Back to School

I'll be heading over to the Kanwal Rekhi School of IT at IIT Powai this July end to start an MTech. As we have been constantly reminded before and during the process, the admission is still "provisional" until a registration process where I have to furnish sundry pieces of paper proving my graduation et al. So unless I am embroiled in some glorious snafu, I should be safely ensconced in the vicinity of the Powai lake in a month's time.

Finding a post graduate programme of my choice and interest (also one that would have me for no one was going to beg me to sign up, a la Shevchenko) took a lot of time. In fact, I'd say it's quite unusual (atleast in the circles I know) to go off so late after graduation, but that's how it turned out eventually. For some inexplicable reason, I was never too keen on find something overseas. For that matter, am not completely certain why I want to do a post graduate course - is it just peer imitation or the done thing or an escape route in needing a change from work? Not sure, but atleast I have a chance to find out in the place I wanted to.

What will be certain is that I'll be one of the oldest people in the course! A slightly new feeling that'll be, for even at work, until six months ago, I was usually one of the youngest members of all the groups I belonged to. A fact that I liked reminding others in my group :-). Anyway, better Clarie Grimett than no Test cap at all.

What I'm also looking forward to is to have a more physically active life compared to the last few years of chair-sagging sloth, a chance to pick up cycling again (if I can get the legs to pump that is), learn something worthwhile & formally from qualified people for the first time in a long while, live away from home (another first) and on my own, away from cloistered protection. From what I've seen and heard, KReSIT has good facilities to offer, so hopefully, there'll be much to gain. Perhaps I will even figure out whether this is the thing for me.

After having drawn a blank in the past (and tantalisingly so), I'd wondered if this was the thing for me. I still do. This development does put into the shade my rather ambitious Plan B of taking 6 months off from work next year and doing a whole lot of "other" things - such as learning a language, perhaps a musical instrument, writing more - stuff from some dreamy TODO list. Despite all the education, money earned, so called maturity, I don't know if I'd have had the guts to go through with that. I have never personally done anything that big in terms of bucking the trend. Despite promising to try and not follow "trends", apart from a couple of diversions, I'd have to say, I've been rather conformist. Now I won't know if I'd have been able to go through with it. Still, the very idea that I'm going to be chucking 2 years worth of salary has had a few people wondering.

I'm slightly amused at the whole "school" thing; indeed, their FAQ mentions it's called a school mainly because they don't offer any undergraduate studies. I still don't understand why only a college should offer undergrad studies, but I suspect it's more to do with carving out a separate identity. The E&TC Dept. at COEP during the Jog Regime was often called the "shaaLaa", and we from the then orphaned Comp. dept who were reluctantly being housed by the E&TC dept. were also slightly tainted by it, so school for me conjures up pejorative thoughts of uniforms, attendance and rules.

Well, I had better stop carping and gear up to offer my loyalties at my new school. The best thoughts have come from the realisation that despite how much work there will be, I will eventually have vacations once again.