Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Masters, here comes a Mister

With an aeroplane-shaped body with people serving refreshments in the cockpit and research being conducted in its wings, the most memorable sight of NTU is the lecture theatres in its belly where students take a peaceful nap. In the morning, the students sleep cos they have been doin work all nite (incl music, movies, in house pubs, games, surfing, dating what not). In the afternoon, poor guys need to escape the treacherous heat beating down on them..In the early evening, its the aftermath of a nice long lunch. With the seemingly mild aircon and the lullaby of a professor preaching half a mile away, what more comfort do u need to venture into ur dreamland? After all, life in NTU is a dream come true! Nanyang Technological University, as its so painstakingly called, its reputation among Indians is so towering that its recognised as a world renowned university and is treated with a reverence given to none other than the famous Muniyaandi College Of Engineering in Gumidipoondi, near the erstwhile British townsville of Madras.

When the pressures of std XII discerningly mount on the poor skool kid, he has to succumb to parental and peer pressure and start his Application Process during the Holy Month of December, when as a kid he remembered gleefully wandering the vast expanse of a 100 yard circular patch of parched greenery littered with stones chasing a globular object called ball. Some people, who mock this sincerely await Spring and Fall! Yet these kids, devoid of the simple pleasure of copy paste available to online applications, had to slog it out with the best handwriting they can muster, under the watchful concerned eyes of whoever stopped by to hint about the impending "career" ahead. Now, along with the "default" set of colleges that every god-damned std XII student will apply to, comes NTU. Such is the popularity of one of the greatest institutions that shaped by life ("Kaakaikkum than kunju pon kunju").

With its lush greenery and spacious sports complexes and dining halls, with caterers from across the world summoned to look after the apetites of the growing student population, with a lot of students from the same country to hang out with indulging in blissful chat and timeless gossip, its no wonder that I enjoyed my undergraduate studies there. Grades? I never bothered to calculate my GPA cos it didnt really matter. Is the college like the ones in India? Going by my arrears list, definitely! Gals? Refer to my previous post! Profs? "Whats tht anna univ dude's name da?" Research? I will come back after a search! Facilities? Lotsa computers to surf the net!

Now that I am done talking abt the university, I missed the university so much that I wanted to continue my distance education (remember half a mile) with NTU. Being sincere, I applied one day after the deadline got over. Then came the interview:

Interviewer: What made you want to do your Masters?
Random Access: I screwed up my Bachelors, I want a second chance (to screw up?)
I: What made you choose NTU?
RA: Cos nowhere else will they give me that chance!
I: Seems like you have had turbulent undergrad years
RA: Yeah, I was flying around in the aeroplane!
I: You have written a good essay on how Internet has some dangers for students.
RA: Thank You (came out by default, dint really hear what u said)
I: What made u concentrate on Plagiarism? You had covered that point very well..
RA: Yeah, thats one thing I really know about (wicked grinnnnnnn at heart)
I: Are you planning to stay in Singapore?
RA: Are you crazy? I have stayed here for 6 yrs already!

Thank God the interview ended quite soon and she took all my answers in the positive frame of mind...So here I am with a white piece of paper titled "Masters in Information Systems" with a word Congratulations! Needless to say the rest, after a round of emails to kith and kin and J, I am looking for funding now!

Random Access
The search has just begun !!!

4 comments:

Anjali said...

Have fun funds will atomatically follow.

Dinesh said...

May you be showered with A's!!

Balakumar said...

Awesome! Congratulations buddy! Way to go!! :D

Random Access said...

Thanks for all the wishes! I do hope the funds come in before than later. Dinx, was that a pun? ;) the first shower did come from 'a' though!

Random Access
The search has just begun !!!