Life of an Indian engineering student

 The Official Apparel of 2020: MASKS! The year is about to end and you'd soon see the rewinds, the throwbacks, and some quarantine stories from the people. The year has given us as much as it has taken away from us. The perspective of looking at things has changed to a great extent. My friends who loved to eat from the restaurants have started enjoying cooking in their kitchen. The ones who couldn't spend time with their family enjoy their weekends with their loved ones. Work from home and Online lectures doesn't sound absurd anymore. The dressing sense has changed as well. The jeans that weren't supposed to get washed for weeks get washes once after 2 usages. The biggest thing that has changed while going out is the addition of apparel that is even more important than your favorite T-shirt or Hoodie. Yes, you got it right. It's the mask! Without a doubt, it is the official apparel of 2020. I'd seen Masks at my home since my childhood because my Dad used...

How did the professors adapt to online lectures? Now that most of the colleges have started conducting lectures online, our monotonous lives have become even more monotonous. Waking up, attending lectures, completing the work assigned to us by the professors, and having some time for ourselves at the end of the day has become the new normal. The online education platforms have been a challenge for all of us that we have adapted to quite successfully. But we’re Gen Z! Most of us touch their phone first even before they touch their toothbrush in the morning. We have made technology a vital part of our lives. What about the ones who haven’t? What about the professors? Well, the online lectures were started right after the lockdown in the last academic year. It was like the resort to completing the syllabus and not the exact substitute for classroom lectures. But as it wasn’t safe to reopen the institutes while students’ academic year was seemingly going to waste, the online l...

Online Sub-MISSIONS After it was decided to cancel the exams of most Under-Graduate programs, it became mandatory to submit all the experiment journals and assignments for all the subjects. It was because the scores were to be counted based on your midterms/end terms and the last Semester's score. Before the decision was made, the students were either enjoying their time at home or studying for the exams. In the first 13-14 days, everyone was relaxed and happy with the decision made by the university. As the professors asked for the work before the deadline, most of the students (including me) were shocked. Students wished that somehow the submission were should be canceled too. But life isn't all good and no hardships, is it? 😑 6 subjects with some of them including projects! We initially had to submit projects for 4 of them and write a report for it. Even if you use the internet to get some project and modify it, you'll take the time to make the complete rep...

A month of Quarantine… 2020 So far, it was a tough year for all of us. The tense situation between Iran and the USA that created the fears of another war among nations, the wildfires in Australia that destroyed hundreds of families and killed millions of animals, the Indonesian flood... The world was pretty much messed up already! Never had the people thought that this can become much worse. The world had faced a lot of pandemics till now, this was something different! Something we weren't ready for as humans... I started my junior college with both options open to engineering and medical fields. Later, I realized that the only thing that made me enjoy biology was just the study part of it. I didn't have any interest in being a doctor or any type of medical practitioner. Maybe it was my disgust towards the blood or the fear of playing a decisive role in someone's life; I soon realized that it was not my thing. But in those two years,...

Attending the weddings By now, you all know that engineering students are probably the busiest students you’ll ever observe. But sometimes life allows to hang-out with their friends and family. And I admit this, hanging out with your friends and family is fun! It’s something every student needs after days of work. Winters and Summers are usually considered the seasons of weddings in India. And I think it is because people want their nephews, nieces, and students in their relation to attend their wedding. I had a winter break and most of it was spent attending weddings of my relatives. I’ve realized a lot of people are getting married this season! There’s no surprise population in India is rising rapidly… Weddings for Indians are more than just the reception. The Indian wedding includes the pre-wedding ritual (The ritual may vary in each state of India.), the actual ritual (The ritual carried out with the blessings of a priest.) and the reception (The fe...

I don't know Sir!😅 “ I know this for sure: Almost all of us, have been through a moment where we can’t answer the question asked by the interviewer, professor or any person who is supposed to ask you questions ." -  UNKNOWN I don’t know who said this but it is quite true! I’ve recently been through the same feeling… And to be honest, one out of every five students faced the same problem! What problem? VIVA! At first, I didn't know what it meant. But then I found out that it's the same oral test that we used to take when we were kids. It was just a professional name for the same old pre-exam routine. And as the years roll on, they kinda get tougher! And then the day comes when you have  to confess to the professor that you can't answer his/her question. The Viva in engineering course is actually a boon for the students. Many hear some terms for the first time. Their jaw drops when the examiner asks them about the things they ...

The Lunchbox😋 After getting admission in the engineering college, I thought that my life would change all around.  I mean that was good, I needed some change in my schedule.  There are some things that I would miss in the engineering college though.  Lunch breaks...  Lunch breaks in the school are awesome!  Canteens were meant for the purpose of getting food if you haven't got any from your house.  Everyone got meals from their house.  And as soon as the students heard the recess bell, they took their lunch boxes on a table to eat with their friends.  I was sad that I wouldn't have that kind of lunch break ever in my life again...   The lunch break on my first day to the college was the most boring event on the planet.  Everyone was hesitant; no one tried to share the lunch with the other folks.  I thought I had to get used to it.  But it's natural though, no one had made any friends and we needed time to know e...

Caug ht by the ticket collector! In a city like Mumbai, even an expert traveler makes mistakes. A novice like me is ought to get in trouble! I made a lot of mistakes while traveling alone, and they can only be categorized under the term “Bizarre”. This blog is intended to tell share some of them. These traveling mistakes occurred a long time ago, but they left me with thrilling stories to tell. This is my first BTS(Bizarre Traveling Stories), where I was caught by the ticket checker for not having the ticket. Believe me! I had purchased  one, I'll tell you what happened there at the station... Those were the days when the city bus employees were complaining about low wages. They wanted a raise. The bus service was then costlier, hence most people traveled by trains at a cheaper rate. The employees demanded a raise and for that, they decided to go on a strike! Never had the city experienced a strike by the bus service from years! T...