Sojourn of a Joluite

To me, the four years of JGEC are cherished by its promises of exuberant freedom, nuances of tearful nostalgia and a deep pang of pain at what has to come to an eventual end. I am certain that for anyone belonging to this college, the Alma-mater must have left a deep imprint on their very souls, a burning mark, which I now feel, standing on the precipice of departure. Joluite perceive this original affinity when in the whistle of nocturnal breeze, they hear the tea gardens calling them or seated by rivers Korola, Rukruka or Teesta in a lavish twilight after a day of tedious assignments. As I am on the verge of departure, my nostalgic feelings are taking the form of words.

                                                                                                                                18^th July 2006, I became a part of this college. Got admitted in Jalpaiguri Govt. Engg College and was allotted Room No.30, H.NO-02, along with three other roommates.  Everything was new; language, place, people. But very soon we were the integral part of this new system. We led a life of prisoner during the 1^st year; there were a lot of restrictions like dress code, clean shave, time limit (We were not allowed to be outside the hostel after 7 P.M) etc . Apart from these, the most killing incident was ragging by seniors, from hostel to college buildings, our ears were very conscious to this so called word “Chhanaa” (Jolu people call their juniors by this name.)If someone called you by this name, be ready to devote one hour with them with so called stupid discussions and answers; may be fruitful some times as they might offer you tea, coffee, puri and cold drinks. At that time it seemed to be a  barbaric incident but now at the moment of departure, I, along with my friends discuss those ragging incidents; the seniors whom we used to called demons eventually became very good friends of us  , I used to call them, take guidance from them. Anyone can understand this feeling after 2^nd year.

                      Anyways life of 1^st year was the most amazing one. Na job ka tension, Na padhai ka aur na hi college activities ka. Apart from classes; There were gossips whole day, along with cards (sometimes we use to play cards for more than 8 hours), some students used to play cricket, table tennis etc. How can I forget that Workshop? we used to go to the workshop in the scorching sun by travelling 1 K.M (As distance from workshop to hostel is about 1 K.M) in blue gowns and after that we used to perform welding job, carpentry job etc. It was really disgusting. I am very happy to be an Electrical Engineering student as I was horrified by workshop and Engineering Graphics. I am still reminded of the healthy arguments we used to have at the dining table. We used to discuss the dialogues of teachers, someone would start their mimicry and definitely girls were the epicenter of our discussions. We use to celebrate birthday parties in a unique way, first of all the  Birthday Boy was beaten by all and after that a gala party with a cake...Hey isn’t that a unique way to celebrate your friends birthdays?? During exam time my friends used to study late night but I was still cazz .I still followed that casual routine: Khana, Pina, Gossips aur Sona. Just one day before the semester exam, I realized that I had studied just one chapter of the 1^st subject. It was really disgusting  , I could clearly visualize the Yamraj of Safali( Backlog)  ,1^st time in my life I was feeling so . Just imagine, 1^st day of 1^st semester and I was allotted 1^st bench, aur bande ne sirf ek chapter hi padha tha and in our class we had guard no-1 Smt. T.K.M(I had heard about her being a strict guard from the seniors) as an invigilator .Ab kuch kahne ko baki hai kya?? But thanks to WBUT more than 50% questions were from class 12^th syllabus aur Pappu pass ho gaya!

                                                                                    In fact my College life started from 2^nd year. Our classes were then held at Electrical Engineering department, first time we were going to face the professors of Electrical Engineering department. We had heard lots of rumors about our departmental teachers.TKM ma’am had told us in the very first class –“all of you must have heard about me from your seniors”. Yar, Jolu mai Til ko Taal banana ki habit hai. Suppose if I say to someone that ” Dal mai kuch kala hai” after that everyone will add an extra note to it and finally I myself will hear from someone that ’’ pura dal hi kala hai” .Anyways we were facing the restrictions of Electrical Engineering department then ,a lot of assignments, class tests., regular labs, daily attendance and dialogues of professors. I started my club activities with Magazine club; thanks to Disari because I was completely unaware of the club’s activities .I was still following the Moto of Khana, Pina and Sona. But one additional important thing was added in my so called Moto of Khana, Pina and Sona and that was internet. College was providing free broadband connection to all the hostels from 5 P.M TO 10 A.M daily. As I didn’t have a computer of my own, I was fully dependent on my friends’ computers for internet. There is nothing personal in a Hostel except your inner garments. Jaise hi 5P.M bajne wala hota, I used to capture any of the computers of my friends, after that no one was going to replace you for at least 15-20 minutes. At that time we were crazy about Orkut, yar dekhna scrap badha hai kya, koi new friend request aaya hai kya, if anybody has accepted my friend request. Aur jis din Google (our home page) Devta (god) ka darshan nahi hota aisa lagta ki jaise aaj sunrise hi nahi hua hai!! Anyways I would start studies a little bit then. One thing which we used to watch very keenly from 1^st year was the Placement Scenario; which company had arrived; how many electrical guys did it pick up, what was its package.

I started Hotelbazi from 2^nd year, thanks to Nikhil and my seniors and it’s on the peak now-a-days. From Motorist INN (Raniganj) to Chandni Chowk (Mohit Nagar) along NH 34 A; From Patakata Mishthan Bhandar to Hotel De l’ PRETOM (Kadamtala) ,I have enjoyed all of their menus. Mushroom khana hai to let’s go to Hotel Rajmahal,for Chilli Paneer and Manchurian Atithi Restaurant ,for Baby corn Motorist INN ,for Kofta Teesta  ,for luxury food Hotel De l’ PRETOM, for cheap food Pizza ,don’t worry about chicken and mutton all these hotels have varieties of it BUT remember College More ;Asim da’s(H.No-01)  Canteen, Ram da’s (H.NO-03) Canteen and Central Canteen are incredible because whether you have money or not ,you can go to these places and have breakfast there..No problem. Dosto ke sath restaurant and bar mai jana ,unke bottles ke sath apna Thumps up ka cheers karana, Maya road  mein Sprite pi kar Old monk ,Bacardi walo ke saath bawali lagana .  How can I forget these incidents??? Hostel life ka ek alag hi mazaa hai. In my opinion if you have not led a hostel life, you have definitely missed the Heaven.The day started with abusing friends, even if someone is calling you by your name, there is an abuse associated with it, either as a suffix or prefix and the process continues until you go to bed.  However all these guys posses very good mannerisms in front of teachers and elders but dosto ko dekhte hi, they start …….

                                                    College life took a U-Turn in 3^rd year. Now we were in decisive roles in different clubs .We had lots of planning to renovate the culture and customs of college activities, we tried and got success partially. Meanwhile I interacted with the Alumni at college campus and I planned to coordinate with the Alumni. I started to contact them through different social networking sites, their batch mates; but mind you, nobody helped me. But we did manage to find out some diamonds in the coal mines of JGEC Alumni. Today I have very good relationships with some of the alumni like Himadri da (GM ,Arcellor Mital), Siddhartha Da(Director, GE Partnership), Shaantashil Da(GM,DLF),Jitendra Mamotra Da(MD & CEO, Transformer and Rectifier India),Pabak Da(GM,L&T), Manas Da( DSP) , Siddhartha Da(CANADA), Raj Da(USA), Nirjhar Da(SMS),Nitai Da(GSC),Tom Da(WBCS), Kinjal Da(CTS) and I used to call them regularly….Frankly speaking, JGEC has vast worldwide Alumni Base .When I received the first ISD call from Raj Da (USA) , I was amazed & excited but after sometime it became a common thing , I received calls from USA, Canada ,Gulf, Australia. It was then that I came to know the real meaning of “Globalization”. I became deeply involved in college activities, organizing and participating in different seminars and competitions. I am thankful to our teachers specially Dr. J.Jhampati sir (Principal), Dr. Sumana Ma’am (Humanity Dept), Dr.PK Saha sir (HOD, EE), Dr.SKS sir (HOD, ECE & TPO) for their inspiration and cooperation. How time passed, I was completely unaware. We entered into 4^th year. Now I started to face the tension of getting a job. First of all I had not studied well, and another thing was Global Recession .There was no hope of getting a job .Anyway up to Dec 2010 , 3-4 core companies had visited our college but I had failed to grab a place in any of them. Finally the glorious moment of my life came at 2 P.M on 15^th Jan 2010. I got placed in CTS along with 96 other guys. SKS Sir announced the names at the Gallery, and when I heard my name mere kano main, Gali main aaj chand nikala…..wala gana gunjne laga. From 2 P.M to early next morning, I made calls to all my relatives, friends and well wishers. Now I was completely devoted to college activities like clubs, Fest and Campussing Committee .I went to Delhi, Kolkata and some other parts regarding 43^rd Annual College Fest. It was really an amazing experience, to go and interact with different Alumni and Sponsors who are working in different sectors in different positions.

My juniors, seniors and friends usually ask me about girls that are the question where I get clean bowled by all. In the history of four years at JGEC, I was always a last bencher. I had never asked a single question to my teachers. Just imagine how lucidly our teachers taught their respective subjects!!  Fortunately or unfortunately inside the class I had never talked to any girl. And outside maine agar baat kiya bhi hai to not more than 1 min. I don’t know why?? If there is Francisco D Souza I can talk to him but girls, it’s really tough yaar. But once I had crossed this hurdle and how, I too don’t know! Now leave this matter because if I am going to talk more about girls then it would be a sensational issue. And my friends, zinda nahi chorenge mujhe!!

                 From Virtuoso (An event organized by Magazine Club and Quiz Club in 2009) to Mardigras ( 43^rd Annual College Fest, JECLAT’10 ) our intention was to look for some guys who will carry this vibrant culture of JGEC and I am proud to say that, we have found them. Our juniors are working in a more efficient and constructive manner. Whenever they came to me I try my level best to give them everything I know. I tell them about my mistakes which I have made till now. Whether I am in Jolu or not, I am always ready to cooperate with them because I have learnt it from my seniors and believe me it works. Be in touch with your seniors.

                                                              JGEC has given me four remarkable years of absolute freedom .A freedom which the outside world remains so hungry to chain down. But from a man, everything can be taken away except his will to dream, a dream of eventual home coming…. With the promise to return back to JGEC, my 2^nd home and stopping the tears which are eager to come out for Jolu, Bye Jolu…

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Prabhat Kumar   

                                                 4^th Year, Electrical Engg

                                                   2006-2010