IEE : The Initial Years

The IEE club in college was one of the first that impressed me during my first semester. Briefing time is one of the few times when seniors persuade you to do something when you are still officially a bakra. All briefing were a pack of lies, except that I somehow managed to join this club.

No activity in the first year. Not heard of the office bearers till until the end of the second semester. Come suddenly a notice asking all members until third year to pay a cool 100 bucks. For what? Farewell to the outgoing members of the club. What? Are you kidding me? These politician style (well, in Jharkhand and Bihar thats quite popular and more often than not the normal way to get things done) club leaders did not care to show their shameless faces even once, and look at their audacity, they want a farewell. No money paid. Not 'invited' to the 'party'.

Second year saw some activities in the club which could very easily be passed off as a roadshow. Came in touch with some seniors; most prominently Mr. AJ and Mr. AM . AJ had the habit of stoking anyone's dislike towards AM. AM somehow did not quiet get along pretty well with me too (although I appreciate a lot of his qualities including the subtle way in which he neglects people, including me), and I found myself working only with AJ. I decided to pay for a farewell for the outgoing '99 batch seniors. It was a sham. AJ was made the president of the club, AM got the prized IEEE club.

With AJ as president, I should have expected some freaking activities within the club. I somehow did not want to have majority of his shit, AB (the next presi) was pretty good at that and I was more than happy for him to be that way. One major disaster was the Haldia trip that was organized. RK, AB and myself were the only 2k1 batch guys in that. Rest AJ and another 2k guy (imagine no final year guy came!!!), and a bunch of ignorant juniors. We traveled to Kharagpur and got off in the cold at 4 am in the morning there. Now? AJ announced, " So we shall all use the waiting room toilet". That sentence marked the beginning of the ordeal.

To the unknown, as such railways toilets suck. More so at a non-discreet place like Kharagpur ( the place of India's no.1 technical college) in a poor state like Bengal. I could barely manage my ablutions in those conditions and decided against and bath. Tea at a nearby stall came in handy. We got onto a local train at 6am to a small town called Mecheda. This is somewhere deep in Bengal in Midnapore district, apparently close to the Bangladesh border. The countryside is amazingly beautiful ( I am not amazed by the Britisher' s description of Bengal) but after years of neglect the poverty was stark. We reached Mecheda with our luggage. Where to go? " Ujjwal and AB search for some guest house". Hail Hitler. We managed a small ram-shackled guest house. I suggested we have breakfast at a dhaba. People had it. I did not even try it. AB still swears at me for that meal.
Ok. Now how do we get to Haldia. I should have guessed with AJ at the helm of affairs. Local bus. I could not believe my luck. I traveled with fish sellers and WT (without ticket) Bengalis in the local train. More was in store. We settled at the back of the bus. 18 of us. The juniors were already looking at us in despair. I felt helpless but joked around with them, AJ being the puppet of amusement.

By the time we reached Haldia ( around 120 minutes for 35 or so km), I was nauseated by the smell of humans. Got down and a whiff of fresh air. Now? What to do? Where is the petrochemical plant? Ask the locals. Ok. Now this was the best. I hung onto one of the trekkers which run with at least 5 times their capacity . I was desperately clinching onto the small iron rod at the back end of the trekker. There was some semblance of roads within the potholes, few and rare.
Reach Haldia plant. Grand. Thats the word. We were not allowed to enter as apparently AJ did not confirm the trip with the lady concerned and she had apparently gone off to Calcutta for some official work. Superb. I thought now I had an excuse to beat this guy up. After 90 minutes at the gate in the heat, it was already 2 pm. AJ begged like anything to the authorities fearing a bash up. The authorities relented after they saw our hopeless faces; hungry, thirsty, tired and with luggage. They took us on a bus ride around the campus, gave us a 15 minute hushed up information presentation and served us tea and Marie biscuits. Heavens!! That was one of the meals I thanked God for. Tea was like amrit at that time.

We walked back 2 kms to the highway. Juniors were pretty angry. Completed the 2 hour journey to Mecheda standing in a local bus. I told AB that I wanted my money back and that AJ should not make profit out of this. I got down at Mecheda. Bought tickets to Calcutta for the 18 of us on a local train again.
As I saw Howrah bridge, I thought it was over. I walked across from the station, crossed the bridge on foot with luggage due to traffic. Finally we caught a bus from Bara Bazaar. 2 kms.
When we reached back to BIT after the Pujas, there was a rebellion within IEE. RK and I had messed up our chances for some decent position within the club. I did not go for any activity of the club in Bitotsav, mainly because I participated in it as one of the BABAz.

Finally, the day came. AJ was to go. He was to announce AB as the next president; fair enough. I relented to be present at such a ceremony at first, but then went along anyways. I was to be made some secretary. I kicked AJ that day and on the day of the farewell. It was pretty satisfying.
When AB and I walked out of the gathering at the end of the ceremony as the Chairman and the Vice Chairman, we kept quiet. The shuffle in posts and fortunes and the embedded trust within the silence of our walk changed the face of IEE in the coming year. IEE was never the same again from that day.
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ps: This article is old was written just between the period I graduated from BIT and was about to leave for higher studies. The club has been renamed as IET now. Names have been abbreviated to preserve confidentiality of the people involved.