The List full of Failures

MEC FORT
There have been a number of developments in college since Smokey got into power. That includes enhanced security in the wake of concern over our present terrorist filled society. (But what about security from terrorists in the inside ? Terrorists who bombard our lives with boredom? )

• New rolling shutters at the entrance : Beautiful greasy new rolling shutters have been fixed at the front entrance. Keeping goats out of the campus  was the burning problem that was affecting the students, apparently. Only a senate meeting wasn't conducted to discuss this burning issue, that's all. It was a matter that needed immediate attention.
  
• Big gate small gate: Now there are four + one = Five gates in college. All except one small tiny one are locked at all times except during lunch and for a few hours after 4 30 PM. Security has been tightened manifold. We are almost invincible!! Nobody can invade MEC!! Oh wait.. I forgot.. MEC is a college, right? Or was there some declaration changing it to ‘Model Engineering Fort’ status? Before you know it, 2 college German Shepherds and an electric fence will appear. 

But more than the limitation that they impose, the gates stand for the overall atmosphere of MEC. There are no more open welcoming gates around here. Everything is hostile. The whole place is now a cage, a zoo. Now this move by the authority is more psychological.

• Enclosed bike parking lot: A failed attempt to ensure that all students park only in the Shawshank style enclosure, with the giant power tower at the centre that must stand for Smokey’s towering (wish to) control over everything( Remember Mordor..The Eye..Dark Lord ??).  Too bad that didn’t work out

• Closed library and CC: The college library is truly loaded. There are so many thousand books, everything that a technical or art loving reader would want. The only difficult part is, getting to the books.  If you are preparing your paper for a paper presentation contest and you want to make last minute references, you have three options:
     
• - Go to the library – Oops, the watchman will tackle you before you even get to the library door’. Even if you do get there, you won’t be able to enter because the library will be sealed shut. Churukki paranjaal, if you want to borrow a book at night: 

1. Katta Paara eduthukondu varuka.
2. Watchmane adichu veezhthi.
3. Lock kuthippolichu door thorannu and sign in the register (This part is really important).
4. police ethunnathinu munpu book eduthu odikkonam. 

Now that is an adventurous way to take a book from the library thanks to the prevailing situation. Must be fun right, after all in our uneventful life.

•  - Take your laptop ( if you DARE) and log on to the IEEE portal and track down the necessary paper, but oops!! It can be downloaded only from the CC using the college accounts! So head straight for the CC… but then again.. ^** (Problem repeat,  JMP -Go To Library-).

I hear my friends talk about how in IIT’s and NIT’s go to their libraries and computer centres near midnight and freely look up whatever they want to, without having people stick guns up their asses – the true spirit of learning. I wonder what the point is in shutting the doors instead of opening them in welcome. Isn’t this the place where we should feel welcome? Or is that too much to ask? No wait we are not one of the top engineering colleges in the country to provide such out-of-the-earth, IITian privileges, right?

There are a lot of things that don’t deserve too much attention, and therefore, haven’t been bothered about:

• Classrooms: Our classes are stuck between ancient and modern traditions. We have very well ventilated classrooms, with lots of windows. But the problem is, the majority of the windows have no latches. They are nailed shut. Don’t ask me why. Fans provide sound energy and also a little wind energy. We have 2 plug points in each class of approximately 40 students. Usually, only one works. While all major colleges have lecture hall each equipped with its own LCD projector and screen, we still have rickety old boards, most of them in, as some say, 'Thurumbu Scene'.

• Projectors: We have lots of projectors in college. Each department has three categories of projectors – the ones that work alright, the ones that work sometimes and the ones that are prototypes. I remember one particular projector that stayed with a broken lamp for over a year. Most of these unfortunate machines have some part of their anatomy missing. Most don’t have their height adjust release button. Some have VGA cables that add whole new ‘colours’ to the projected image. We also have crippled projection screens that behave like some of us, when we are drunk, and keep swaying from one side to another, never standing straight.

• Sound system: We have a truly mind boggling sound system in the college ‘auditorium’. Every speaker that works, has a default noise that comes  with the sound. The amplifier, as the story goes, was installed in the auditorium when the college was established (1990). To preserve the nostalgia its still kept there as a symbol of eternal 'noise'. The Ahuja Amplifier website claims the company is seventy years old. So our amplifiers might as well be the first ones they made. While our ‘competitor’ colleges have Bose sound systems, we still live with Ahuuuuja! 

• Amphitheatre: (I don't even know what it means !). Yes we have an amphitheatre at college. We cultivate GRASS on it. The central region of the building is actually an amphitheatre. Apparently about 10000 rupees was spent on planting some special variety of grass in it. Our college is a nice place to learn about step farming. Students are barred from damaging the fancy grass ( which I’m sure I have seen along the road leading to my house) or any other wild bush that grows in the amphitheatre.

• Net connection: We luckily have an 8mbps net connection. But its only in documents and 'parachil'. We all experience the Internet in the highest speed possible, don't we? There are often talks among the people who practically live in the CC, that we should complain and get all connections upgraded. But those remain inside the walls of CC just like those people.

Conclusion: Our MEC is now a Special Government Institution. Now, you will not find such a usage in any law book. Let me explain what an SGI is – it is a government institution where all the usual evils ( corruption, inefficiency, non-punctuality) exist, but where everything concerned with student freedom is the direct opposite of government offices. Thus such an institution will have the bad sides of both government and private institutions.  Now I may have missed a lot of points. This is only an appetizer. One may argue what's the use complaining about every possible thing that is wrong. Well that's not the point I'm driving at. I've this habit of listing out my failures in a piece of paper. After listing them, I spend sometime reflecting upon them.. where I went wrong.. what changes I need to make, to improve. After that I take a lighter and burn that list. Now this is symbolic (Don't jump into conclusions that I'm crazy). It symbolises the death of failures (get it!!). Marks a new beginning. This is one such list I've made. A List of Epic Failures of our college. I suggest you all to use the comment section to add to the Epic Failure list. After that lets all reflect on these issues. And lets all work together to burn this list. (Please comment to express your opinion and not just to vent your frustration. Use the blog as a portal to make SOLUTIONS ) Stay tuned for the post to follow.  The MEC Wish List.....