Delhi University: The road to DU.

After more than a month of oscillating between periods of extreme workaholism and utter wastage of time (the latter eclipsing the former in both frequency and duration), I have finally decided to get back to the instrument of my salvation. This is one of the rare occasions where the mind is brimming with topics to write about. But the past few weeks have been very nostalgic with regards to the years spent in Sri Venkateswara College, or lovingly called as "Venky", University of Delhi. And all thanks to Facebook, the glue holding so many people all over the world together with their near and dear ones. The trigger seemed to be the uploading some of the photographs from the good ol' days in Venky, along with conversations and chats with many of my fellow guinea pigs. So here's an attempt to capture the best and worst of those days, while they are still slightly fresh in my memory.

Unlike most ambitious kids nowadays, I had never given much thought to what I would wanna do with my life after school. Yes for sure, there was the standard dream of becoming a doctor, given a keen interest in biology and total disdain for engineering. I had coasted through my years in school with pretty good grades without much hard work. I guess, that proved to be my undoing. I just couldn't get myself to put in the effort required to clear the onerous entrance examinations to get into a medical school. Very casually, after the board exams of class 12th ended, I indulged in all the delights deprived to me during the Boards, actually there was just one, watching television. I would eventually pick up the books, for an hour or so, just before going to bed. To me, that was more than enough. As for joining one of the myriad coaching institutes mushrooming all over, grilling students into entrance-exam clearing machines, it was out of the question. Hell, I'm too good for that! I was ashamed of even taking tuition for maths in 11th and 12th grades, though gave in to my mother's insistence. But that was as far as I'd bend. I stood my ground and staunchly refused to take classes for Physics, Chemistry or Medical entrance exams. Needless to say, each and every entrance exam was a zor ka jhatka, jo kaafi zor se laga.......! Still I kept up the charade of preparing for these exams for the two months after board exams. By the time I had realized that I don't stand a chance of clearing any of them, at least that year, it was time for the madness that descends on Delhi annually, the Delhi University admissions! Every year, from June 1st to 15th, admission forms are up for sale for the 80 odd colleges and numerous other departments and institutes that constitute the great University of Delhi (DU). Lakhs of students from all over India grapple for 60,000 odd seats in these colleges. And then from 25th June to 15th July the admission mayhem begins. This is seriously, one of the most entertaining phases in the year on Indian news channels. Their coverage of the newbie school students taking their first steps out in the "real world", some with their over-protective parents haggling along, while others trying to make it on their own, makes for an entertaining watch! Fashion trends are keenly observed, and college rivalries are played out at their optimum. Student Unions get into the act of impressing and attracting new followers and voters, and offer various sops and "assistance". Its an exciting time all around, as it was for me, making rounds of the South and North Campuses, attending orientation programmes, buying forms, trying to decide on the most favorable course and college option. It helped that I had secured enough marks in 12th to score a decent college and course. Like many others who appear for the afore mentioned entrance exams for medical and engineering colleges casually in their first attempt, I had a PLAN B - which was, not to waste one year, take admission in DU, (also can be read as, block some other kid's seat), spend that one year sincerely preparing for these entrances, and cracking them next year. It seemed easy and simple enough. So I took admission in B.Sc. life sciences, at Sri Venkateswara College, a five minute bus ride away from my home. It was an easy enough choice on the college, but not so much on the course. Though I was not severely inflicted with Decidophobia at that time, I was still switching from Life sciences to botany to anthropology to geology to english to history to chemistry. But keeping in mind my Plan B, I went for Life sciences, thinking it would be ideal for my medical preparation. So after a horrifying interview at St. Stephens, I took admission in Venky, and thus became a part of the elite DU alumni.