As usual, it's a last minute dash to the Railway Station from office. Umasuthan (Uma) has fared no better, having got caught in the traffic.The train to Trichy makes it appearance, after Uma has requested and obtained some stationery from a Railway official.We discover our RAC seats with no small help from a TTE and are aboard the train.
We spend some time, trying to come up with some questions for the mock interview. We've been asked to conduct for the second year MCAs. It's an interesting exercise - leading us to various areas of technology and making us wonder what questions make sense to those in the campus.
We grab some dinner, get a couple of berths and that's it for the day!
Sat, 28 April 2001
It is 4.30 AM. Uma wakes me.The train has been stationary for the last 10 minutes. "Hey! We’ve reached Trichy Junction", he says. Our plans to get off at Fort, board one of the local buses, which go via the market, and travel in the company of tons of vegetables, amidst blaring music, are scotched!
Tanjore buses are as predictable as ever - "REC nikkathu" (won't stop in REC).Luckily we spot a Thuvakkudy bus and are transported to REC.
Nothing changes in REC.Cows are already grazing.A few sleepy dogs chase each other.The sun is up (it is 6 AM) and we can feel the "warmth".We wake the second years.It's time for tea in Bread Mess, as we call "B" Mess.Unlike our times, we need to make our own tea, with appropriate mixture of a dark solution and milk.
It's Saturday and bread pakoda for breakfast.It's pretty good and we set about dispatching it.We've for company several second years.We see a few first years, rushing off to class. (Class - at 8.30 AM on Saturday - unbelievable, but true! Did I say "nothinng changes in REC" - I stand corrected)
It is 9.45 AM.We are in the MCA Department.A few quotes from Thirukkural (in Tamil) adorn the walls.Cockpit wears a new look, thanks to new tables and chairs.But the remnants of the old still persist in the corners, atop the almirahs.
The second years have assembled. It's time for action.We've to conduct mock interviews for each of 28 students, facing Campus placements, this July.The CIC folks have made our task easy, by collecting resumes from each, sorting them, and scheduling the sequence of interviews.
We give a "pre-interview" briefing.
Then it's business.Doing an interview - whether mock or serious - is no fun.One has to be alert, know what to ask, listen to the interview, follow-up with questions - in short, quite some effort!o make things easy and fast, we conduct separate parallel interviews.
Let's not worry about the interviews - suffice to say, we didn't make a mockery of it!
It is 8.30 PM, when everything gets over - the post-mortem, Q & A and stuff. We are rather embarrassed to be given a memento - departing from the MCA tradition.But we have corrected them, and made sure that the next time, the only mementos accepted, would be Version mementos.
It is impossible to keep awake after the hectic schedule of the day, and though I wake up at 1.30 AM to find a cricket match on inside the hostel, I resist the temptation to join!Did I mention the PG notice board glasses are broken and kept in a corner, under the stairs?Guess, there are no longer fines. I'm reminded of the time, we got a replacement glass overnight, for the one we broke while playing!
Sun, 29 April, 2001
I'm woken up by an early bird - who's off to the Lab at an unearthly time of 5.45 AM!(Imagine - Sunday 6 AM - wonder how many of us have seen it in our lives!)
Anyway, at 7 AM, we're at the bus stop for the temple leg of our trip.Our first halt is Rock Fort and the climb to the top, literally floods us with sweat - it's terribly hot!We discover that the flag is up the festival mast in the Siva temple - it's festival time. It's breakfast at "The Great Raghunath" (some things never change) and then off to Srirangam.
Srirangam gopuram is beautiful, having been repainted recently.There is the usual rush, but the darshan is pretty good.In fact, the darshan at Thayyar Sannathi is even more peaceful - we could admire the three deities, which are placed, one behind the other.
For the first time in my life, I have back-to-back soft drinks - gives some idea of the heat! It's time for the mini-bus ride. (I've talked about mini-buses in Trichy in an earlier write-up) It takes us to Thiruvanaikoil. It's festival time and the temple is closed.Fortunately, it opens in a few minutes, and we've a wonderful darshan of Lord Siva.
In spite of the heat, we circumambulate the deity and enjoy the memories of the earlier visits.
It's impossible to resist the temptation to enter the A/C Hall in Vasanth Bhavan in the Sathram Bus Stand. An amazing collection of side dishes is placed before us and it's a feast, we can hardly do justice to. The rate is shocking by Bangalore standards - a mere Rs.30/- for a meal.
We're back in the oven that is Trichy and board the bus back to campus. We have an entertaining two hours in the company of the second years.We discover that some of the MCA traditions are not being followed. You ask which one?How about pairs?As we know, every MCA batch has produced at least one pair who got married.Maybe, they are very discrete about it. Uma, I guess, maybe, we should take some interest - what say:)
Okay, it's time for the last leg of the trip - Tanjore.
We're lucky to catch a Tanjore bus, the moment we reach the bus stop, and we're at a surprisingly crowded Brihadeeswara temple at 6.05 PM. (As mentioned earlier, it is festival time in all Siva temples) We barely manage to have darshan before it's time to board our train.The connections are perfect and the train departs the minute we board it.
The train takes nearly an hour's break in Trichy and we feel we should have asked the MCA folks to come over for some company!Anyway, the rest of the journey is uneventful and the morning finds us shivering with cold - the sharp contrast in the climate.