PART I: Rendezvous of a Different Kind…

The four months gap after the engineering entrance exams made me sick of holidays. I no longer wanted to stay home, confined to the four walls. But the hope of getting admission into a Government Engineering college was far from distant. With each exam result being published, I was further going down the drain. First it was the IIT-JEE result (in which I got disqualified, which means I did not have the minimum cutoff mark), then came the AIEEE in which I secured a appalling 3000+ state rank (while most of my peers got in to reputed RECs with respectable ranks) and then it was the CUSAT result in which I had no chance of getting even a Management Quota Seat. By the time the CUSAT result was out, my home was no more a home, in its true sense. Dad had lost all his hope of getting his son into a national college, and besides, the chance of getting even a merit seat in a Government College was fading. An abominable lull crept in and home soon turned out to be a graveyard. Everyone barely spoke. My doubtful future was looming above. The so called “best friends” never bothered to ring me up. The ones who called twice or thrice daily no more called. And being away from home town made me confined to home almost 24-7.

Finally the Kerala State Entrance Examination result was published and I was in the 3000+ position. The online counseling began and I got admitted to the excessively hyped Govt. Engineering College, Trivandrum. Elated to know that I had got into a Government College, far from home, it made me happy beyond limits. No uniforms meant no restrictions. My picture of college life was exhilarating. I had pictured my college to be a huge one spread across acres of land, with a dozen playgrounds, vast open areas and greenery. I had no idea of what was awaiting me at Trivandrum.

The college was situated within a kilometer in the city and to my surprise, even the auto rickshaw driver had no idea where the college was located! All my dreams were shattered the moment I reached the college gate! Instead of seeing a huge gate, what I saw was something similar to the entrance to a stable! The college was a set of discrete old limestone buildings with tiled roofs. I was reminded of my village L.P school. Even that seemed to be much better than my college.

The counseling started and the first thing I had in mind was to somehow get a re-allotment to some other college. But I had no choice but to cling on to what I got and be satisfied with that. The next thing that sprouted in my mind was to see if there were any good looking girls in my stream. That way, may be I could make up for my ill maintained college. I thought however the college maybe, college life would be cool with nice girls around! As I filled up the form and was about to enter the counseling class, a pretty girl was coming out after her admission. I could not believe my eyes. She was an angel in disguise. Dressed in a white salwar, her smile was enchanting. I entered into the class and to my surprise, there were so many of them!! But none of them compared to the angel I’d met at the door… I no more wanted to shift colleges. In fact I wanted the classes to commence as soon as possible…

(To be continued...)