Episode 2: Wonder Years

That’s Life – 2

It is said that everyone reaches his/her peak of academic excellence at the fag end of their education. In my case, the reverse was true. From my Einstein days (Oh how I wish I had remained an Einstein forever!), my academics had been on a steady decline. Some of the landmark events during this journey –

• 87% in Class 7
• 79% in Class 10
• Failed in Intermediate (Plus Two) Mathematics. Scored an unbeatable 41 out of 150, a record in my college.

My career would have stopped right at that point if it were not for Shri Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao, known as NTR, who in all his wisdom thought of a beautiful concept called Instant Reexamination for people who flunked in not more than one paper. Thanks to NTR, I did not lose an academic year.

I cleared the Instant – got a great rank in the state common entrance test for engineering admissions and walked into Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati in late 1993.

My very first day in this lovely university deserves a few keystrokes here.

'What is your name?'

'Venu.'

'Where from?'

'Nellore. Heard of it?'

SLAP!

'Amma!'

'Say Sir at the end of each sentence.. And don't kochchen me!'

'Yeah.. yes sir!'

'So what is your name again?'

'Venu sir'

'Sir Venu? Are you a knight?'

'No sir.. My name is Venu, sir'

'That's better. I don't like this name.'

'Sir?'

'Choose something else.'

'Sir?'

SLAP!

'Urgh...'

'Choose another name.'

'Nirmal, sir'

'Good! Now run around the campus shouting that you are Nirmal'

'Sir.. please'

SLAP! BANG.. DABB...

'Yes sir'

And suddenly God appeared in front of us from nowhere. Since we the lesser mortals would be vaporized if he showed his true self, he assumed the form of our college principal. The guy in front of me vanished in a jiffy.

'What are you doing here?' asked God.

'Aw.. err.. ??'

'Get into your classroom now!'

He saved me that day from shouting from the rooftops that I was Nirmal. However the name stuck on. People called me Nirmal or Vedam… but never Venu. In fact very few of my Engineering classmates knew my first name.

So, Nirmal had become quite famous in his college for no apparent reason. People just wanted a bakra and Nirmal was the obvious choice. He was too tall, had to be content with a twenty twenty vision only through a pair of corrective lenses and moreover had always 'thought' about something or the other.

In addition, this item knew what a time cone was.. and when he managed an 87% in Microprocessors and Microcomputers in which the university first student could get only 62%, it was proved that Nirmal was Mr. Nobody-Mess-With-Him!

To be continued…