BLOG 6 - Entrance Exams - "Lawrence of Arabia" - DMET Calls First - Others Later

The closest I had been to the sea was when I had walked on the sands of Marina Beach in Madras. Ships could be seen, far away, at anchor. A boat ride in the Ooty lakes - my Father was then posted in Wellington in the Nilagiri Hills - when I was 8 years old, was the closest I had come to sea life.

At the cross roads of my life, I did not have any particular ambition, and I allowed the fates to take me where they will. I had never even dreamt of a seafarer's life.

My late Father used to point out the various advertisements appearing in "The Hindu" and I would put in applications.

There is a tide in the affairs of men

Which, taken at the flood,

Leads on to Fortune.

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat.

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures."

This phrase has been taken from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, where Brutus talks to Cassius saying, “There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune” (Act-IV, Scene-III).

My only aim at that point in life was to resurrect the struggling fortunes of the family - and I had no idea how to do so - where every paisa had to be carefully spent, every need postponed and the rupees spent on only the most essential of requirements - education, simple clothing and simple food on the table (or floor, as it was in those days).

After my PUC, I would have made a deal with the Devil himself. Instead, I made a pact with the sea. (Forgive the bad humour).

So, I move on to Blog 6, the last stage before my entering DMET.

Chapter 7

My Core Narrative Begins – However Did I Go Out To Sea

Then came a series of entrance exams, for IIT, NDA, DMET and Dufferin. The first three were held in Hyderabad itself, so I only had to take a bus to the exam venue. Immediately after the IIT papers, I knew there was no chance there, as the tests were beyond me. TheNDA and DMET tests - I knew I had done well and likely called for an interview.

For the Dufferin entrance exam, I had to go to Chennai, where I stayed with my Father’s friend and colleague, Mr (Uncle) Doraiswami. (In those days, all elders were Maamas (uncles) or Maamis (aunties) and any one older by more than 3 years were ' Anna' (elder brother) or 'Akka' (elder sister).

Having visited Secunderabad several times on official business and having stayed with us, we knew each other well. But I did not know his family. He met me at Madras Central Station early in the morning and brought me to his home close to Ice House, Triplicane. There I was, happily ensconced in the kitchen, sitting on the floor, drinking coffee and chatting away with him and his wife. His 5 children, of ages from 28 to 16, came down the staircase and found a stranger in their midst, eagerly discussing various topics with their disciplinarian father – they had all been very afraid of their father and would come in front of him only when called. Suddenly, they saw a different side of their father.

The eldest son’s wife was my cousin, Lalli, whom I had met in Arni and was, then. in charge of the Laundry Book. A happy coincidence. I think my Father was the matchmaker. (The reference to 'Lalli' and 'Laundry Book' goes back to "Marine Musings 1", which is about my childhood days, which has not been published due to the boredom it may cause.)

Needless to say, I became very friendly with all of them. They all knew my Father well. Raji, Raghu, Nagaraj, Krishna and Lalli (there were two Lallis in the family, one the daughter and the other the daughter-in-law) – the last two were close to my my age group and had just failed their PUC / SSLC board exams and, as such, were scared of coming in front of their father, for fear of his constant tongue lashing.

My entrance exam was two days away. I had to pass a navigational eye test at MMD Madras before the exam …. Done.

Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O’Toole was running in Safire Theatre. Geriatrics will remember this theatre complex of Safire - which screened English and Tamil blockbusters, Emerald - which screened only Hindi pictures and Blue Diamond, which ran continuous shows and where you could spend an entire 12 hours, on just one ticket seeing the same movie again and again, as long as you did not leave the foyer. The Blue Diamond theatre gave birth to many a romance, as Stella Maris and Ethiraj Women's Colleges and several Men's Colleges were in close proximity to the theatre complex.

Having read a lot about Lawrence of Arabia, I wanted to see the movie. Krishna and Lalli wanted to come along, but were afraid of asking their father for permission. I became the designated permission getter and had to convince Mr Doraiswami that Krishna will definitely do well in the re-exam. In fact, I also added that he would be able to appear for all the entrance exams the following year. Krishna did appear the following year and he was selected for Marine Engineering. He chose Bombay for the first three years with the last year at Calcutta. For Krishna, a very intelligent boy, his failure in PU Course was a massive jolt, but he came out of it in shining colours. His father understood that later and I was happy to have been a conduit to his realisation. His father had that much of faith in me, both of us having had long conversations during his visits to Secunderabad.

After DMET, Krishna distinguished himself as an Engineer, but died very young.

So, we all saw Lawrence Of Arabia, an outstanding movie. Peter O’Toole had one more fan added to his list. A life endearing scenario was, at the end of the movie, in the foyer, 3 speech-and-hearing impaired friends having an animated discussion of the movie, all in sign language and having big smiles.

The rounds of entrance examinations were done and dusted. As expected, I did not feature in the IIT list. (I had always felt that I did not possess the academic skills and brains to enter IIT). I waited for the other results to come though.

These entrance exams – IIT, NDA, DMET and Dufferin – were, at that time, separate All-India entrance exams. The year that I did them there were more than 200,000 students writing the exams.

Meanwhile, my applications for Osmania Engineering and Guindy Engineering went through and I was asked to wait a while for them to select me in their sports quota.

I was short listed for DMET and was called to Bombay for an interview., which went off well. The DMET Bombay premises were then exactly opposite Victoria Terminus.

I was told to go back home and await a call.

My first choice would have been the NDA, as it would not have involved any financial strain to my already overburdened Father.

My second choice would have been DMET, as the Training was, at that time, heavily subsidised by the Indian Government's Ministry of Transport.

My third choice would have been Guindy Engineering College, but I feared the financial ramifications to my Father, what with College fees and hostel fees.

Ditto with Osmania Engineering College.

The last option was to do BSc in Secunderabad itself, where the fees would have been much lower.

Then came the telegram that changed my life and, literally, threw me into deep waters.

‘You have been selected for training in Marine Engineering in DMET (Directorate of Marie Engineering Training), Calcutta. Please telegraph us your willingness to join same within 3 days, after which you will need to attend the Institution within a week. Details follow.’

Or words to that effect. I still have the telegram with me.

I was one of the hundred selected for DMET from among 200,000 applicants. Luckily, the IIT exam was the first I appeared for and I knew I had made an idiot of myself. It triggered me to prepare better for the other three.

A tumultuous family upheaval took place, with my Mother complaining that one son is in the Army, another wants to join the Navy. I slowly cajoled her into accepting by making her understand that I would not be fighting wars. Little did I know, then, that I would enter war zones and get shot at with Exocet missiles or fight off pirates.

Our family finances weren’t all that great at that point of time. The DMET offer was, to an extent, an Hobson’s choice for me. Were I to say no to this and the other entrance exam results were not in my favour, I would have been left with nothing.

So, I accepted the DMET offer. At a later stage, I came to know that I had been selected for Dufferin – the flip side of DMET -, called for SSB and interview for NDA and, very much later, offered an Engineering seat in Guindy Engineering College and Osmania Engineering College in the Sports Quota. By then, I was already weeks into the training in DMET Calcutta.

On my accepting the DMET seat, my Father and I hurried through a small shopping list of items that I had to carry with me. One of the items was a wrist watch and I chose to ignore it, as they were costly in those days. As I boarded the train at Secunderabad, my Father took off his Bentex watch and insisted I take it. I was close to tears. (Post Script – I returned the watch to him on my first holiday back home, as I hardly had occasion to wear it during my apprenticeship days. After his demise in 1987, it came back to me and now remains in Chennai as a family heirloom and a prized possession).

So, I landed in Calcutta, where one of the College staff received me and took me in the College bus to the campus located at P-19, Taratolla Road.

Suddenly I was thrown into the deep end without knowing how to swim.

Rangan

Musings 2 ends

(Musings 3 will continue shortly - I enter the hallowed portals of DMET)