The Indian Engineer

If you are a human being who is aged anywhere from 16 to around 23 years, and happen to be living in India right now, odds are that academically, only two options will be swimming around in your head: Engineering or Medicine! Between the two, I'd say Medicine is the more coveted profession to follow. But that usually means around 9-years of rigourous, sleep-less, mind-numbing hard-word. And after the nine years, you have to constantly keep yourself updated with the latest developments in the industry. Whew! A tall order by anyone's standards.

I fit the above mentioned profile, almost. So which one did I choose? I chose Engineering. 4-years of relaxed, fun-filled, party-driven high-road to employment. Or so I thought, until I joined one such college. Everyone told me, "Hey man, go for 'Computer Science and Engineering'. It's the easiest. Moreover man, you like, know programming like the back of your hand. And in the end, you'll get recruited into some nice, big software company!". But I would have none of it. I was always intrigued by cutting-edge electronic technologies. So, what do you suppose I did? Well, I took up 'Electronics and Communication Engineering.' I heard some mumblings from my well-wishers that sounded something like, "It's the toughest stream. He doesn't know what he's getting into..." Of course, I didn't heed the warnings.

Next thing I know, I'm a 4th year, pot-smoking, alcohol consuming, blogging, already-recruited, wanna-be software engineer, who doesn't know his ACs from his DCs (well, almost! Who doesn't like comic exaggeration?). I currently stand recruited in a software firm that's all Indian and has a good reputation but doesn't have quality work. Atleast not for the fresh faces. Moreover, if i am to have an inkling of hope of joining the company, I have six months od my course left, in which to clean up my act. If I don't, I might as well kiss the job goodbye and get into my parent's black-book which I have skillfully managed to avoid so far. I have exactly 1 semester (6 months) left of my college-life. And right now, no matter what I do, the grass looks more business-like on the other side..!

Ever felt like you're in a spiral with a vacuum-pump at the bottom end? And you can't stop the downward motion that has achieved its resonance with its environment? No? Well, I do. And no matter how bad it looks (and it is, mind you) I can't help but enjoy myself in this sorry situation I am in...