It is the year 2007 in the month of July I guess I was in my final year of College, among many hats that I donned at that time there was one of the Lead Placement Coordinator.Our College is gearing up for the first placement drive to take place in our premises. My Engineering College was nestled in the midst of the Kerala University Campus at Kariyavattom. Needless to say the Campus was a hotbed of Student Politics and our college was no different. On the morning of the drive while doing a routine round of the College along with the Principal he points me to a Poster of a leading Student Political Organisation which is in news currently for all the wrong reasons. Within an hour one of the MNC’s, a leading Software Services company is visiting this very place. The last thing I want is to see this poster and believe that we don’t want employees in our organisation who are too much of an activist.it had the potential of leaving a bad taste in the minds of the executives of the Company and I didn’t want that to happen at any cost.
Till this day I am not able to explain what followed next. I tore off the Poster without Second thoughts because that had the potential of spoiling that day. My Principal was appalled because such an act of defiance was definitely going to attract the wrath of the Strongest Student Political body of all times in Kerala and would definitely have put me into the Hit-list(not kill list ) of the Organisation. Now for the uninitiated, the people who know me personally would vouch for the fact that I was never a person who was known for his bravado. Even today when I think of that particular incident years back, I can’t explain the guts I displayed at that time.
Now moving on, I had arranged for a friend of mine to be stationed at the University Campus gate to guide the visiting delegation to our College as a Pilot Vehicle.With great pains I had charted out a longer route and specifically instructed him to follow it so as to avoid all signs of Political Activity in the Campus. Now for those who know the campus you would know that there is a huge banner kept in the campus which says “Welcome to the Red Fort of SSS(party)". That was the first obstacle to avoid among many other banners and flags of the said Student Political Party.
The Poster tearing episode was definitely going to have repercussions and it was just a rush of adrenaline which prompted me to take such a rash step. The organisation was up in arms against me and it was only a matter of time before I got bashed up. Luckily for me, the Chairman, Vice Chairperson and Secretary of the College Union were my classmates who ensured that no such harm befell me during my final year and I continued to live happily ever after.
Back to the day of the Campus Placement drive, you have to understand that there was a hell lot of preparations being done in the past few days for its success. Right from deciding the classrooms for the initial test to the rooms for the Interviews to the Lunch for the visiting delegation everything had to be factored in. To add to that we had also invited other Engineering Colleges as well for the drive, making arrangements for them was another overhead. I had roped in a good number of my fellow batch mates to volunteer for the day.
I remember an incident on the day vividly, even though it was more than a decade back. At the time when the lunch was being served a visiting Executive made a sarcastic comment on me and a friend of mine who was serving them lunch. He was off the impression that both of us who had not appeared for their test were no-gooders. I gave him a piece of my mind at the end of the day by informing him that both of us were already having offers in our hand from the Leading Software Companies of the country and we were there only to help our friends
12 years later, my Company was getting ready for a walk in drive on a Saturday and I was one of the interviewers for the day. Though I had performed this role with aplomb many times I had never been a part of any such event in the past. Seeing the HR Team run around on the day to get the multitude of things done was reminiscent of that particular day many years back.I felt surreal to be on the other side of the table and it seems that life had come a full circle after all.My comeback to my native state of Kerala after a decade couldn't have gotten to a better start .
P.S :-For the record this was not my first act of defiance against the Student Political Organisation.Earlier in my first year of College I remember my Seniors coming to my class and asking everyone to join their protest at the Police Station nearby protesting against the 'Lathi charge' on a demonstration at the Government Secretariat the Previous day.In a bid to boost their numbers they were forcing all the first years to join the said demonstration.Being the son of an Indian Police Service (I.P.S) Officer as a matter of principle I categorically put my foot down and stated to them that I will have to excuse myself .They were rather pushy at first but later yielded in front of my resolve.
