PL's - A Retrospection

Yeah ... thats right! I created this blog in the dead of night when I should be studying a certain highly irritating subject viz. Telecom networks and management. It took me a day to decipher what i should be studying from this subject. I shudder to think how in Merlin's beard am I even gonna attempt to start this subject. So anyway, jumping to come to the crux of this post, the last prep leave of my engineering life. I look back and think of all the PLs i've spent.Doing less studying, definitely less, and more doing other worthwhile(less?) things. I remember the first PL when we had like what?..10 days to prepare 5 whole subjects. It was the year when I was in the college hostel and all of my friends and me were together. Nights were spent in the library, empty classrooms,BCR or just about any empty space inside the college (Days were spent sleeping btw). We worked hard and it was fun too since all of us were together. I never had the experience of studying in a group and i must say, its very effective and never gets monotonous too. Those late night solving of maths question papers by SSK, the 3 am (and 5 am too) chai at Park, a shady restaurant in our campus vicinity, which was a late night haunt for the local goons. The waiter there, UK(forgot what it stood for!) used to boast of his knowledge of mechanical engg! Those chais really energised us and kept us awake!..The experience was wonderful. I guess that was the time when existing friendships were further strengthened and new bonds were formed. Moreover, I dont think I'd worked so hard even during my board exams. The hallowed Jigar's(solved previous years' papers) came in handy too. I think after my 1st year I studied only from them for the exams and trust me they were almost always more than enough. It got me through some tough times.

The first semester exams came and went and were more or less uneventful. Though i think i hadnt slept for two straight nights..which was a first for me.I remember the day before my civil engineering paper though. Me and my very good friend Harsh, were auditioning for the college cultural event which was to be held 3 months later. We spent a major part of the day singing our throats out to a very demanding and fussy senior. He made us sing in God knows how many scales and blah blah. I dont know squat about music so please forgive my ignorance! And the worst part was that in the end he said " Forget it guys, I dont think you are up for the job". I remember another friend, sang once and was instantly agreed upon. Well i guess you are making certain assumptions on how my voice is, but might i add that there a handful who think its pretty gud (No offence to you Harsh, your voice rocks! hands down). OK where were we, yeah the civil exam was the next day. It was 11 pm. Both me and # hadn't touched our civil books yet. We got freaked when we saw how much was there to do. All those back sight bearings and foresight bearings and related twaddle was going over my head, something that could be attributed mainly to the fact that I never paid attention to what the constantly-looking-over-his-shoulder lecherous pervert Patil tried to teach. (A certified eccentric character, he once turned back to look towards the blackboard almost 250 times in a span of just an hour!).Anyway coming back..I pulled an all-nighter again and studied till 9:30 am..the exam was at 10. Harsh i think gave up at 1 am and slept off.:). I gave the exam with groggy eyes and thankfully it went ok...and with that our first sem exams were over. I was pretty sure I'd pass all my exams, and guess what?..I pulled it off, and that too with flying colors. Probably the first and last time i got a distinction :(...In fact all of us scored well above our expectations that time.

All my other PL's were just okay, nothing spectacular to reminisce about. But one feature was common with all of them; The freedom of sleeping whenever you wanted to and having the whole day to yourself..something u crave for during the earlier parts of the semester..And i feel sad thinking that engineering is coming to an end. Feel sad thinking that all the people i've met, the friends i've made, I wont be seeing them with the same habitualness as it is now. The experience is something i will remember my entire life. The good days, the bad days and the really ugly ones too, the details of which i might describe some other time when i get nostalgic to the point of annoyance!...