Condensing multiple days into a single page, since the content may be of limited interest.
1994-02-01 - Tuesday - Wrote (Sanskrit mid-semester) exam confidently after browsing Chandas and the essay in the morning - wrote 20 sides, 10 of them for essay! Chakka (Malayalam word for jackfruit, meaning very large) handwriting, though. Instead of studying Physics, did Bio Inorganic Chemistry in study hours - made notes. Afternoon - read RD "Wit and Wisdom", evening Hecht a little bit. Idea of reading Hecht next Sunday dropped, as Shankarnarayan is doing that. Shankar - easily scared by people's sudden "Boo" etc, heart races, breathing problem etc! Heard a discussion of this in the room. Should I tell him "Arjuna Phalguna"? Wrote (in this) diary after night prayer as some talk continuing in room. (The practice of putting on the TV in the dining hall for all to watch) TV news stopped as timing shifted to 10-10:30 pm.
1994-02-02 - Wednesday - Did Physics only today. Used "scribble pad", faster grasping. Still, didn't do aberration theory. Exam, 'paraxial error in marginal rays' came up, could avoid by choice. But achromatic separated doublet - had to sit and derive. As they gave 10 minutes extra to all, could do it comfortably, slowly, with a "nothing to lose" feeling. Shankar had explained third-order aberration treatment just before exam. Read Jan RD till 4, then Biochem and Bio Inorganic Chem till night. Too slow, but had to mug amino acids, chlorophyll, heme, nitrogen DNA bases, etc. Songs (Mal film) for tomorrow - Yesudas' superb bass voice in the speakers in AVC - a treat for the ear. Sai Giridhar Sir told BK to show "World this week" at 9:30 - live. Turned out to be "World Economic Forum", P. V. Narasimha Rao's speech, etc.
1994-02-03 - Thursday - Did Organic, revised others, but in exam, forgot carbylamine reaction mechanism. Also, didn't write initial reactions for glucose structure. Bits silly mistakes, careless mistakes of b for d etc. Instead of reading other things, decided to read Hecht - Optics. Read a chapter, decided should write notes for reading to be useful. Baleshchettan (my father's cousin who lives in Bangalore) phoned - Achan (Father) coming tomorrow for giving advance in a plot behind police station. Coming on Mohanchettan's scooter.
1994-02-04 - Friday - Giving Examples in English wasn't very good - and that was my first answer (in English mid-semester exam). Others OK. Wrote stream of consciousness 300 words on "English class". "Next semester onwards no English, etc". Afternoon slept till 3:15, then Laurel and Hardy till 5. Finally did Fourier in study hours - only reading, no doing problems. Achan (Father) came after exam with Mohanchettan (my cousin) on Kinetic Honda. Gave vibhuti, hiatii in conversation. Went off in 10 minutes. Asked him about suspected corn in my right heel, he said remove some keratin, put corn caps.
1994-02-05 - Saturday - Before and after breakfast finished ibvps also, reading that is 4 Maths exams - 2 Commerce Business Maths (BM) papers, 1st and 2nd MPC - but no Subramanyam Sir - gone to Parthi. Umesh Sir also. Gopi Sir (Physical Instructor) conducted exam for 1st MPC, Commerce people for BM. We were in the cold. Finally, through Chemistry lecture hall, we landed in Physics lecture hall, waited 25 minutes for Sanskrit Sir (!) to come and give us papers. No one to ask doubts - "defined on" which interval? Took too long in Section C, so less time for Section B problems, didn't simplify, couldn't check answers. 15 marks in the balance. Some did f(x) = e2 as Sir said that. Hecht very nice - did in AVC - nice and quiet. Night film "Why pick on me" sequel to Sheriff and the Satellite kid. Evening - repaired the headphones which were in pieces in the AVC - removing diaphragm and unwinding a turn of the coil is the technique. But made a hole by bungling. Araldite to fix.
1994-02-06 - Sunday - Finished bath etc early and sat down to Hecht in AVC. Around 10 o'clock felt sleepy, so took Soldron (soldering iron) to physics lab to change its element. Took an hour, with power coming and going. Then soldered ASM800 (mic) cable, hearing "Saayandanam" etc with Sathyanarayana. Mr. Narasimhan didn't come again - Sai Giridhar Sir had told me to be read to come and see him repair amps. Told Venkat, "I've already told Sir" (2 pm) about studying in AVC, later (3:30 pm) asked Sir if it was a problem. "No problem." Evening music - the line to the horns seems to have gone bad - so played on spare horn kept outside AVC. Venkat played night prayer - told me after that, he had met the 1st years to tell them about the "system", what we do. He has asked them to come to the AVC for night prayer for a few days.
1994-02-07 - Monday - Optics - now Umesh Sir is taking all the classes as Geometrical Optics is over. So now, boys go back yawning after Physics class. Sanskrit - plans to finish Pratimanatakam in a week. Chemistry - uninterrupted Narahari Sir and Ravi Kumar Sir with 3 zero hours a week. How Sanjay Sahni Sir was smiling when he announced yesterday that jogging would commence at 6:30 "as usual"! The corn + cut on my leg and absence of shoes - borrowed by Yugandar before Sports Meet marchpast - led to my taking rest. Not very cold in the morning - Summer's coming. Got the idea of making a control panel for AVC housing a transformer, a 10K potentiometer across the primary, in and out switches. Stayed up till 12, doing that, using soldering iron to melt plastic box after other methods failed.
1994-02-08 - Tuesday - Cutting the corn on my heel with a blade left a cut. So I didn't jog yesterday and today bunked games, finishing off the soldering jobs in AVC. Tested the line to the horn with BK and NVP - shorting the wires and testing continuity. Found a break of 1-10 k ohm in the portion below concrete floor near dining hall. So, thought would use the rest of the line as it is, and not relay. Sai Giridhar Sir and Venkatraghavan - consulted. Rajesh Singh's booking me for evening cassettes has taken a load off my head - good quality supply ensured. Evening bhajan - meeting - Shivakumar of our class thrown out for speaking against Swami. Anil Kumar Sir very upset speech, Warden emphatic one. Thought should meet the latter to sound his views on ideas like Sandeep's, as "Anything less than accepting Swami as God is not expected", but he was busy - so, tomorrow evening after dinner.
1994-02-09 - Wednesday - Jogging - when asked to sprint, I limped, corn. Apologized for not coming yesterday - he said, "Not good" - that's all. Physics practicals - next cycle, can't miss a single week - 4 weeks, 4 experiments. Also, 2 of last cycle. Rigged a temporary line to the tree from near dining hall, with BK and Ankur. Sridhar, also 1st year AVC, wasn't available. A bit of drama in study hours - Rajesh Gupta wanted to get an instrumental recorded - Vijaya Sai Sir said couldn't return it to the shop, must buy for Chye, and Sai Giridhar Sir told me to break the tab (which makes the cassette 'read-only'). Gupta said (they had a budget of) Rs. 100 a month, this cassette Rs. 45, just not possible, told me to return to Sai Giridhar Sir, "Let him keep it". And he did. Sudhakar got corn caps for me - Dispensary - Rs. 16 for four, Amrutanjan. Will put after the cut due to blade while removing outer layer heals. Sanskrit - 43 highest - Sikki. Then Girisha 42, BK 38, myself 36 - just O grade. "Why, my boy?" Couldn't meet Warden - he was talking to Sai Giridhar Sir, Subrahmanyam Sir, who went in when I went to tell them not to put night prayer in between "World this Week", "World Economic Forum" etc being shown live.
1994-02-10 - Thursday - Zero hours every day except Tuesday. Chemistry (Ravi Kumar Sir), Maths, English (Vijaya Sai Sir). Moral Class - a Major Ramanujam spoke on his experiences. Not bad. Anil Kumar Sir added some more from his stock. A second bath after college almost mandatory - the cold days are over - at least it looks like it. English 31.5 / 40, Math 401 (LA) 41/50. Wanted to cancel meeting with Warden as his not being able to meet me, I thought, was a portent not to meet him. But I found him in the Office alone, so instead of leaving a letter there that I won't, i.e. no need of meeting, spoke to him. I gave him the impression that I had the doubt about Swami's 'not creating, but keeping in hand'. He knows about 3rd years' homosexuality too. He mentioned Kamal Sahni and Nityanand spreading scandal, due to Swami's will to keep people away. "Bus - many rush and unworthy get in. Swami - aeroplane - so there shouldn't be a rush". Ganesh Pillai completely out of Shruti, Sandeep's influence?
1994-02-11 - Friday - Had a haircut, with Gopi Sir's permission (permission needed since the haircut would be during the mandatory jogging time). Cleaned Sanskrit classroom, i.e. put binding wires for windows, plan to throw out chicks and pigeon to C floor, after the eggs hatch. Chemistry practicals - Ascorbic acid (Vit C) in tomato juice - 0.18 mg / 10 ml. Badam milk is quite frequent - almost once a week. Put on corn cap - its pressure makes walking even more difficult. Chemistry - 36 - missed O grade by 2 marks. Ravi Kiran 45. Pingali only 2nd year to get O grade in Physics for the 3rd semester - I got O-B-A. B grade - imagine. So, a vague feeling of slipping in standards. Decided to study hard.
1994-02-12 - Saturday - Umesh Sir is taking around a page a class. Wonder when he'll finish. Ravi Kumar Sir, too. Their velocities are exponential - suddenly rise. Only PCL. English classes both by Mr. Vijaya Sai, revision. In L class, he took Intonation and stress, just noted down after Sanskrit class. Diary entries starting with class news indicates I've written that day's late, and am seeing the timetable to remind myself. Corn cap on. So went for jogging on my toes. Film - Laurel and Hardy, probably as he couldn't censor (some other movie) due to power failure. I didn't see it, was studying in AVC. Had to fix RCA cord, loose (sound), Sai Giridhar Sir sent for me.
1994-02-13 - Sunday - Social service - met Venkat, he said we'll change the silk wire of the line to the horns on the tree after Gopal etc dig up the mud there, till then other work. He went to Sai Ramesh Hall, leaving me with Ankur and K. Sridhar, Rajasekhar being sick (1st year AVC boys). Sorting, cleaning, soldering ring/phono on cables. Sai Giridhar Sir called us to Sai Ramesh Hall to shift a table there, for the mixer etc. They were cleaning it when Ankur Singhal and I left. He picked up soldering very quickly, did a good job directly. Then he cleaned up. I took a roll of silk wire to the library. BK didn't have breakfast - went for class (Botany, ie. Bio Math) as soon as he returned from Sai Ramesh Hall. Played Sudhakar's cassette of Rafi's songs sung by a Bengali.
1994-02-14 - Monday - 5th hour is free on Mondays, English shifted in place of Awareness - so, did single slit diffraction which I missed being at Parthi. 3rd years helped. Sodium lamps - only one is good. Used laser - reflected beam on scale shows deflection. Finished at 5:15. Sundaresan Sir objected to the music put before Bhajans, saying it doesn't se the mood for Bhajans, instead, boys are dancing. I had gone there to meet Sai Giridhar Sir. Sundaresan sir (CNS) said put western music only after approval from him or Sai Giridhar Sir (first he said all instrumentals). Rajesh first cut up rough, later reconciled. I gave Shyam Sundar's "Instrumental Forever" and "Super Instinct" to Sai Giridhar Sir to screen.
1994-02-15 - Tuesday - Jain Sir came while I was putting night prayer, asking for "Hanuman Chalisa" tomorrow morning. "We should build up a collection", volunteering to donate 5 cassettes. "Take in my account from stores." He added while going that the Hanuman cassette is his, he wants it back after recording. Morning games - as I couldn't play with my corn, went to library to help Nandagopal Sir - he said arrange Chemistry books, so I did that. Tuesday is a good day for us. Both 3rd and 4th semesters no zero hours on Tuesday only: breakfast is paratha bread chana too.
1994-02-16 - Wednesday - Physics practicals - finding lambda (wavelength) by diffraction grating, all our work went waste as the prism table moved during the experiment. The lamps are a big problem - only one sodium vapour lamp works properly, and the mercury vapour lamp gets heated and goes off, so one of us was blowing on the lamp while the other one did the readings. Stores - YTG said no cassettes. So I took my Meltrack Gamma leftovers, 5 of them, and recorded the Hanuman Chalisa etc using BPL. But Jain Sir didn't accept his cassette back. Finally when I came to "Then the cassettes, Sir?" and told him what I'd done, he promptly paid up and kept his cassette, too. Now, a recording spree. Every night up to 12, 1. Must finish off the job. Jain Sir, sitting beside me for dinner, asked, "Didn't you send application for re-totalling?" I replied something "philosophical", shouldn't be greedy and so on. But on maturer reflection, I asked him whether I should, he said it's better I did. So, tomorrow.
1994-02-17 - Thursday - Achilles tendon very sore in the morning. So, asked Gopi Sir for exemption for today - he said, "Don't come till your feet become all right - I trust your judgement". So, limped to bathe etc. Took 13 minutes to reach college. Ravi Kumar Sir gave some problems for zero hour. "Bioscience day" by 3rd years flopped as mics didn't work, some noise. Most probably due to some tape recorder they connected. Symposium on various fields, then quiz, then Prof. of Physics, Chief Guest, spoke. "Maybe immune by listening to some things too many times". EMPM all seemed a waste of precious wide-awake hours. Especially M - mostly intros, snippets, running through propositions. Michelson interferometer - extended source or collimated source? Pingali's preparing for IISc entrance - clashes with SSSIHL entrance. He told me a funny fact - he and I have the same marks in all subjects! except English - he has 44/50, I have 31.5/40 with oral yet to be held. Evening - read LA (Linear Analysis) a little, then soldering tutorial to Sridhar. So, couldn't listen to Malayalam cine songs semi-classical while playing "Arulmazhai Pozhivai" (over the PA system) in the evening. Study hours English vocal test - he (BSVS) asked me what all he taught (from Hostel Library). Then, after doing two LA proofs, no mood. So, AVC, listened to the recording I made yesterday, of semi-classical film songs, and listed them. Chakravarthi told me they're reading the post - apparently most of the boys know it - some big "pakdaaee" (catch). I'm as usual behind the times.
1994-02-18 - Friday - A pleasant surprise! Narahari Sir left us early in 3rd hour, and not 15 minutes late as usual. So, I could meet Mr. Gopalakrishna and give my grade card for Xeroxing. Retotalling application, as Principal told me yesterday when I met him, is directly to Controller, not through him. Need Rs. 20 Indian Postal Order. Gave that (money) to Mr. Balakrishna (at the Hostel office) as Chemistry zero hour was cancelled. Chemistry practicals over. Only cleaning apparatus left next time. This time, as cricket match was on, just signing records: doing experiments only for those who didn't complete five experiments. Sai Giridhar Sir didn't give Shyam Sundar's cassette today either - Shyam told me to be sure to get them back, apparently SGS has lost two of his cassettes. The SHARP gave up recording! First, "tak-tak" problem of head not going up fully; when I opened it and closed it, no recording, playing instead. So, all recording on BPL. I got the Videocon SL3147 from college for "Sai Katha" recording, then found many gems in Subbulakshmi, Sai Darbar, Lata's Meera, etc. - so those, too.
1994-02-19 - Saturday - Physics and Chemistry only, then English, then "Mind your language". Sanskrit Sir - yesterday some function, and he was a speaker on "Morals are not required in today's society" (just for debate). Today, "some other function", so he didn't come. Balaji recorded some instrumentals on Videocon with SGS's permission. Meera by Lata was well received, though quite slow (in the evening). Corn cap came off yesterday, put on another one. It is softening. As I told Pingali, the motivation to work hard, to study, to listen in class, must come from within. Mustn't be bothered by boring classes, must take interest. Night prayer - the SHARP refused to play! No sound. So, used Videocon, and in the hurry, blared. Film ET2. I didn't see much of it, but couldn't do much Inorganic reference as C. Karthik was airing his troubles to Ravi Kanth, Rajesh Gupta, S Sai Krishna, and co. Distracting. So, arranged Swami's photos.
One of the photos from my album.
1994-02-20 - Sunday - Instead of getting up at 4 and washing my clothes as I told Kshitij, slept, and slept after Suprabhatam too. "Laryngitis" and kapham (phlegm) - can't chant Suprabhatam, so dozed there, too. Finally, Venkatraghavan woke me at 6:15. He went to check the Auditorium snake. I was to teach Rajasekhar BCom to solder. BK opened SHARP, found it working, so closed. Then Physics practicals - took key from Umesh Sir, and with Shiva Prasad, did Diffraction grating and Resolving power. 9:50 AM to 2:20 PM. Then lunch with Shiva Prasad, watching TV - cricket match. Resolving power - found the same discrepancy. Should tell Sir. Thus, whole day up to study hours used up. Then, assignments - Maths and Physics completed, no time for Chemistry. Anyway it's not for tomorrow.
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