Delhi Diaries: A story of Survival

“What next”, is probably the most difficult question that a recent B-tech graduate has to answer. Government expect us to be the technocrats of the nation, college expect us to be placed in well known companies, parents expect us to get a settled job or at least repair a damaged fridge or a tv. I was offered a job in TCS, an IT company in which I think my presence and the limited skill set I posses can never be of any good either for the company or for myself. I was always interested in circuits and programming. I loved to be an entrepreneur. My several attempts to start a venture failed because of my own inabilities and several other factors. Eventually, My parents and cousins advised to write GATE and IES. And thus my fate was stamped. I was somehow desperately in need a job but at the same time I cannot enjoy if I end up taking up something I don’t like. And I was like, Even if I clear the exams or not, I should learn something so that I can proudly say I graduated an engineering course – a feeling I never got from the college.

July 6- the day I set my journey to capital city of the country. Why Delhi? MadeEasy Delhi is most famous on training students for engineering service. So even though I knew the situations welcoming me there would be really hostile, I packed my bags in a hope to clear the exams.

I reached there at a time when the sun is heating the NCR at some 37-38 degree Celsius. I have been to Delhi twice before once with my parents and other one being the part of college tour. However, little did I realise that I have only witnessed one side of the coin before. It was like seeing the picture of marine drive in google and expecting the film slumdog millionaire to show that.  I was staying in a street called Paryavaran Complex, a residential colony at Saket. I should say that it is a glorified slum. Thousands are living there – both middle class and the poor. I took up stay with my relative cum friend Sharukh along with Rony and Soorej- all from trivandrum, in a 1BHK flat. The whole place Paryavaran is so much dirty and polluted in way that initially I wondered how these people are living there for years. The interesting thing is not just the poor are residing there. It shelters people like even those who can afford to have a Fortuner!!  With the kind of unhygienic environment people living in, it is no wonder why Delhi is called the Disease city and it underlines the severe housing shortages faced by the city. Those are times we realize why Kerala is called the God’s own country. Maybe the fact that Keralites are educationally well nurtured is one factor why we keep our Kerala neat.

The other problem we faced was the water shortage. I think the water crisis is not much a problem in other parts of the city. The problem aggravated coz our apartment has got only one motor to pump water and the same pump is used to fill water to some 15-20 flats. The pump is managed by a lady in our neighbouring flat and she used to provide us half a tank of water that too only in the morning!!

After 3 days my friend Akash called me to tell that he has managed to create an accident in Andaman and he is coming over to Delhi. The interesting thing is even he was not sure why he was coming there neither did he knew what Engineering Service was until he reached there. Finally he also reached there and we 5 began living a life we have never used to it with limited amount of water and taps get dried up before 7pm every day!!!

We took admission in MadeEasy. It is located in a place called Kalu Sarai. It is around 4-5km from Saket. Inspite of all problems of Delhi, the most fascinating part of the city is the extensive network of Metro service. Travel was never a problem. There is a metro station which is 10min walking distance from our flat as well as 15min walking distance from our coaching centre. So adding to our 5min journey in metro, we can reach the classes within 30min time. The 10min walk to reach Saket Metro station is the most challenging walk I ever had. There are hundreds of potholes in a ‘virtual road’ that connects our flat to the ‘outside world’, added to it are at least 20-25 stray dogs, cows, rash driving bikes, carts, and all sorts of cow dung, dog shits. The drainage system is so ‘properly’ maintained that most of the days we have to ‘swim’ through it!! Anyone who wish to clear 400m hurdles in Olympics, this place is more challenging, really!!

Metros are our sole happy spots-the most well maintained and properly planned system. Millions rely on it. Metros stop for a few seconds on every junction. To enter the metro without getting hit or pushed is an art by itself. We should expect that people will push you or even hurt you on the way. Girls hurt you the most, but it is always better not to mind it. If you want to measure how selfish one person is try to enter a metro with him, I tell you!

Made easy is one among the 25-30 coaching centres located at Kalu Sarai village. We can find an institute like spotting a shop in Chalai market, mostly focussed on JEE coaching. Even in Madeeasy, there are tens of thousands of students studying there in a dream of clearing the ESE.  Spotting a Madeeasyian there is as easy as spotting an Techie in Kerala. Everyday wherever we go there will be someone in the metro coach having a made easy study material in their hands. These north indians are really studious. The amount of hardwork they are putting for achieving these things is a lesson we Keralites should learn. We always tend to achieve things with minimum efforts, but when we see those people studying even when they are travelling or when they are waiting in the queue just show how competitive this world is. I have got admission in I batch which have around 300-320 students. The batches vary from almost  A to Z I think, each having around 300 students and there is a S batch dedicated for IIT/NIT students called Super Talent Batch. Initially I  thought I won’t be able to follow as this much students are there in a class. I thought of coming to the class 15min early so that I could get myself comfortable in front seats. In the first class, I managed to reach 20min early just to see that 60% seats have been already occupied.Later I came to know that students used to come more than an hour early. Idiots.  I never tried to come early after that day. With high quality speakers all around and as everything written is visible, the need of coming early is also a question. So we were always on time!

Another challenging thing is the language. In Kerala most of the people know basic english words, but don’t expect the same from Delhi. If we don’t know the hindi word for any commodity to buy from the market, we are in all possibility not going to get it. Initially I had a tough time trying to buy blanket, tea leaves etc. Akash can handle hindi better than we all do, but at the crucial times, he used to mess up his hindi in a way that nobody understands it. At the same time, we end up tellings a few words and still manages to have the job done safe.

Coming to food, initially we arranged a nearby north indian tiffin service. It was probably the worst food I’ve ever taken. If I had made those chappathi and sabji myself, it would have been far better. We all suffered stomach upset and diarrhoea, turn by turn, owing to the bad food. After 21 days we shifted to a Kerala hotel tiffin service. There we got rice at noon and Appam/Dosa/Chapathi/Parotta and a weekly biriyani at night. Life was good until everyone got diarrhoea version 2.0 and 3.0 . Except me others shifted to another north indian mess.  I quit biriyani but continued with Kerala food as it was difficult for me to skip rice-everyday. In the last 1 month when the classes extended till 8-9pm I quit the kerala tiffin and began taking roti from outside hotel named Wow india. The food was a “wow” until I had a stay-ending Diarrhea.

Diseases were common. Everyday at least someone will be down with some problem. Meanwhile, I once had a week long head-ache which eventually turned out to be Chicken pox. I came back to home to have 2 weeks off. I missed most part of Power electronics and English in the same time. Asthma together with diarrhoea had ate another 2 weeks and I had to come back by mid-December missing networks, power system and some part of analog. Still, when I look back, some of those classes I attended were mind-blowing sessions. Analog classes were the best. There were times we all clapped him in between some topics for the way he explained. Signals, Machines, Maths, Digital were taught in a way that I guess nobody else could do it that way. Even if, this one year turn out to be unsuccessful, I’m really fortunate enough to attend these lectures.

In my college days, I hardly got a notebook. Even if I had one, all subjects were written with the worst possible handwriting. But from north indians, I learnt the art of writing with different coloured pens. I always used Blue, black red and green pens to write lecture notes that the notes are easily readable and neatly kept.

Climate is another terror. Initially it was really hot. Speciality of our apartment is it becomes hotter than outside during summer and cooler than outside during winter. Winter starts from the end of October. Suddenly one day temperature went down from 30 degree to 18 degree. The whole Delhi suffered from cold and cough. We witnessed the whole 300 students and the professor coughing at a time! Twice during winter, rats came to visit us during the night. Sharukh and Rony had a good time with them. There are times I feel I’m fortunate enough to have friends and roommates  in the likes of Sharukh, Rony, Sooraj and Akash.

Life taught me so many things during the stay at Delhi. In Kerala back home, we always had enough of timely food and never bothered how much the each commodity costs. we never bothered about washing dresses or the amount of money we spend. Delhi taught that how to live a life with mean resources. Fortunately we never had problem with money. I can’t imagine how the poor people live there without money. They cannot even complain. In a way Delhi taught us how blessed we are. Delhi taught me everything to be what we call a real Life.