College life.. those were the days!

Thanks to my classmate Swaroop, for I wrote this after he wrote such a post in his blog :)

I was 15. Things weren't going as planned back then. I wanted to get into an IIT. But I had to struggle to complete my +2 syllabus in the first place. Without proper instruction at college, it wasn't easy to get through the exams. Despite the odds, I gave IIT-JEE my best shot. And prayed for the best to happen. It did happen after all.. I got a very good rank in the preliminary phase of the entrance exam. But I knew very well that the mains won't be so easy. I got through the +2 exams, and got ready for the mains of IIT-JEE. I put everything I had into it, but couldn't make it in the end.

"No problem", said my Dad, because we still had EAMCET. I know I can manage questions from the intermediate paper, but EAMCET? The very name of the exam sounded strange to me. 2 years of intermediate education, and I never bothered about the pace at which I answered. What seemed irrelevant to me for 2 years suddenly became utterly important. I practiced for a couple of weeks before the exam, guess it wasn't enough. I didn't have the time to recheck my answers during the exam, the invigilator snatched the papers on the dot. So I was back home, waiting for the key to be published in the daily magazine.

The key was one of the greatest disappointments in my life. According to the key, I scored so low, that I couldn't even think of getting into a good college. I believed that the key wasn't accurate, but the publishers believed that it was. So I kept my fingers crossed for the result to be announced. And in the end.. I was right. I scored way above what the key said I would. And I got into one of the most prestigious (yup, i mean it) universities in the country - Andhra University. Computers fascinated me ever since I was a kid. I always dreamed of becoming a computer expert myself. And so, Computer Science Engineering it was...

The first week wasn't a lot of fun on the campus. We had to get used to the college atmosphere, to the class, and to the very thought that we were no longer kids from junior college. While I was busy with these 3 things, I forgot one of the most important things on campus - SENIORS! I didn't expect a ragging-free education at college, but the first day of ragging didn't go the way I thought it would.

I was greeted by a senior (Civil Engg.) just outside our classroom with the most common question - "Are you a fresher?" When I said yes, that was the beginning. I was literally dragged into the classroom where most of the seniors were already doing the honors. I was interviewed about the trivial rules for freshers in college and I understood that I didn't know any of them. They teased me for a while, and when few guys started abusing me, I started crying! :( They continued the process till it was time for them to leave. And when they left, they took my pen and my watch. That watch was a b'day present from my dad!! How dare he?? I decided to complain to the principal about the whole thing, and I did complain.

The next day, my Dad and I met the principal, told the whole story with such intensity as if I was the only one ragged; as if mine was the worst case of ragging. We didn't give a written complaint though, even the principal discouraged it. The next day, seniors handed over my watch through my classmate. When I was leaving home that day, a senior met me on the way. I expected another round of ragging, but he was calm. He asked me why I complained to the principal, and I started the whole story over again. He talked to me for an hour and enlightened me about the senior-junior relationship. I wasn't really impressed by the talk, but I found this guy to be very friendly. From the next day, whenever seniors came, I was no longer afraid of them, I accepted it as a part of college life, I realized that I'm not something special compared to my classmates.

Time passed quicker than I thought. It was exam time, and I did fairly well. I was never the topper of the class though. 2nd year was a little fun. Seniors turned friendly and very helpful. I made some good friends and whenever we had the chance, we had a good time together. (I still wonder how such a thing ever happened, but I always made new friends in class every academic year, the introvert in me is to be blamed).

And that's when tragedy began in my life. My performance plunged from the 2nd semester of 2nd year. Everyone has personal problems, but I was terribly concerned about my own, which damaged my performance. I believed that 2-2 was my worst semester. So I was under the impression that I would be getting better by every semester, but I was getting worse. Anyway life is to enjoy to the fullest extent. I acquired quite a number of skills during my 3rd year, some of which I couldn't retain till today. I passed a lot of time with TT, cricket, video games, chatting etc. I knew campus interviews will be in the first few weeks of 4-1, so I made sure my skill set was in good shape by that time. A paper presentation, a programming contest and a puzzle contest came to the rescue. And by then, I turned into an ambivert.

I was selected for 2 good companies, my dummy project was going on well, so I stopped caring about the semester subjects for a while. This proved to me that one cannot relax at any moment in a professional course. I hit rock bottom in 4-1, with a mere 69.42% !! When I looked back, I saw a graph that dropped right from 2-2 to 4-1, without even a single rise in it. Now I wanted to set things right, but it was too late. I had only 1 semester left, my last chance. How would I do great in this semester when I spoiled the previous 4 semesters? I grew lazy by then, but managed a 77.5% in the final semester. That brought my aggregate to a not-bad 75%. My project (oops! sorry gang, it was our project :) ) was also a good one (it was at least a fresh idea). That way, I completed my precious B.Tech.

Those were the days! Just like I've read somewhere, it is probably the last place in your life where you have some truly unadulterated fun. I believe every one of our class has experiences which won't fit into a single post.



Even to this day, whenever I go to Vizag, no matter how busy my schedule is, I visit our college once. I just walk around in the campus. The benches on which we sat chit chatting for hours, the ground where we played tirelessly, the roads we walked just to pass time, the classrooms, the labs ... yes, they all seem like heaven to me now. Andhra University is one place which shaped me into a person I was going to be for the rest of my life. These are the memories I will carry in my heart till my last breath. If only I had a chance to get those days back.. hmmm.. what more could anyone ask for?

My first film!!

When did it all begin?

Long long ago
But not so long ago
Cannot say how long ago

I work for CA.. Computer Associates. Our office was in a campus called Vanenburg IT park, Madhapur. There were a dozen other offices sharing the same premises. CA started constructing its own campus at Gachibowli a few of years ago. I never knew at what pace the construction activity took place, but I should say there was a little delay in completion. And finally in September 2007, we decided to move in.

The HR guys conducted a few competitions on the occasion of the move, making a short film was one of them. The short film had to be based on the campus move. At first our team mates (buddies for short) and team lead ("lead" for short) decided to make a short film on the improved life @ workplace we as a team would have upon moving to our own premises. But later that idea was dropped, partly because we were either too lazy to get started or too busy with business; partly because another group had already started filming with a similar concept. We guys were so busy with our ongoing projects, that we hardly noticed the progress our peer film makers were making. And when the time came, we moved to the new campus. The management decided to move a few teams every weekend over the next few weeks, ours was among the first teams to be shifted.

I hit on an idea for short film on a fine day, which was approved by my buddies & lead. All we needed is a plan to shoot the film. It had nothing to do with the differences between old and new campuses, but centered around a experiences of a single employee during the campus move. I thought it was the best way to stick to the theme suggested by the judges. So, will me make it?

Of course, YES! We got a camera from our manager, and we started making plans. We knew that we were late, the deadline for short film submission was fast approaching. Now I started hunting for some acting talent. I felt like Spielberg! I was pretty sure that I would finalize the "cast & crew" for our film. It wasn't until I tried that I realized that I was terribly mistaken. People had all sorts of creative reasons to reject my offer. Some were camera shy, some were busy with projects and some were busy acting in the other short films! The Spielberg in me vanished into thin air. I managed to grab a handful of people to start off.

We had to get back to our old campus at Madhapur to shoot a major portion of the film. Transport courtesy: Our lead. We went there that afternoon and had to go back to campus by evening.. had some important work to do. I knew I had little time. And very little battery power for the camera. 3 days of sporadic planning couldn't remind us of verifying the status of the battery. I was low on resources, but high on hopes.

Every time I started a shot, the camera beeped violently, indicating low battery. For every 30 seconds of filming, I had to recharge the battery for a while. What's more interesting is the fact that I don't have a script ready in my hands. I had to plan for shots on the spot. I feared that I might make mistakes bigger than anticipated. I quickly shot scenes which I felt would be apt for the context.

That wasn't the end of all problems. I wanted an empty floor for the flashback of the film. A few teams were still working on that floor. So I had to shoot without any of them getting in the frame. I was director Akira Kurosawa for a while, using multiple filming techniques to get better footage. Also we had to move hardware in and out of cubicles to bring the effect of a transition. We improvised by getting props from our friends on the floor. But I wasn't satisfied yet. How do I establish the fact that the entire floor was empty?

I was forced to pack up earlier than I planned. We went back to campus, I began editing the raw footage. And by around 11:30 pm, I was back at the old campus with the camera. With different light settings, I guess I got the right output in the end. One guy was still on the floor, but I wasn't really bothered about him. It was a spacious floor after all.

I wanted to have another day for shooting, but people were busy with project work. Prioritizing things, I couldn't find my short film ahead of many other tasks. I had to adjust with whatever little footage I had. I used trial version of a video editing software, which was good enough for my movie. I shot the last couple of minutes in the film at our new campus. The security at campus were alarmed by the sight of a video camera capturing the surroundings. We toldthem that it was part of a competition within the campus & multiple films were already being shot within the premises.

Things started getting tougher when we hit the road for a scene. We were stalled by the traffic police because I forgot to bring my driving license. As if I hadn't had enough by then, the CM was visiting Gachibowli stadium for an international sports event and the police were worried about my camera! It took 30 minutes of talking to convince the inspector that we were innocent
and get out of there.

Everything was set by then. I believed whatever little footage I had should be enough. I knew I could make use of the stock of pictures I have on my machine. But I was really bothered about the dubbing part. I planned to have the entire film as a montage with a voice over. But it wasn't easy to record voices at office without disturbance. So I had to compromise with subtitles instead of voices. And I really hunted like crazy for background score. I wasn't against the idea of using music from hit movies, but at least part of the score should be unrelated to the cinema world. Out of hundreds of midi sequences I've heard on the web, I finally selected a few.

The editing took longer than I expected. I wasn't surprised. After all, an amateur film maker like me couldn't have done better than that. Staying back in office late nights for a few days.. I managed to finish off the film. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it did look fresh and nice. We submitted the short film to our judges and waited for the results. And as expected by the most of us, the short film regarding Improved life @ CA got the prize. They're short film had a touch of humor, mine had a touch of emotion.

And after the long journey through my short film making, I realize one thing. It is not just the actors on screen that should get credit. It is the people behind the screens who should be praised. When a movie becomes a hit, fans attribute the success entirely to the hero of the movie. It is OK to appreciate an actor for his contribution, but it is the on-the-set and post production staff's effort that make it a hit movie. Without them, no hero would ever become a hero...