Why you shouldn't go college hunting!

Goatee, Chai, Punk n I had no better job this other day and set out to check out prospective colleges to "groom our brilliant, made for engineering minds".

But then, we had just passed our 12th standards and were full of energy (yeah right, it was more of joblessness). So we set out on this journey to visit about four-five of Bangalore's finest colleges. And it wouldn't be an understatement if I were to say it is now among the most cherished days of my life!!

Now, we met somewhere near MSRIT, me the first to arrive, as always, followed by Punk and Goatee and Chai.

• Punk's brainchild (and our first mistake) : Lets walk to MSRIT

So there we did it, walked 2kms odd to get to the college. We checked out the college, went through the floors over and over, only to discover we were in the wrong block, went to other blocks, and blah blah blah. Not quite an interesting thing to do, interviewing people about their colleges, they all seem to "Number One-ify" it in unison!!
Oh, and did I tell you, we met at 9am and exited MSR at about quarter past eleven.

Our next destination was chalked out to be Bangalore Institute of Technology (heck, its got some name, but I'll just stick to BIT).
We took the trustworthy BMTC (which was most un-trustworthy towards the end of this account!!) to Market Bus Station and well, Goatee left us for some personal commitments to join us later after we were done with BIT.
But before that, a special mention of the roadside mutton kebabs we had in a dinghy place near the bus stand (Goatee's brainchild!!). And take my word for it, it was marvellous!!
So here it was that Punk, Chai and I left for BIT.

• Punk's brainchild again (and our second mistake) : Lets "walk" to BIT

We still had our energies intact, so another 3kms of walk (that's cause the 1.5km odd distance was doubled in our confusions about directions!!) did not really matter at that time.
Now frankly, BIT isn't a very astounding structure, eight floors of bricks, stairs and elevators which do not work. But then, its a great place to study (or so I have heard) and so came...

• My brainchild (our third mistake) : Lets check out all eight storeys

So with just our legs to carry us around now (poor things had no chance of rest), we did about five floors, when we gave up and retreated to the ground!! Thirsty and tired, the three weary travellers were unsuccessful in finding any "Elixir of Life"!! The time, I suppose, would have been about half past noon by now.

Hoping our next destination would be more worthwhile, we headed out to BMSCE, and this time, thanks to Chai stopping another one of "Punk's" from coming up, we took an auto there. Goatee joined us there by half past one, before which the other three of us had scrutinised this college in and out. Another stint of blah blah blah in there and we were conked out of energy. After a round of lemonade (man it was heavy on our pockets!!) we went ahead to our next destination, but wait, not before another mistake!! After asking for directions, we were hit by...

• Goatee's brainchild (yeah, our fourth mistake) : Lets walk to the bus-stop

Are we insane or what, but money does matter dude, when its all pocket money keenly saved!! So we walked, and we walked, (stopped for a softee) and we walked more. Arriving at a bus-stop with 600mL of coke just purchased, we sat down like tired warriors. But destinations aren't that easy to reach, are they. Fifteen minutes later, our tube lights were to burn, and hey will you believe it, we're at the wrong bus-stop. Oh Gosh, can anything go more wrong?? Another half a km and we were at the right bus-stop (which was guilty of being the wrong one until proven innocent :P ) and some time later, amidst slight drizzles, we were in a bus to Banshankari Bus Station. About half past two, or maybe three, we were there. Yes, we had finally reached Banshankari.

But, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!!

Yeah, if you haven't guess as yet, the next college to be checked off our list was PESIT (or so it was supposed to be!!). A couple of inquiries posed to an eager auto-driver (whose curse turned out to be one of an Egyptian Mummy for us, for we didn't heed to him) told us that PESIT was roughly 6kms from the place. Thank goodness, Punk cannot hit us with another one. But our decision to save money (we each had daily passes and hence buses were our passport to savings!!) gave us in, as here came...

• Our combined brainchild (And by far the BIGGEST mistake of the day, number five for the record) : Lets take a bus to PESIT

It doesn't sound a big deal, does it!! We walked around the bus-stop a little, and asked this bus conductor (a Suvarna 600-C) if it went to PES college. He consulted the driver and answered in the affirmative. Glad, we entered this completely empty bus. Engrossed in our talk, little did we realise what was happening. After a ten minute wait in traffic, the bus set off on the Jayanagar Ring Road. We were virgins in the area and had no idea about the direction we were supposed to be headed in (yeah, we hadn't done any homework about our plans!!). Expecting a six kilometre journey on a great road to last no more than 10 minutes, we were in for a shock. After travelling for some considerable distance, we asked the conductor how much more were we to go on, and we were told that he'll let us know once PES college is reached. We were soon on Hosur Road, when I told the guys we weren't on the right track, but then we were hit by...

• Their brainchild (Mistake number six, and I did not like the feel of it) : The conductor knows where he's taking us, lets continue in the bus.

So there we went, on and on and on, in the pretty serenity around the road with the emphatic flyover bang in the middle running along. After at least 30-40 minutes of travel, watching luxury car showrooms go by, the conductor came up to us and asked us to get off, our stop had arrived. The sight on getting off, well, shocked us!!! We were at the edge of Electronic City, about a 100mtrs before the NICE flyover (seriously, that's what its called, "NICE flyover", weirdos!!). And there stood, PES college.

Yes, it was PES college alright, but not in the least where we intended to be. PES School of Enginnering, a great structure in the middle of nowhere. Punk broke into laughter, all of us joining in, making fun of our mistakes, tired like we've never been tired before, and losing all hope of actually making it to the real PES Institute of Technology that we were supposed to go to. And amidst all their whims of giving up and going back home, time was about 4pm, with rain clouds hovering over, I came up with...

• My brainchild (Unbelievable, but I dunno if this is a mistake or not, yet I name it, Mistake Number Seven) : I'm not going back home before I am done with PESIT.

Taking cue, the Four Fools set off to cross the busy road, an adventure in its own right, and took a bus to Silk Board Junction. And on that journey is when we came up with a lesson we had all learnt on this day, the only positive outcome of this useless, tiring and incredulously long journey : "If ever we are rich enough to afford a BMW or an Audi, here's what you have to do; Go to Banashankari, and get into a 600-C; They'll take care of all your needs to reach the showroom!! BMTC Zindabad!!".

A change of bus at Silk Board and a sometime later, tired like crap, we were back at Banashankari Bus Station. At about quarter to five we found a bus which went to PESIT (this time for certain as we had roped in a PESIT student to accompany us there!!). Our arrival at PESIT was welcomed with heavy rains and then we went about blah blah blah-ing here as well. The buildings here were much better than the ordeal at BIT, but reaching there, I swear, was nothing less than war.

We were outside the college by quarter past six, where we had roadside Gobi Manchurian and some chat, the manchurian considerable better!! And then we were in a fix, with three routes leading home, and none of us knowing which would be shortest. After much debate, we came up with, yes , another one...

• Combined brainchild (Maybe its not, but I'll still label it our eighth mistake) : Lets go home via Shivajinagar!!

We walked about a kilometre to a bus-stop from where we were told we'd get direct bus to Shivajinagar. But after some wait, we boarded a Pushpak to Banshankari Bus Station (although none of us were interested in going back there again :P). The four of us seated in place for three, the short distance was quite an enjoyable one, especially after we saw something called a "Psycho Clinic"!! After reaching Banashankari a little while later, we boarded a bus to Shivajinagar, which took a whooping 60minutes to complete!!

Chai slept, Goatee whined, Punk "music listened" while I, well..talked. And being tired like hell, legs aching and minds racing, we were soon at Shivajinagar Bus Station.

The day had finally come to a close, lessons learnt, colleges visited, city combed and most of all, energies drained. The four of us parted ways here, headed to our respective homes. So that is that, end of a great day, that each of us shall cherish forever...