roll 13:ashutosh

“Siuhfiweh iphqoiehq iHGSt heuiu dhsao ewoihewe?”Did you have trouble deciphering anything from the above line? If no, then chances are that you will be ashutosh’s best friend for life. If yes, welcome home buddy, you are a mere mortal like all of us. that is how all of us remember ashutosh or rather ashu-whose speaking habits are impossible to replicate or understand at one go.ashu, as we’ll always remember is the ‘rolling stones gather no moss’ type that he was till the last few days of our college days when u suddenly grew up to the need for showing maturity in your mannersJ

The very first day in college. we are attending an orientation in NCR with the erstwhile princi, and at the end of it, on being asked to clear up any doubts in our minds, here is the chubby almost too cute boy standing up at the back and asking in his usual almost impossible-to-understand English,”sir, when will classes start? I’m really bored with staying at home; the classes at the college just don’t start!!”it became abundantly clear that here was a special case for us to handleJhis handwriting gave me hope, for the first time in my life I saw someone’s writing being worse than mineJthe experience just got sweeter with ashu giving us nice smallish treats of ‘dilkhush’-es and chips and most of all his fav in those daz,bananas and more bananasJbananas remind me of an ashu experience that wasn’t sweet though, with ashu’s banana like(the thicker variety not the thin singapuri ones)  fingers wrapping around our noses to give it a mortifying pinch. Thus it wasn’t long before nearly all of us around ashu had red swollen noses.

Ashu reserves nice shortened form of our names for all of us, thus somak becomes somu, praloy polu and yours truly alooLnow you have the pot calling the kettle black!

Ashu is probably the least deserving of all to enjoy a fee waiver at college. what else do you want to tell about someone who has a laptop and a digital diary and ipod at his disposal since as far as I can remember.ashu is a frequent visitor to chandni and college street and loves to keep himself informed about the latest happenings in the tech world, though his degree of success is doubtful most of the timesJhe once considered me a reference for the perfect assembling of his pc parts! And at his household I once used to be a benchmark of being a good student. How can I forget the day his father once rang me up to enquire as to whether ashu was attending his classes regularly and attentively?J

His dada is a high flying engineer who has been all over the world, and thanks to him ashu was seen with the latest gadgets and the best tee-s wrapped around his banyan like structure. Now that brings me to the first thing that you will notice about ashu-his physique.

As is evident from the words above, he is plump, but let me give you some details. if you ask ashu to stand in a military attention pose and observe him from the front this is what will be seen-a Chinese flower vase like structure-above it all-a ball(basketball not football) in the form of a head, followed by a bull like neck-the chest is awesome(roll 15 has seen them at ashu’s place and certified that it is more attractive than his ownJ)-followed by,oh!THE belly-which will put kumbhakaran to shameL.then the body suddenly tapers, with his duck like(kind of webbed)feet at the end, all in all-a package that will drive any girl crazyJthe very sight of ashu on his physics-law-defying cycle with the thinnest of tires and rolling(ya,not cycling)down the campus is a sight to behold. we lost count of the number of times that ashu fell of his cycle in the process-in fact he once fell off dangerously close to the train while walking down the platform-truly his gait is something to behold-just watch him walk down anywhere and you will wonder whether he is in a real hurry to respond to nature’s call or to meet his belovedJ

That brings us to the girl issueJahem; I see roll 58 blushing alreadyJhow can we forget the awesome exchange between them all through, with death threats flowing thick and fast(courtesy a muscular ME seniorJ)! till this date the chemistry between them remains unmatched, I have tried my level best to reconcile the two, butL.also there has been the odd fling for ashu in other colleges, the case of I***A of IEM is a case in point, I will always remember how angry ashu got when I befriended this I***A in orkutJashu is very possessive about persons that he loves, ask roll 58J

Though ‘bhutu’ anirban is a real terror to have as your lab partner, ashu gives him very close competition. Just watch him ask one irritating question after another to the teacher and his partners until they are driven mad. it would be something like,” mam/sir yeh kya hoga?””Yeh kya kar raha hain?”.”Ye kyun nehi hua?”, “Magar phir bhi…”, “aur phir?”…and last of all (a kind of relief actually) “mam/sir, nehi ho raha hain, ab kya?”From the very first semester I have wondered WHEN does ashu write his answers during the exams, whenever I look at him, he keeps on looking around, at me or someone else, giving his famous shy smile and then blushing down and then continuing looking aroundJ

Now something a bit different, nowadays ashu is vastly changed from the picture portrayed above. Some walk for 40 kms or somewhere abouts changed his physique drastically around middle of 3^rd year. He has slowed down a lot. it was really a nightmare to receive a call from ashu earlier, not because we didn’t want to talk to him, but because you had to rely too much on your instinct to guess 90% of the million words that he was saying in his own unique styleLnow things have changed, he has toned down unbelievably! And about a small trivia-I will forever be thankful to his handsome tie that proved lucky for me in my campus interview and has not let anybody (with names starting with ‘a’) down in interviews since thenJ

The best thing about ashu is how his presence almost always never allows the mood of a group to droop. He is especially close to roll 15, roll 45, and roll 41 and forms one of the most regular personnel to attend classes along with them. Unfortunately things have changed over the years and ashu too bunks classes these days on a regular basisL

I think here is a guy about whom I can write a lot more, will edit later on I guess.i believe that ashu has done a great job of turning the so-called unlucky number 13 lucky for himself,touchwud!

One line will sum it up I hope-had there been no ashu in class, I would have struggled to call it a ‘classroom’ in collegeJwhether that is for the good or bad is better left for future speculation!

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roll 12:Arnab

Arnab is someone about whom I have had the funniest of experiences in spite of his appearance looking just the opposite. The first and primary thing that you notice about him is his passion for cricket. He is a die hard-non English supporter:)and let me mention about the historic series that we had played at the ground in front of the mess of roll 33do you remember it mate? Ok for the uninitiated let me recollect the results,he suffered a humiliating 2-1 series loss in the hands of our rag-tag teamHe even went on to have a midnight team meeting to strategize for the next series the result of which is unimportant as far as I’m concerned.
Since his childhood he has had an unfortunate tendency of getting caught in ‘the act’. His first unfortunate escapade happened in school when he was caught in the act by a teacher. He was famously caught by his mother while watching a ‘2’ on his home pc.he thanked his stars because arguably the most decent part of the ‘2’ was being played when the interruption happened.
He, alongwith roll 15 and roll 62, is a victim of exemplary elder brothers who have done brilliantly as engineers.
Now about the unique bits of arnab. His attitude has undergone a sea change (only superficially) in the recent years. What is most endearing is the way he gets into adda mood 5 minutes into the conversation.
I think he is the second instance that I have encountered in life who simply admires sunny deol and his works. He is utter God to arnab.never ever get into an argument about sunny with him. Or else you run the risk of facing the unbelievable comment that the pump uprooting scene from gadar is one of the the best scenes bollywood has ever seen or heard
He has a very mathematical (read statistical) bent of mind. He actually almost got into ISI before joining engineering. Quite naturally he had a jolly good time during the fourth semester when there was a plethora of stat topics in the math syllabus.
Regarding girls, he has a very aesthetically sexy kind of view of them. by that I mean, just ask him the dream girl that he would like to have as his partner and watch him speak like a Victorian age poet with intricate details as to what he wants at each specific locationarnab is actually extremely innocent as an individual, a do-no harm guy. He is extremely conscious of his physique, does yoga every morning and loves to keep healthy. He shares the tag of belonging to the gorillas of the class (for obvious reasons) along with roll 2
At the end of the day he is someone who makes a classroom all the more funny a place for everyone

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roll 11:Arijit,err..bairagya

Babla or bairagya or AB are the various names with which we know him.arijit, or his first name, is something that we have nearly forgotten by nowJhere comes another talent in disguise. He came across as someone special from the very beginning. deceptively quiet, always having a sheepish smile across his face, and someone who is an awesome company. And babla’s company is something anyone will cherish. He cuts the funniest of jokes and at the most inappropriate moments. one such example was at one in the night when we were all watching a late night ‘3’ show at the APC hostel with a special group performance on screen with AB walking in and his first remark being “boshe c**do protijogita” literally throwing everyone into splits immediately. And how can we all forget the famous ‘bhagyoban’ comment that he made during GS sir’s communications lab. He really fell in love with GS sir in the process, just ask him about that and you will realize whyJ

He is technically extremely gifted, awesome coder, takes pains to elaborate difficult conceptual topics to buddies in hostel or elsewhere. simply the kind of character that makes me rue the fact of missing out on hostel life in collegeLone of perfect examples who care a damn about the grades and go on studying in depth about topics that they love.

He has had few run-ins with love in early life, in fact back in first year we used to talk on a few occasions on that touchy topic in the workshop I rememberJhe is extremely introvert regarding this aspect of his life, and as in any other person he deserves a bit of space too. He has had a sweet experience when roll 32 did a nice ‘job’ to him, hopefully accidentally, in hostel onceJ

He stays in RBC and is one of the shaans of the hostel in that regard. I have always liked the imported chocolates that I have the occasion to share with him whenever his brother has brought them home from The States. A chain smoker and a sponge to the core, he loves his RC-s and white mischief-s. He is famous for his expertise at preparing the perfect mix for sidhdhi and bhang and ganjikaJhe is most likely to be found at his hostel room wearing the skimpiest of briefs and sleeping till 1 owing to a late night binge session. His attendance almost touches VC levels during most semesters and only rarely does he suddenly have an awareness of attending most classes for compensating purposes.

He is clearly poised for bigger things in life and I wish that he never loses the fun aspect of his character everJ

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roll 10:Anupam

If I don’t call him our dear old ‘hiju’ the intro wouldn’t be honest enough. So this is anupam, the guy about whom my outlook changed the most in my engineering years. My first image of anupam was this typical first bencher who was just forcefully trying to strike up a conversation on somebody else’s orders. He confided to roll 14 once that he would rather give his hand away than copy from someone else’s answer script even during the class tests. Poor anupam! How times change! Later on, and even till today, he is most likely to be found copying answers (as most others) from other nearby peoples’ copies at a speed that would put the canon photocopier to shameJ

And the other noticeable thing about him was ‘jaguli’-his native maternal uncle’s place-that was the other name that got stuck with him in those early days. I listened to him in rapt attention once when he talked about fish farming in his native place-his swimming antics are the other thing that one can really love to listen to. In those initial weeks itself, we learnt one day that the earlier evening he had traveled by train all alone with two gals of our class. Now that spread like wildfire-and he was interrogated big time by all the ones who had the slightest bit of interest in the other two!

And did I talk about his ‘potential’ bit? Back in APC he was renowned for having shown off his potential regarding “…. …“ to his fellow room mates anay,avik and atta(roll 19).add to that the description that he gave us of k**a s***a that he claimed to have read in school itself, and no wonder we had started respecting him a lot by then itself!

Back in 2^nd year, he got dangerously smitten by a gal named n****a from first year. I will never forget the friendship that he set up with the people at palta station while waiting endlessly for her to come, almost falling in love with the amiable mashi at the tea stall in the processJI have always felt that there is a certain amount of steel in him which gets him more prepared than an average folk to handle tricky situations. the way he handled his initial upsets in the campussing process and then subsequently worked the hardest to get through into a good concern was really inspiring.alongwith roll 1,he was bitten by the java bug post campussing,and did I forget to mention his amazing transformation funda-wise during the campussing season. He almost inspired complete no-coders like me to start believing in ourselves to hone our programming skills.anupam is an ideal example of how belief in oneself can take anyone through any obstacle.

Self-reliance would be the word that I would use for him. And though his love life was touched upon a bit in the earlier part, let me explain the real story out here. his true love interest, right from pre-college days, and then see-sawing in and out of his life and presently almost permanently settled into his life is “u***m**a”. Just mention the name before him, and you will marvel at his gold flake stained teeth’s smile that he produces. Recently he remarked to yours truly in private that he doesn’t get the flavor of any gathering unless ‘she’ is there. Poor thing, how will you workJ? This guy is a devoted lover. he was always, and God willing, I just hope that his fine tuning is over for goodJ The fascination of his would be mother in law about a certain company that anupam didn’t manage to join was the funniest part for us to joke about. He has recently started to have a fling with roll 53-and we are all a bit concerned about the train journey of anupam and his colleagues on their way to office during joiningJ

He is a chain smoker, trying to give up smoking (as most smokers dream of doing) in vain all the time. He is probably the most vocal supporter of ‘dada’, along with roll 5, which comes as no surprise as he hails from behala.

In college he is most likely to be found at kaka’s shop, smoking the umpteenth flake or having the all time fav paratha and ghugni or gossiping away to glory with roll 58.

Beneath the ordinary exterior of anupam lies a persona of real depth, you can realize that when he gets into one of his philosophical word giving moods while walking down from college to the station. Remember that famous walk back to the station mate? When we two discussed the intricacies of the mind of the woman in detail? And failed miserably as is evident from our deeds subsequentlyJ??Cheers and all the very best in all that you do in life!

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roll 9:ANUP

If ankit is a programmer per excellence, here is a programming genius. And man, I want to thank you in the beginning itself for the wonderful company that you gave me in the sixth sem.my neck almost broke, but your codes and answers and the grade at the end of it all soothed the pain so much
He is a silent smiling amiable fellow who will do the most incredible things that sounds remotely like programming. In the exam hall, he used to be the complete opposite of ankit; he left his own answering to help others answer. Though later on he realized the mistake and became a bit more reclusive. He is really introvert and rarely interacted with people in the beginning. I remember him being the quietest boy around and now as I look at him, I marvel at the amount of effort that he has put in to become what he is now. Most people in our nation end up in the engineering stream that they study by default, because of the ranks that they get in the entrance exams. But here is a rare example of getting a stream that suits the student perfectly.
Romantically his linking is something that I’m confused about. earlier it used to be rocking, which is really expected, any sensible girl will like his amicable ways, but probably the boat got a bit rocked later on, and the current situation isn’t so clear actuallyall I know is that, here is a person who has his priorities in place, so whatever will happen to him will be for his good.
He is a proud resident of new hall and has got himself placed in that company where we are all going to have a re-reunion post graduationand that really soothes my nerves, at least I know someone from whom I can outsource codes in case I can’t search them out online during my projects
He is most likely to be found in the first two rows in class, listening intently to the teacher. This guy isn’t a read-it-all sort; he is a clear-the-concept sort by a big way. And that’s a huge asset to have in any stream that one chooses for himself. It is utterly impossible to find any fault with this guy, he is just so many definitions rolled into one-adding to the list above, hard work and sincerity are things that I can identify himself with.
Let me warn you though, having read the earlier lines if one gathers a picture of a sanyasi in disguise of an engineering student, you are mistaken. He is as prone to pranks and jokes as any normal individual. It’s just that he knows to draw the line a bit better than most of us do. God bless him in his future ventures and all that he does in his life.

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roll 8:ANKIT

If I’m ever asked to select a person whom I regard as the best student in class, ankit it will be. And let me tell you it’s not because of the marks that he gets (in any case, he was never the topper in class in any semester), but because in my view, he is a perfect example of a complete engineering student.

Let me begin from the first year itself, in the APC hostel, his was the room that we used to frequent the most. I remember how very meticulous he was in his ideas and belongings right from those very early days. I liked that so much that at times he almost convinced me to come down to stay in the hostels in that yearJ. His gentlemanly manners early on and the way he still managed to mingle with everybody endeared himself to all of us. I remember the way I held an impromptu election in class, where he was elected the CR with almost no opposition (we will come to that later on though).the only trouble was that, there was a rumor going on in the hostels, that ankit was probably lacking a bit on the enthusiasm front in one particular area we are all prone to love in collegeJ

How he transitioned himself into the perfect example of a programmer per excellence was to be seen to be believed. He became the blue eyed boy of a certain mam-m******a. her constant soulful calls of “roll no 8-ankit” was heart-wrenching to say the least-and it has remained so until this day! I tried in vain to learn c-programming from him before the 2^nd semester. Out here I got to mention a word about his infinite patience, the way he will take trouble to make you understand a concept that he knows through and through. And let me tell you in this context, how utterly disappointing he can prove to be in the exam hall. You are bound to be disappointed if you ask something to him in there. He mumbles the answer in a tone and volume which is perfectly audible only to the ants walking past his feet. However his handwriting and his pattern of answering is just ideal, as I’m reliably informed by roll 14(we will take that up later onJ)

There are more compelling un-academic reasons for which I regard him as a perfect student. You just had to see to believe the way he, alongwith roll17, handled the limited resources to organize the freshers’ welcome ceremony in our 2^nd year. People who watched him closely during that period learnt a lot from him, in terms of his organizational capabilities. Hats off mate. You deserve the kudosJ.on the romantic front; he has surrendered his heart to a damsel in kharagpur since early 3^rd year. And he just looks every bit a responsible hubbyJ. And most of the residents of the “preetilata nivas”really love him for a certain incident that took place between his hostel new hall and them just a few days before exotica 2005J.

Another snippet that I would like to add is about the way he handled bhutu in the earlier days of our practicals, I remember the patient way in which he made him conversant with the ways of the experiments and just never lost his cool in the process.

Hey man, I have praised you too much, now about a certain negative if I am able to fathom one! One thing that I would like him to improve in himself is his tendency to do the most important of things and still shy away into the background. Although this may sound more like a virtue than a vice, but I really wish he advertised himself a bit more than a few others in other departments who have done a fraction of what he has and still earn more kudos than ankit has.

Anyways,one line that I will end up with, if ever I’m to study engineering(I hope I don’t have toJ),I wish I study like ankit.

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