Well, I should say that I pity people going in for the ‘First Day, First show’.. They don’t know, what exactly to expect, coz they just have been through the trailers n promos.. N I respect those people who come out happy, unscathed.. Sometimes, the shows are so horrible that people actually have to come the 2nd time to exactly comprehend, what all that was about..!!N also, I am born lucky, coz I have never been in for a first day, first show..I always make it a point to hear from people about how the show was and the reviews & comments, before going myself.. N even if the reviews are not that good, I have to see to it that I attend atleast 2-3 different shows after every 6 months..
An engineer reading this might get, what I mean by ‘the show’.. It’s the mega show that comes into every to-be engineer’s life.. The External Pracs n Orals!! Well, I am just over with mine for this semester (where everything went perfectly fine)..
But these days of External pracs n orals are full of buzz..The ‘first day, first show’ goers are bombarded with calls from others, regarding the external.. ‘Phad rahi hai kya??’.. ‘Koi bahar ka problem statement aya kya?’.. n lots more of these typical questions in air..
Well, the first day people have to go in, prepared to take on whatever things hurled at them.. Unlike others, they don’t have any idea of what to expect.. N that poses a real challenge..The people having theirs on the following days, go in mentally prepared, from all the reviews about the external & the questions asked.. Having at least a rough idea of how things will go, is seriously one damn helpful thing (as I have always experienced)..
Some people (mostly the ones having theirs on the last day) argue that they get the toughest of the problem statements, coz the external keeps on adding them, as the days pass.. Well, maybe that’s the cost paid for having all the knowledge of whatever that has happened with people till then.. Even-stevens..!!
Well, this time round, for my DBMS orals, I had my first experience of a ‘first day’ show.. This was coz, the orals were project group wise.. It was the ‘first day, second show’ though.. Ah.. N it seriously felt different.. Was used to having some input about the external n types of questions asked...
N here I was, knowing nothing of what to expect.. N adding to this, there was just a day to prepare.. I was up almost the whole nite, going thru the theory.. What if the external turns out to be ‘phadu’??...‘Do all the theory’, I told myself… But what if he turns about to be a ‘VB-Oracle’ master??..’Do all the VB controls n stuff’.. I added that to the ‘to-do list’.. N the list kept on increasing..
Finally, at 4a.m, I closed that damn Korth.. Enough is enough.. I can’t keep doing everything, thinking about the “if’s n but’s” regarding the external..
‘Just go & face it, whatever it turns out to be’, my mind told me.. N on that note, I went to bed..
The morning was great n I was completely relaxed, n at ease.. Just went through our project, one last time.. N at 12, in Lab6 with the external.. Gave the project demo.. 1-2 questions regarding the project features.. N the viva ended..!! No theory questions!! Was stunned for a moment.. Came to know then, that if he is satisfied with the project, he doesn’t ask questions on theory..
N there I was, later.. Answering calls n questions from people.. ‘External kaisa hai?? Phada kya?’.. :-)
