Ah... musings of a bored IITian

Okie, first things first. Who or what is an IITian? Tech geek? General nerd? Psycho bum? Victim of the rat race?
Or just an average student of one of the seven Indian Institutes of Technology? (IIT - get it, d-uh!!)
Umm... lets say all of the above. After all, to all you lesser informed beings out there, the breed of IITians is blessed !!!
Blessed with IQs hovering near the Farenheit boiling point of water ( a little plagiarism of lines there)

Most of them get through this incredible period in their lives when they seem to excel in everything they do... academic as well as extra-curricular.
And then? Well, they turn 18 or so (little note to aliens - that's in earth years - about 365.25 earth revolutions round the sun).
Join that hallowed college - IIT. Suddenly, everyone is as clever than them.
Cleverer.
And Cleverer.
Oops. Did i mention most of them hit puberty late?
The social life of your average IITian hits rock bottom. Zilch. (Not that he had too much social life to start off with... )
And the IITian girls? The less said about them the better.

The point of this article? Oh yes. Kind of lost track, haven't I? Recoup. Recoup.

Actually, I'll just talk about the IIT at Chennai, India. (Got no time, no enthu, and no knowledge to delve into the other six.)

First things first. If you're a hitchhiker in Chennai, you'd better know how to speak Tamil. Or know someone who does. Unless you want to get crooked. Big time.

Okay, you're at Chennai's Central station (or the airport - depending on your economic status). So, you walk up to this thug in khakis (he's a harmless autorickshaw - rick - driver - a rick is the Indian version of a taxi).
Haggle a bit. Haggle a lot. It doesn't matter. He'll still fleece you. Pay about 100 odd Rupees to get to IIT Madras (or Chennai).

Ahh... away from the noise. The traffic. The ride's been a bit bumpy and rough on the bones though. But you're here at last.
Greenery! Bet you'd forgotten what that was like!!

Ooohhh... and look at that!!! A monkey!! With family!
Deer!!!
You think you're going to enjoy this place.

Then you see the gatekeeper (security chap).

"Name?" he grunts. You give.

"Where?"

"Uhhh... i dunno.."

"GC aaaa?". You nod dumbly. He shoves a crumpled piece of paper into your hand and waves you on. It's got something scribbled on it. Don't bother trying to figure THAT out. Worse than the worst doctor's prescription. Just keep going.

Enjoy the scenery. While you can.

Okay, your senses are being assailed by some ghastly smell. In the distance, you can vaguely discern what might have once been a human being. You wrinkle your nose in disgust as this apparition approaches. Finally, it's right in front of you.

You give up. Finally the message hits. Hey, are you a freshie? Your sub-standard IQ informs you that the chap (?) is probably a senior in this place trying to rag you.

Rush to correct the guy. Freshies face unimaginable horrors in this place.
"No, no... I'm just a normal everyday hitchhiker."

"Yeah, where do you come from? Stavromula Beta?"

God, is there no limit ot what these guys know???

As you spend a few days in the college, you find yourself gradually slipping into IITian. Your intelligence levels have perceptibly risen. You learn the finer art of copying in exams (endearingly called information interchage )
You stop having baths.

After all, we've all got to save water. It's precious.

Especially in Madras.


Your vocabulary becomes predominantly IITian.

And you love it. Because whatever these guys are like, however lousy they smell (and they do smell B-A-D), however self-centered and egotistic they may seem,...
in the end, being part of the whole system is an experience. Like falling off the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Unforgettable.
Unrepeatable.