YEAR ONE

first of all, thank you so much for your response. i really dint expect a number of you reading them!
that is inspiration enough to write more!
and yes, a note about the mangalore rains...
DAMN them!!
the first day of colllege as you all know, is when the orientation happens.
of course, there are curious eyes all over, nervous, initial introductions.. some not so good. and others warm and friends hitched up by a moments noitce.
we were all in this huge hall, that was in bejai, where the classes occur and beginning to weather ourselves to the mangalore humidity.andthe dean was about to lecture us.
now the mke and the speakers, were in a terrible shape. once someone speaks into the mike, there'd be spiking high pitched noise that would follow the loudness of a gausian curve.
the dean started speaking, "good morning everyone, welcome to ... ", and when he said that, there was a harsh sound, like the sound heard when you put a non-tuining tv in high volume.
and then he said, "can some one fix the microphone?".
well, it was an absurd statement of course, the attenders in charge of the mikes were no where to be found. all 250 students exchanged glances and looked around.half expecting some worker to take charge and fix it. and who'd think that ANY of the FIRST year students would know how to fix the frequency or an electrical problem dealing with an appliance they'd probably never used in the past.
there was about a 5 second pause, after which one particular boy, stood up from the middle of the seated audience, and started confidently walking up to the microphone controls.
he was about 5'5, dark complexioned, and thin. specs perched strongly on his nose.
the initial response was silence. i was in awe! to think that someone had probably read up or worked with electronics apart from giving time to crack the entrance tests that were medicine. if there's anything apparent in a medical college, the crowd contains certified nerds, of varying capacities.
and this guy, who seemed to know MORE than the rest of us. he was one step ahead. which surprised the rest of us.
this guy went up to the controls. switched off the microphone, and pulled out the plug.
and mind you, this was the DEAN of a college, who had served for more than 25 years!!
and what happened next,was the dean, nonchalant about what happened, continued with the orientation.
and that was how first year began...