Chronicles of a 75% Engineer

It all started in 2009... Results of my HSC and MHT CET were just around the corner. The pressure was mounting to select the perfect and most interesting engineering branch. (I tried my level best to strike a balance between what was monetarily more appealing and my passion for the subject.) 

After a point, it didn't matter to me if I was really interested in getting into a particular field as most of my concentration was on how much money I would be making. A callow thought that nearly shattered my ambitions.

The results were out and an air of melancholy surrounded me as an imbecile marking error in my mathematics paper had ruined my CET score. Although my HSC score still remained at its best, everyone had an indifferent attitude towards it.  Scoring 90 percent is not exactly a piece of cake. It isn't something every Tom Dick and Harry can get! But as they say 'Family members that live in concord and acceptance are the ones who live in peace' 

I still managed to secure my admission in one of the premier institutions in Mumbai in one of the most sought after fields - Computer Engineering.

In the beginning, computers seemed to be interesting. Typing lines of codes on an outdated Windows XP seemed more like a first grade programmer. The thrill in writing hundreds and thousands of meaningless lines of codes made me feel like I'm the next Mark Zuckerberg. As months passed by the ever so interesting Computer engineering had become stale and everyone was taking potshots at it. The real task at hand still remained that I had to transform from using the logical side of my brain to a side which involved-

                              No Understanding. 

                              No Logic.

Semester after semester, everyone was involved in a horse race to rank number 1 with insufficient knowledge or inclination to continue in the field after graduation. What really irks me is that even after years of hard work and a hundred thousand graduates the quality and practicality of our engineering syllabus still remains an enigma.

Apparently, engineers are considered as the future of the nation. Wow. Whoever said this must really be devoid of the current scenario and the sorrow state of affairs of the dearest engineering education. 

They say appearances are deceptive. Recently, at a party of a very close friend and a topper from the EXTC department in my college, I stood amidst the nerdiest crowd in the whole of Mumbai which I'm assuming are too genteel. And then, I spot a boy with his shirt tucked in, a black archaic belt and the stereotype nerdy glasses. He was the topper of my college and ranked 3rd in the University of Mumbai. The ideal student, every parent's delight. The kind of guy you expect to do no wrong. However, he was standing right beside me taking innocent puffs from his Marlboro, a quarter of Old Monk in hand.

A zealous young me wasn't able to understand the gravity of the situation. What if I'm unable to score even a 40 in my papers? If I don't get a job, I'm considered to be a good-for-nothing wastrel who is better suited to work in the nearest call centre.  

A lot of people don't know about this but corruption is highly rampant in this section of the society too. You want to pass a particular paper? No Issues at all!

Recently, software major Infosys sent an open letter to the University of Mumbai focusing on how unequipped the engineering graduates from Mumbai were to face the real life tasks. A number of companies even blacklisted a few colleges due to the immense dissatisfaction and negative feedback they received from the employers about how incompetent these engineers really were.

Precisely it's been 913 days that I've been studying engineering. Another 500 days to go and then I'm done with it. I'm bemused; I have developed this strange liking for computers. I have always been quite sure about my future in Finance/Marketing but this technical side of my brain is making me reconsider my decision .I probably misconstrued it to be a disastrous decision and without thoroughly looking into it made assumptions about how miserable my life would be if I ever thought about continuing in the technical stream . if I do end up becoming a Software Developer/Software Analyst I would be just bewilder myself as well as everyone around me .  I see my friends being involved in a fist-tightening rage as they look forward to appearing for the various competitive examinations. A year to go and so many decisions to make, the most crucial decision of my life.

“Believe it or not, it’s the struggle alone that pleases us. It’s never about victory. When the right things are done in an ethical manner success is bound to touch your feet .Even the strongest have their moments of fatigue. Why worry about the destination? Journey should be gratifying.”

                                               - Chinmay Vasudev Shenoy