A Few Things That I Remember - Chapter 1

"Run.. Run guys…eaahhh …Freeedommmm.....! " Varun screamed. 4 guys are in home run and they are using the gap between guys and gals desks as their playground. 2 of them finished with ease but the other one...Oh dear..RIP. At last Varun also finished but as a true hero.. he was bleeding with wounds on ears and hands. You all might think this as a sport event and guys with great team spirit.. Bet You are wrong.. Though the later one is true.

Location College of Engineering Thalassery.. Poor pupil’s CET. This happened in Year 2002, Semester 3 IT class. I am Shimith and I am one of the 2 who escaped from Rasheeds beefy Biceps.. The other one was Mr. Adarsh. Poor Varun ( though he is rich ) failed to get out of the class with no injuries.. Rasheed, the fourth guy, almost killed him .. Great athelates say if you can improve your timing you can always succeed.. Its just a matter of reflex to the gunshot. And Myself and Adarsh had shown it to all our classmates. Now coming to the matter.... We 3 were attacked by Resheed.. It was all becoz of me.. There is no one in my class who never got irritated of me.

We used to call Rasheed as Mariam Rasheeda.. And it happened like this. One day when I was sitting next to Rasheed , I saw “Mariam” written on the desk next to his place. Then I started calling him Mariam Rasheeda..And it got free publicity and made him popular.. The whole college started calling him with his new name concatenated in front of his name. So was my bench mates.. Adarsh, Varun, Prabin, Jijin and Unni. But Rasheed was an innocent and introvert guy who never believed in Popularity and show offs. So obviously he wanted make an end to this. And we were attacked. Only 3 of us though. Bloody Unni, prabin and Jijin escaped... But for me this was nothing. I already had a near death experience with Rasheed when I met him in a very early morning class on the same day I belive. Aamen..

I always thought engineering college is like, Oh My God .. Its Engineering college.. Yeap.. I had no clue about an Engineering college .. not even about a college as I was a Plus 2 student.. Most of the people grow after 10th.. So they will opt for College; pre degree.. For me Plus 2 was a Demotion. I went for Plus 2 science as my cousin was there and I can get his books. No expenditure whatsoever. It was like back to Nursery school… Anyways.. Mom was very optimistic about my higher studies.. She never expected me joining an Engineering college. As, for her people should study very well and do day to day home works, like my cousin and she got good entrance marks and joined B Tech IT as well. I was not that bad.. I also got Bigg rank in entrance exam, around 8 thousand I guess. To tell you the truth, I was never interested in B tech as I was inspired by my other cousin, neighbor, who goes to Arts college and comes home in 10 mins like Sourav gangly bats for India. I was even short listed for Bsc chemistry in same college. But I got Mechanical Engg seat in a Calicut engg college also.. Yieks.. Total confusion. My dad is a very smart person. He convinced me that I won’t be able to finish Mech engg as I don’t have that much brain.. Huh.. He questioned my Medulla oblongata.. Isn’t it..? But I didn’t say a single word coz I know that was true. He told me to opt for IT or CS in Kannur, my place, keeping in mind that I can get my cousin’s books and no extra hostel fees. Double Bulls Eye on a single plate.!! Anyways, Ramayana or Mahabharatha.. Both are same for me. So I opted for it and got placed in CET(ly).. Now here is the thing, if you are going for something bigg, (as others think) there will be a hell lot of people to advice(scare) you as if they have gone through all of em. Same old crap ragging shit stories.. But I was stuck with a new fact that I need to speak English in Engg college.. Now that made shit out of me and made me nervous. I knew only “welcome to ooty and Nice to meet you” in English. Thanks to Jagathy.. What to do what to do. So, I started to learn more. But I could learn only one single sentence with no spelling mistake and grammar.. “What is your Good name?”. Who cares.. Atleast I learned that bit.. huh. So my first day in my college, I met this a bit fat guy, who was sitting alone.. I told myself, shimith my boy, time to prove your English skill(s).. I went to him and asked “ Haai, what is your good name?” He said “ My name is Rasheed KP and Good name is Rasheed.. From that day onwards Rasheed was my prey, until the day when I became his.

First and second semester were clubbed to make us shit in the class a whole year. As Plus 2 hangover was there, I used to listen all lecturers for a year. I made some good friends as well. Varun, Adarsh, Unni, Prabin and Jijin. All my classmates were my friends. But these guys, I felt they were different.
Adarsh is a cool guy. No tension at all about anything. Initially I felt like he got Kidnappers look because of the way he was staring at me on the day I joined college. Later I realized that he was my ooold schoolmate. His parents are teachers. But that didn’t affect him at all. And, I don’t know why, whenever I see him coming to college with a plastic cover of books, sorry book, tucked in his shoulder, I used to feel like he is coming in slow motion with background music of “coolie number one main coolie number one.. “ Yeah baby he is cool.. Unnikrishnan ( Unni), I met him in my Plus Two school and he was my senior , my cousin’s classmate. He was the only guy in our class with clear cut Mustache. He is a guy with lots and lots of expectation. Not about lecturers. Though Professors are exceptions. Whenever a gal smiles at him he thinks that’s his gal… There were lot.. He knows how to soap all Professors. Prabin Prakash, a very smart name in our gang, a silent student.. No one knew that he was our classmate for the whole first year. That much quiet fella. Later we came to know that he was doing meditation to capture all Small talks happening in the whole class. He was very much passionate about Two bus stands in Thalassery. He often thinks about minimizing distance between both for some business purpose, I guess. He used to sit just next to our Desk and bend like Dish Antenna whenever we were discussing the importance of life and future(J). Varun Mohan only found this. Aah Varun Mohan, Nobody knows that he is the richest guy in our class. His Father is in TATA Tea, got an estate in Munnar. A real “estate” guy, still acquiring Govt’s Land. He was a classmate of my close friend and the brightest student in our group with background record of some 15th rank in SSLC and Pre Degree Topper in his college with Distinction.. But never showed that headache. So we thought he was a dumb guy like us. Jijin Raj.. Our nations new face, the rising Sun of CET(ly).. A true Communist party follower.. Now Developing s/w for a French client.. He used to get some stories about communist people from his Father , who is a Leader , and share those valuable stories with loads of masala. But he was a person with good heart. He was the official ball boy of our college football match.. He had returned countless balls (Foot) into the ground. Unni and Jijin always had mutual understanding on what they talk. Rest of us know that all are blunder. But still we used to support our friends. So we also participated in those arguments as well.. There is not even an Atom on which they didn’t comment on from our college. They just need a glance at one person, the whole history and biology of that person will print as output. I used to think that they should have been in psychiatry or someone like the palm reader in our temples. Not more than that. One more guy was there.. Mr Vijil Kumar.. Smart good looking mallu guy from Goa, who always wonder what he is doing and why he is in Engg college.. So we became good friends to invetigate whats after college .!! I think Unni and Varun had some thoughts about it initially but we killed all of em. I had no idea what I am doing there neither anyone of us. Varun was having some idea about M tech and all I believe. He used to mention some GATE frequently in our discussion. Didn’t undertsand what he was trying to say till last semester. And he is the one who brought the word Infosys in our team and Ist one to get placed there. (More to follow with good English…)