The GATE Story - 2
(You've read Part-1, no?)
So. Where were we? Ah yes. I had just blown my first chance at IISc, right?
Well, things started getting complicated a few days later. Up north, I had three calls. One for test/interview at IIT Kanpur on 11th May, then two days later one interview on 13th at IIT Delhi for the Computer Technology course (EE dept.) and on 17th, an interview at CSE-IITD. For this last one, I was also put on waiting list for direct admission on the basis of my GATE score + UG performance. To add even more confusion, if my admission wasn't confirmed by 15th, I was supposed to attend interview on 17th. Quite obviously, this caused major confusion in booking tickets. Add to that the fluctuating prices of air tickets and coordinating train journey to Kanpur, and it will come as no surprise that I spent most of my time finalizing my travel plans. Finally I booked my return ticket on 13th itself, and decided that I would reschedule in case I had to stay back at Delhi for four more days.
A day before my journey -
Dad: So, all prepared for the trip?
Me: Yes, yes. Everything is done. Except for the studying.
Dad: ...
So there I was the next morning, on board the Go Air flight, thoroughly satisfied with how things had gone so far (free newspaper at the airport and a nice window seat on the plane). My own impression of myself as a moderately intelligent person took a severe beating when I had to ask the girl next to me to help me with my seat-belt. But then, so did the guy on the aisle seat (presumably her husband) and my pride was restored somewhat. Meanwhile, in the seat in front, two youngsters were happily taking pictures of themselves on their cellphones. Pfft. First timers, I thought smugly. Suddenly the plane started rolling down the runway and I squealed in excitement.
No matter what people say about air travel, it is my opinion that flying is the most exciting form of transport, simply because of the precision required to make flying safe, and because humans had no business giving competition to birds in the first place. As I gazed out of the window, my mind was filled with questions like, "What kind of instruments do they use inside the cockpit?", "How is the testing done for the computer systems on board?", "How do they decide on the wingspan?", and most importantly, "Are they going to give us free water bottles?"
I made a few observations on board the airplane. Firstly, I decided to never ever try skydiving, no matter what people think of me. Secondly, reading Finite Automata and Formal Languages on an airplane is just as boring as it is on the ground. Thirdly, the little lakes down on the ground look like broken pieces of a mirror, and look particularly beautiful when the sun is reflected off of them briefly. And finally, you know how the sky seems to bend down and meet the earth at the horizon? On air, I observed that, in the distance the earth seems to be curving up and meeting the sky. So I guess the earth and the sky meet in the sky too. Whatever that means.
More than two-and-a-half hours into the flight, the pilot announced that we would be reaching Delhi soon. And sure enough, I could see the city below. So, this was Delhi, the place with the Supreme Court and Parliament and India Gate, I thought excitedly. But five minutes later, we had flown right past the city and I realized that wasn't Delhi at all! I settled back in my seat trying to look cool again.
The airplane story needs one last mention. These low-cost airliners have such crappy legrooms, it is impossible to change your sitting style without suffering hip dislocation. In fact, I had to do a triple somersault over the seat-belt couple to get to the aisle when I had to use the bathroom. And when we were about to land, the pilot asked us to pull up our seats back from recline. Unfortunately, mine was stuck in the reclining position, so I put my hand behind my seat to pull it back and ended up groping the leg of a female passenger sitting behind me. Most thankfully, she seemed to realize that I was a decent guy and chose not to slap me.
We finally landed in Delhi. The plane taxied for what seemed like 25 kilometres before we finally reached the terminal. "Delhi! At last!", I thought and stepped out of the airplane. And instantly melted into a semi-solid blob. Man! Delhi was hot! My first thought was that we had landed in Chennai by mistake. And the whole idea of me being so far away after just a three hour journey seemed a little phony anyway. I claimed my luggage and took a government taxi to the New Delhi railway station, where a train would take me to Kanpur.
The ride to the railway station was pleasant, save for the fact that the taxi driver made me listen to the same Punjabi song three times. Being in Delhi, I wanted to try some authentic North Indian food, so I went to the IRCTC cafe and immediately ordered masala dosa. When in Rome, be a South Indian, right? I spent the next four hours on the platform, where the only interesting thing was the railway announcer who sounded suspiciously like Farhan Akhtar, and spoke English with a fake American accent, leading to much amusement. Finally in the evening, my Shatabdi arrived to take me to Kanpur.
The Shatabdi ride was most pleasant. I had been on the Shatabdi before, on the Mysore-Chennai route, but this experience was much much better. The coach was brand new, the AC very comfortable, the velvety seats had smooth recline and the excellent IRCTC staff kept me well fed and watered. Surely this was the only way to travel in a train. However, a delayed Rajdhani, which is at the top of the food chain, stalled my train, and we reached Kanpur an hour late. A quick auto ride later, I was at Hall of Residence - 5, IIT Kanpur. The polite hostel staff alloted me accommodation. I slept off hoping the test would go well the next day.
En route to my test venue, I noticed that the IITK campus was huge and built beautifully, with most buildings following a common colour scheme, giving the campus the impression of being very well planned. The test was supposed to be three hours long with all questions being of multiple choice. But half way into the test, I could tell with supreme confidence that I would NOT get shortlisted. Half of the paper was general aptitude and puzzles and the other half was algorithm analysis, all of which I was rubbish at. I sort of got the feeling that IITK didn't want any systems student at all! The test went very badly and I thought that the only way I would get through was if everyone else in the hall was a bigger idiot than I was. Which was very unlikely.
That afternoon, they put up the list and sure enough, my name wasn't there. This meant I was stuck in Kanpur the next day because I had booked my ticket to Delhi two days later, in anticipation of being shortlisted for interviews the next day. Since there was no point in sticking around, I got my ticket cancelled, and booked a Shatabdi for the next morning itself, thinking that would give me enough time for a decent shot at the Electrical department interview at IIT Delhi.
So with two opportunities gone, will I ever get back my confidence? Will I have better luck in IIT Delhi? Will I get a decent seat anywhere (other than on the Shatabdi and the return flight)? Will I survive the murderous North India heat? And will any reader want to read Part-3 of this never-ending story?
For answers to these and many such intriguing questions, stay tuned.
(Concluded in The GATE Story-3)