First day and First friend

The first day was just to register ourselves as students in the institute. I had decided that I was a grown-up now and so refused my father's offer to accompany me. I detrained at Chromepet Railway Station in the "normal passenger" way. (The MIT students' standard detraining technique involves jumping out of the train onto the tracks on the other side. I was yet to develop this technique..!!) Gomathishankar, my schoolmate, was there with me as he had decided to trouble me for another four years by joining the same department. Jus' kidding. We walked through the hostels area to the Rajam Hall where the registration and initiation was supposed to happen.

Ok, my first thoughts about the college. The campus was not as big as some of the colleges that I've seen. The buildings were old, but that was supposed to indicate antiquity and long-standing fame. So that's fine. The main college road had lots of trees on both sides and was very "shadowy." Very Good. My Instrumentation department was at the very end of the college, which meant that a long walk was required every day. Anyway, the canteen was on the way, so no problem. Overall, first impression was - GREAT..!!

At Rajam Hall, we had to show our certificates to some faculty members and get registered. On stage, we had to meet the dean, Dr. A. Mathialagan for a brief interview. He just asked me about my choice of Instrumentaion and commented that my marks in plus2 were good. And he wished me for a great fulfiling time in MIT. I am happy to say that his wishes and blessings became true.

In the afternoon, we had a small "welcome" function. Speaker after speaker told us that we were the 49th batch of students of the institute and also that we were the first batch of students belonging to plus2 category. I was sitting near Anbu Smiles who was also joining my class. He was my first friend in college. And in so many ways, one of my best friend too.

(Posted on 04-Aug-2003)