking
Again to all you lovely people out there, who walked in my life making a great
difference and greater thanks to those who walked out of it and made it even
more fabulous!
One
thing is for sure, no matter where I go what I do, whatever mood I am in, I
would definetly dress up and fight for my dreams.
For
me it is always about the passion, and I would never give that up, Never-Ever!
And
Come what may I would surely end up in a good firm at the start and in the end-
BMW R&D. That is where I want to be putting up my best friend’s gift- a key
chain in my gift!
Very
nostalgic as I end up this note, which actually took me continuous 2.5 hours to
type :P
Lastly all of us have dreams, some want to soar high in the sky, some long for love etc etc,
I wanted to be an engineer and I got it!
Lastly all of us have dreams, some want to soar high in the sky, some long for love etc etc,
I wanted to be an engineer and I got it!
Loads
of Love,
Er.Swathi
Finally
An Engineer, Proud to be One!
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