“How far is this REC from our place”? My Dad asked innocently while I was preparing my top five list of engineering colleges to join. I knew my Dad would support me even if I had told the truth, but to make it palpable, I said it would just be an overnight journey. That was the lie I deeply cherish even today :).
I was living in a remote town called Jeypore in Odisha. Tucked in the hills of the Eastern Ghats. The scenic beauty of this place, hairpin bends on the ghat roads, greenery, the white clouds hitting the tall mountains, the treks and the waterfalls would make this the most beautiful, yet undiscovered heaven on the earth. This small border town, which had many native tribes, had a slang of its own – a mixture of Telugu and Odiya.
The only downside was that there were no good Engineering colleges in the town. The closest were in Berhampur, Bhubaneswar or Cuttack.
Having secured a good enough rank in the state level engineering entrance exams, I was fairly confident to crack into Computer Science (CSE) or Electronics Engineering (ECE) as my stream. Being a top ranker also meant that I could choose RECs (Regional Engineering Colleges – now known as National Institute of Technology). RECs were highly revered institutes just below the ranks of IITs, but much above the State Engineering Colleges. They guaranteed the light at the end of the tunnel through campus placements.
The D-Day came when we had to make the choice of the branch and college. Utkal University auditorium was all decked up for the visiting students and their parents. The seat selection process was a nerve-wracking one. You have to make a decision then and there and there was no looking back. There was nothing “online” back then. Everything was pen and paper and scores of registers.
There was a podium-like structure with five sets of tables. A batch of five students and parents made their way up, enquired about existing open seats and made selections instantaneously. The students waiting down, would anxiously look at the blackboards where they would update the seats being taken.
“REC Trichy Computer Science taken; REC Surathkal CSE taken; REC Surathkal ECE taken; REC Calicut ECE taken”. My heart started pounding as these announcements were made. I wanted to secure a seat in one of the 4 South-Indian RECs. My assumption that the students ahead of me in rank, would prefer either Odisha or North-Indian RECs was boomeranging.
Finally, when my turn came. They asked me for my top choice. The moment I saw REC Calicut – CSE available, there was no second thoughts! Till date, I consider this as my most important on-the-spot decision I had taken in my life. I was set for the grand prix that would take me from Odisha to Kerala to Bangalore and the rest of the world!
Not sure now, but back then, RECs were mini-Indias. There were student representations from every single state of the country. Every possible dialect was spoken in the college premises. Every culture, every festival, every nuance was celebrated. It was melting pot of cultures and ideologies that shaped our thinking to a large extent. Inclusivity was celebrated – not taught. Even our political lineages got firmed up during those days. From communism to far right or far left, we had everyone taking our own pole positions.
A large part of my career success till date is because of the influence that the engineering college days had on me. I learnt to appreciate different cultures and thought processes. Every single person or the personality type I met in my professional career was a replica of some person that I would have interacted during my college days. From the very aggressive to the very innocent. It was the assimilations of personality types of sorts. There couldn’t have been a better tutor than the REC.
While personality types had their unique charm, so were the language dialects.
When I see the Panchayat and Mirzapur series on the OTTs on repeat, and listen to the dialects of the Purvanchal, UP and Bihar., it reminds me of the conversations we had during our college days with our very own friends. The dialects in “Sairat” (Marathi) or “Premam” (Malayalam) or the Telangana slang in “DJ Tillu” keep taking me back to the friends and the chats in the canteen where we all had our own uniqueness of lingo and actions! While we mocked each other on the language differences, we exchanged a part of ourselves during our conversations. We blended in while being uniquely us.
When the foundations are strong, the building lasts long. Luckily, I haven’t had to put a lot of efforts. I consider myself fortunate to have had the wisdom to make the choice of the pit stop in my grand prix to success and that is taking care of the rest of the race!!! 🙂
Thanks for reading! A big shout to all of my REC friends, some of whom I am still in touch, but many of whom I lost touch over the years!
