Having an older sibling in the educational institute has its plus and minus points. It stops the attacks of fear but it also restricts your freedom in many ways!
My eldest brother left after his course in electrical engineering. In the beginning he was my guardian in matters if money and outings. Most of the students from Orissa were grouped together irrespective of the year they were studying in. Later I had my own account with Rs 1500 for the whole year. The princely sum of Rs 200 was for the college / university fees. I managed with the rest of this amount for all years except in the final year, in which I asked for another Rs. 200 for an all India tour.
After Bhai left I felt lonely but the feeling of independence made up for it. The closeness with the junior boys from Orissa was absent but this was made up by the boys from East Africa. Both the Indians and Africans became very close and friendly with me. We as a group were invited to USIS for competition and parties. In general knowledge I remained at the top and used to bag all prizes and get books as prizes in bundles. I was also a member of the public library. I used to spend hours here and studied all subject including history. History because I wanted to compensate for the deficiency of historical knowledge during my school days!
Once from college we went for a survey camp .We had to stay in a remote place and do survey for a duration of fifteen days. Here for the first time I cooked a pigeon in a ghee tin borrowed from the cook! The resulting soup was of course delicious. Other than this the usual NCC camps were held once a year. The Republic day parades and college functions held annually used to be a real thrill!
We went for an Irrigation tour during this time. This was like an Engineering cum historical tour- we visited all the ancient projects in the state of Travancore and the beautiful high hills and forests. Finally after the final exams we went for a South India tour which terminated at Bombay. The study tour was very educative and practical. It gave us an insight into practical engineering and allowed us to dream of the future. We saw how siphons and aqueducts are built across hills and small large dams around South India. We also saw the water treatment plants of Bombay and water supply scheme of Trivandrum.
Bapa had now been transferred back to Cuttack He was now the professor of Forensic Medicine in the SCB Medical College in Cuttack, in addition to his other duties. My eldest Sister was now a doctor; eldest brother an electrical engineer; the second elder brother was in the central intelligence; In short all the three older siblings were employed. I did want to do my post graduation but my request for further study was denied for a very good reason- we had another six children in the family to study and become independent. A disappointment, but life has its ups and downs!
I knew that I was a full fledged Engineer when I got my result from a Malayalam news paper Kerala Kaumudi. I remember that this paper was available at the Madras Hotel. There was a whole new world waiting to be explored and built upon and I went back to my home state to begin my career as an Engineer.
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