Mysorean

Same place. SJM Samudaya Bhavana. Second round of counseling. Counseling in this part of the country meant seat-selection. Second round meant that if there were any students who chose medical seats and dropped their engineering seats or vice-versa [very rare phenomenon – this vice-versa!] they get a chance to review their choice and pick a better seat if available.

We bump into S and his father again. S was more candid this time.
I said, “Hi”
S replied, “Hi”

I asked, “So elligadru shift maado idea idya ninge? Athava NIE Mech khushi na?” [Are you planning to shift anywhere else? Or are you happy with NIE-Mech?]
S answered, “Nammappa helta iddare E&C togo antha. BMS nalli ide. Aadre nange ista illa. Nanu Mysore ge barbeku antha iddini”[My father is asking me to take up E&C that is available in BMS. But I don’t want to. I want to come to Mysore only]

I asked, ”GMR quota nalli BMS E&C sikkta idya?!” [Is BMS E&C available under GMR quota?!]
S, “Hun ide” [Yeah]

S asked me, noticing my fixed look on the electronic display board, “Neenu enadru change goskara nodta idya?” [Are you looking to shift out?]
I answered, “NIE Mech nalli 5 seat mikkide. Inna 100 jana counseling aagbeku. Adenadru iddre nanu baro thanka, nanu adanne togoteeni. Illa andre JCE – IP ne saaku nange” [The board is showing that there are 5 seats left in NIE Mech. There are 100 people to go. If there is a seat remaining till my chance then I will shift in there. Otherwise, I am happy with whatever I have]

“So nanna jote ne barthiya?” [So, you will be joining me?]
“Nodana. Luck hengidyo gottillvalla!” [Let’s see. You never know when luck deserts you!]

As we finished the conversation, S moved towards the counseling table. And since we were 34 ranks away, I had no idea what happened to him. Whether he chose BMS E&C or stayed with his selection.

When it was my chance, there were exactly 3 seats left in NIE Mech. And surprisingly I ended up at the same smiling guy’s table!
I just shouted, “NIE Mech” on reaching the table lest anybody grabbed my seat!
He comforted me by saying, “Neevu seat togoLo tanka bere yaarigu access iralla sir. KutkoLi”. [Till you choose your seat, others cannot choose from the seat matrix sir. Please be seated.]
That’s when I realized my father was still standing!
So I cooled down. Did I really? I don’t think so. I didn’t believe that smiling guy. This time the smile wasn’t there. But it still haunted me!

“NIE Mech”, I repeated showing my receipt of fees paid for SJCE IP.
“Good choice Sir” he said looking at my father.

My father was also happy. One of our relatives was a lecturer in this college and several of our acquaintances had studied in this prestigious institution. This confirmation from the smiling guy only strengthened our belief in the choice that we had made.

The look on my face was of absolute relief! To be among the last ones in this race is really a pressure cooker situation. And somewhere while doing my homework for engineering colleges in Karnataka, I had told my aunt, “Nange yako anista ide that I will get into NIE, Mechanical antha”. [My sixth sense tells me that I will get into NIE Mechanical!] And that was a good six months before today!

Before we could get up and leave, the smiling guy said, ”Neevu first round nalli SJCE IP select maDidaagle ankonDe nimmge ee round nalli NIE Mech sigutte antha. Sikktu. Congrats sir!” [When you selected SJCE IP in the first round itself I guessed that you will get NIE Mech in the second round. Congratulations for getting it Sir!]

And that was the reason for his smile! “Thanks” we replied. And came to the foyer again.

S was there with his father. I approached them with a wide grin on my face. I had this victorious feeling that I had earned my seat in the General Merit Category!

I walked upto them and said, “Nange NIE Mech sikktu” [I got NIE Mech!]
S’s father, “Congratulations kanappa! Neenu ivanu ottige irabahudu hangaadre!” [Congratulations my son! You and my son can be together!]

I couldn’t resist the temptation of asking, “BMS E&C togollilva?” [Didn’t you pick BMS E&C?]
S, “Illa, Togollilla” [No, I didn’t take it.]

I asked without any sign of remorse in my voice, “Nijavagilu open aagi itta BMS E&C?” [Was BMS E&C really available?]
S, “Hun, ittu”

If you haven’t changed your option in the second round, you wouldn’t be loitering around in the foyer. So, what were they upto here? And as usual, I asked them the same.

“Illi enu madta idya hangaadre?” [Then what are you doing here?]
I had no sophistication about myself then. And never did I attempt to get better!
“Nanu general merit ge shift aagbitte. NIE Mech ee aadre” [I shifted from Rural quota to General merit keeping NIE Mech constant]

“Sari bidu. Olledu. NIE nalle sigana hangaadre. Bye” [Ok then. Let’s meet at NIE]
“Bye”

The next step in the procedure was that: You need to go to the concerned college, submit the receipt and get your seat confirmed. Also, if necessary make your booking for the college hostel in case you are a non-localite and needed accommodation.

My father and I went to Mysore by bus. Though we preferred a train journey, we didn’t want to risk missing the working hours of NIE. We wanted to finish the formalities and return the next day to Hyderabad.

We are at NIE Mysore. And guess whom we meet there? Yes! Brilliant answer! S and his father again! This time S and I took the lead in completing the formalities. As it involved just going to the office and submitting our documents and saying “Hi” “Hello” to them and coming. Also, additionally by then S & I had realized that we needed accommodation. So, we had to approach the Manager of the Hostel too.

By then S had told me that he was a very influential person. He knew the secretary of NIE Management committee who was in fact in-charge of assigning hostel accommodation. The clerk at the office told us that we needed to talk to the secretary itself. And also added a footnote of information saying, “As far as I know, hostel accommodation is not available”. And that’s when S told me about his high-level contacts.

We came out of the office and by then our fathers were having a conversation. My father was telling S’s father, “Sankethi hostel antha yavdo idyalla, alli try madtivi. Nodana sigutta antha.” [There is a hostel called Sankethi hostel, we’ll try our luck there]
S’s father, “Sari sir hangaadre. Bandillvanthe secretary sahibru. Avaranna bheTi aagi horadteevi” [Okay Sir. The secretary has not yet come. We will meet him and then make our move] and he continued, “Aditya, all the best mari. Namma hudugannu nodko chennagi. Ibbaru ottige iri. Guide maadappa namma huduganna swalpa” [Aditya, all the best to you son. Take care of my son also. Both of you be together. Please guide my son also]
I answered, “Uncle, naanenu guide madodu. Nange enu gottilla. Ibbaru ottige anthu irthivi uncle. Hogbittu barteevi. Bye S” [Uncle, What do I know to guide him? But we shall be together for sure. We will take your leave. Bye S.]
S answered, “Bye”, with a smile on his face.
The fathers shook hands and the sons exchanged smiles bidding farewell to each other.

Little did we know that this farewell was going to be the beginning of a friendship that would blossom into one of the best ever relationships. S (Sameer alias Sam) and I stayed (almost!) & studied together at Mysore. As if to prove uncle (Sam’s father) right, we stayed together during engineering and even much after.

Sam graduated from NIE (Mechanical Engineering) in 2001. Worked with I.I.Sc. for two years as a research associate. Topped in GATE 2003 (Vulgar percentile he got: 99 point something! I almost disowned him after his results!). He is presently pursuing M.Tech in Aerospace structures from IIT Bombay.