Oh Those Ten! - 2

When one amongst us became Chairman!

Disclaimer :Kindly do not mind the size of the article.I have just done Precis-writing.I easily could have written stuff of the size of a Rajesh Kumar novel on this moment.

Note : For the unenlightened,Chairman of Students Union in PSG Tech is a post which gives one responsibility to conduct culturals,technical events and represent student issues to the management.

It could easily have become the No:1 moment in my entire life itself had I posted it on the day it happened.But Time always has it's toll on one's perspective.(Intellectuals become fools,enemies become friends-all in a matter of few months).After all these months,it seems a relatively minor moment.But the magnitude we assumed for that moment and the intensity of emotions I (and my friends) experienced still lingers somewhere.

After that grand NMB treat post-Renaissance'08,Rajarajan ("Ivan dhan da Gethu Senior" guy) calmly told with confidence "Unga set SU adika nalla chance iruku da".We innocently smiled at each other.No one of us had any such Chairman dreams.We were just content in getting the extra chocolate bun and the additional sip of Sprite at NMB.

Vivek Anand was one guy among us whom we identified as a Chairman candidate.He had a sense of Dhoni-ness in everything he did.Only in the late second year,we realised that he was least interested in Students Union.Moreover,he fitted the requirements of a much bigger post -Placement Representative.Anyone who talks smart can become the SU chairman but a PR required more intricate skills.So,we left Vivek Anand to his PR aspirations.As Yours Truly realised,being a Chairman can be bliss initially but becomes painful later and being a PR is hell initially but gives "Anandha Kaneer" later.

When my senior Vishnu Prabhakar could not become the chairman,all my seniors wore a look of despair.Manikandan (A remarkable friend who just happened to be our senior) told "Naalu varusha kanavu kalanjiduchu da".All that melancholy hit us too without us realising that a loss for them was a blessing in disguise for us.(Chairman post is not given to guys from same department in successive years.So,if my seniors could not,it meant we could).

Ironically,it was one of the seniors who reminded that fact to us.Samani called me to his room and told me to apply for a Hostel Council position.I asked him why.He replied back that it would boost my Chairman chances.I was surprised to hear this but was still convinced by the earnestness in Samani's words.Samani magicked a Chairman candidate out of nowhere and I found support in my batch guys as well.

Within a month,I found myself in Hostel Council,Institution of Engineers,English Literary Society.I started working for all Students Union activities.(I ran all the way from KG cinemas after watching "Unnai Pol Oruvan" because my seniors DJ and Karthi called me to college on the night before Intrams so that I can get a taste of the work beforehand.)To add pain,I was an One Semester Placement Representative as well.It was suffocating work and Jeyavel's sense of humour was the only respite.

The nominations for Students Union office bearers began in Late February 2010.I promptly applied.My competitors came from 6 departments and two of them were absolute heavyweights.Arunvinay from Metallurgy department had a mega profile to go with a remarkable work ethic.Somu from Mechanical department was a fantastic guy who looked like a chairman to me from the moment I knew he was contesting.He even became the chairman in my dreams with roses being thrown at his feet.Another candidate Nazar came to my room before the Interview.For the first time in history,two chairman candidates did "combined study" before the interview.

The interview was pretty simple and when I wanted the panelists to ask more questions,they showed me the door.Results were to be out when Internals were going on.The night before tests,Jeyavel sent an optimistic SMS to all :"Our Umesh became Chairman.Do come in a white shirt tomorrow".I had to send a clarifying SMS saying results are yet to be released.

On the Judgement Day,we wrote our Economics test before the SU results came(Some of us did not.Ajay was smiling at me.I was smiling at Jeyavel.Pen did not even care to write in the paper.)After the exam got over,it was a tense wait for all the candidates in the Quandrangle.When Karthikeyan sir came running saying "Congratulations Umesh!",all hell broke loose.

Celebrations started culminating in the hostel with my entire batch guys (and my juniors,as well) joining the fun.I was carried around the hostel with the "BZ" chants.We burst crackers in the evening.This time Jeyavel's "Come with a white shirt" was not accompanied by any clarifying SMS.Almost the entire department was present when I cut the cake (with those typical words suggested by Pritam:"Anbu Thalaiva Vetri Namake SU Chairman Nee Dhane") "at the IM grounds.Thus,that entire day envisaged a tremendous series of events resulting in me failing in all other subjects that internals.

In hindsight,I am happy that I became Chairman because the candidates who lost to me achieved bigger things for which this post would have become a hindrance.Nazar was constantly adding meaning to his life by being associated with Velicham,a NGO dedicated to education of the downtrodden.Somu kept winning one technical prize or the other in every college.He got placed in the first company that came for recruitments (Indian Oil).Arunvinay ended up getting the Nobel of PSG Tech-"Koorath Azhwar" award (to put it in simple words,it is given to The Best Student in the College).

While I won that very small battle and did all atrocities in the name of celebrations,these gentlemen did remarkable deeds and kept silent with all the humility in the world.I became Chairman but they became everything else.At the end of my college life,I have not achieved much except becoming Chairman and posting about it as if I had achieved something big.Times will change and I live in hopes.