It has been a long time,a dream of working in one of the best IT companies in India, and soon it will come true. Kalpana Chawla had once said,
'Dream big.. since sky is not the limit.'
Getting admission to an Engineering college is not a big problem now a days, but getting placed is the worst problem of all. I was preparing for IITJEE, very eager to get admitted to the prestigious IIT Bombay, as all of my friends were. But as every year, dreams of many bright students were broken, that year too only a few exceptional ones got admission to the IITs. What happens to others? Where do they go? Many commit suicide.. many give a re-attempt.. and the rest have a back-up plan ready. Now a days everyone opts for private universities and give entrance exam for each of them.Well I had only given two Engineering State Entrance Exams.I did fairly good in the MHTCET(Maharashtra) and below average in GCET(Gujarat). I had decided for myself that I would rather prefer to study in Mumbai than in Gujarat. The only reason being that,
The first day in college, I felt as if I had stepped into a totally different world. Everyone spoke Marathi, since my college was based in a Marathi locality and majority of the students were Marathi. First year was just like the school days;having a 'class teacher',very serious about the so called 'term tests' and crying over that 1 mark which didn't get you that 1st rank!! There is the transition that a student has to undergo from school to college; from an annual exam pattern to a semester pattern. This transition is difficult for students who study for 10 hrs a day for their board exams and keep on revising . In Engineering one cannot even study the entire syllabus, let alone revising it.
The First Year was very hectic. Each day you would be given a new assignment that should be completed at the end of the week. Everyone would be waiting for the completion of that one 'Master Copy' from the topper, and our work was done.Since subjects of all streams were the same in F.E, we had some good competition. Being in Computer Engineering and having no idea of programming languages, it was difficult for students like me. However, thanks to the helpful faculty, I was able to cope up with the others. Assignments!!Term Tests!!Hostel problems!! Overcame all odds and secured a 2nd rank in the entire college. Of-course after such a feat you would be called 'scholy' everywhere you go. But I became more well known by the name 'Aaamrish' from my friends and even teachers. The so called 'First Year' was completed with flying colors but the real struggle started when the subjects of my specialization were introduced from the Second Year.
'Mumbai is a city of dreams...where your dreams come true.'Finally after a long vacation and stretched CAP rounds, I got admission to Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, Wadala. After the admission process was over, a new problem popped up.Where will I stay? So then I started looking for hostels with dad and his friend. Got admission to VMKB, Matunga after inquiring at every hostel in Mumbai.
The first day in college, I felt as if I had stepped into a totally different world. Everyone spoke Marathi, since my college was based in a Marathi locality and majority of the students were Marathi. First year was just like the school days;having a 'class teacher',very serious about the so called 'term tests' and crying over that 1 mark which didn't get you that 1st rank!! There is the transition that a student has to undergo from school to college; from an annual exam pattern to a semester pattern. This transition is difficult for students who study for 10 hrs a day for their board exams and keep on revising . In Engineering one cannot even study the entire syllabus, let alone revising it.
The First Year was very hectic. Each day you would be given a new assignment that should be completed at the end of the week. Everyone would be waiting for the completion of that one 'Master Copy' from the topper, and our work was done.Since subjects of all streams were the same in F.E, we had some good competition. Being in Computer Engineering and having no idea of programming languages, it was difficult for students like me. However, thanks to the helpful faculty, I was able to cope up with the others. Assignments!!Term Tests!!Hostel problems!! Overcame all odds and secured a 2nd rank in the entire college. Of-course after such a feat you would be called 'scholy' everywhere you go. But I became more well known by the name 'Aaamrish' from my friends and even teachers. The so called 'First Year' was completed with flying colors but the real struggle started when the subjects of my specialization were introduced from the Second Year.
Take one step at a time.. and the problems shall disappear.What is Computer Engineering? Games, internet and all the fun stuff. Well this thought changed when the real Computer Engineering started, 'The Second Year'. AOAD!COA!DSF! and what not! The names I never heard before in my life were just going to become a part of me. After scoring excellent in F.E, I became overconfident of scoring better in the coming years. I never took the advice of any of my professors seriously, 'Beta,tune acha score laya hai.. lekin isko banaye rakhna.'(Child, you have got a excellent score but do maintain it). Luckily even after ignoring the advice I was able to achieve a distinction but not a satisfactory score. Second Year is still remembered for all the wrong reasons. Be it the rule of compulsory formals in college or the mock vivas, I always fought on the behalf of the CRs. Being involved in all such non-academic matters, a drop in my performance was seen.
I left the memories of the second year in the past and began the Third Year with full zeal as in First Year with the added responsibility of Library Secretary in the hostel. But Third Year wasn't as easy as the previous one, having all the boring subjects together. I also moved myself away from all the unimportant matters in the college to concentrate on studies. But sadly I got engrossed in playing table tennis,the only indoor sport I love playing. Somehow I managed completing Third year with distinction in spite of malaria and jaundice during semester 6 exams.
That wasn't all, the most awaited placement were going to begin in semester 7 and I had no exemplary achievement to show the world. So I decided to go for a certification in my favorite programming language 'Java' during the summer vacation. All set for the placement with enough practice for aptitude and technical done during the vacation. The first company, also the one which takes students in huge numbers was the 'Tata Consultancy Services(TCS)'. TCS had made a policy of direct interviews for the top 5 ranks in each stream. Only thing I didn't like about that policy was 'Why leave out the 6th rank person?'. It didn't break my heart, instead I was eager to go through the entire placement process of TCS. At 1 a.m at night (or morning) the selected students were declared. Totally unexpected, I made it to the top IT company in India at first go. I called up dad and sister , and told them the good news.
With TCS job offer in my hand and zeal to pursue Masters, I gave less importance to my Fourth Year studies. Of-course it affected my marks but that wasn't important, what was important is that; now I had two choices, one joining TCS for a minimum period of 2 years and the other was to fly to US for pursuing Masters. After taking advice from my elder brother, I finally decided to join TCS and pursue Masters at the right time.Achieving a first class in my final year was although unexpected but it wasn't demoralizing for me.
In fact I am eager to join TCS and begin a new struggle, the so called 'tiresome job'. Wait, my dreams aren't over yet..
When your dreams are over..then so is your life.
