'Managing' to study

I have a "Principles of Management and Organizational Behaviour" University exam in two days. I'm glad University exams have been scheduled and also glad it hasnt been postponed or cancelled [heaven forbid]. But the name "Management" suggests to be the most boring paper possible. It really is hard not to fall asleep when reviewing something known as "Fayol's famous 14 principles of Management". I'd really like to meet this Fayol guy and ask him why he had to impose completely unnecessary and totally non-understandable principles on the innocent students who actually chose to study engineering.

I'm seriously concerned about students who can sit through such lectures without banging your slowly falling face on the desk or trying to sleep without the faculty noticing. I do it everyday in Management class and if awake, I count the number of people who are either trying very hard to concentrate, yet falling asleep and others who are really trying very hard to sleep. God help people who have to sit through 2 years of such classes for an MBA degree. Maybe the high salary for MBA graduates isnt for their management knowledge, but for the fact that they made it out of the most boring 2 years in the history of the world.

Such students getting an award after going through a big ordeal is a good thing. In a similar way, Students who go through 4 years of hostel life in Sathyabama supposedly get a gold watch. In this case, a gold watch isnt enough. They should give out a lifetime achievement award. Its like being paroled out of jail.

My bench constitutes of four people. Myself usually sitting in the corner and switching places with 'Pulli' if I either have to sleep or I have to write notes - which I frequently do for classes that I missed by sleeping. In Sathyabama, You have to write notes for every single damn class as the teachers check in the end of the semester and then sign a stupid 'No Due' form that gets us the hall ticket. Stupid procedure.

Anyway, 'Pulli' is V.Arravindh who is an eccentric character (who isnt ?) who got his unusual name from 'Pulli Rajavukku AIDS varuma ?' - a popular AIDS awareness advertisement. He had a few pimples on his face in the first semester (which has now gone after a few visits to the doctor). This characterized itself as 'Pullis' or dots and hence the name stuck. He is a guy who never gets angry (i.e. I've never seen him angry) and is suspected to have a split personality, where the other personality is most probably going to be the angriest guy you ever met.

Karthik Ramachandran or 'Raama' (to avoid confusion from the four other Karthiks in class) is a quiet and intelligent guy sitting next to Arravindh and never used to talk in the first few semesters of college. Now joining into all types of jokes, his first year shell is nowhere to be seen. Having really insightful opinions that make sense, I ask him most of the things I dont understand in class (which is a lot) and mostly get the answers if he isnt sleeping (which our whole bench loves to do).

B.Deepak or 'Beedi' is a thin bespectacled guy who has different opinions on everything and changes a 'so-called-crush' every other semester or year and bores the others by saying he has desperate feelings for her, while secretly telling me that such things are just time pass and required in this age of life. A guy who is ever-ready to help and just lives down the road to me, All three benchmates are great friends.

Our bench has gotten a 'wonderful' name among teachers and even the quiet Raama has been called out by a teacher because of the other three guys. I love to have fun, even if a teacher is in class. I've been called 'irresponsible', 'intelligent yet not attentive in class' and mainly a 'methaavi' which I will never fully understand what it means.

How could I live in Tamil Nadu on May 8th 2006 and not mention elections. Sadly, I did not vote. I was looking forward to it, but couldnt go because I got up really really late (as I went to bed really really late) and when we almost wanted to go, It was blazing hot outside and my mom and I didnt want to go and stand in a long queue in the hot sun. I know that we have to exercise our right to vote, but out 'exercising' might have led to dehydration which I did not want to risk with the recent sudden rise in deaths by summer dehydration.

Anyway - Happy studying to all engineers with exams and happy living to all others.

[A revelation of feelings two days before an exam]
-- Abhishek Ranganathan

{ "A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking." - Jerry Seinfeld }