Page 21 - Love Story of a Commando

student. This changed our college environment drastically and once again we
were burdened with piles of assignments. Seniors were often found with
bags under their eyes, wound up on caffeine, eating Maggi while working on
assignments before the next class. The smug smiles of our professors and
their sudden rise in confidence while dealing with us announced the
fulfillment of their long-held grudges. Juniors giggled at us, and we swore to
take revenge as soon as we were placed.
It felt like a complete fail, a terrible series of events, a failed plan. No
senior deserved that.
In short, life sucked.
Finally, ‘D Day’ arrived when ‘Day Zero’ announced the arrival of
top multinational companies. There are usually three types of IT companies
that approach engineering colleges for placements. MNCs with global
offices, MSEs which may or may not have global offices, and start-ups
which are usually based in India. Most students get placed into IT companies
owning to their comparatively hefty packages and prospects of onsite
projects abroad. Other than that, core companies also visit college campuses
to recruit students. The placement cell functions with full efficiency during
this time of year and behaves like royalty unlike the rest of the year when
they hide in their nerdy dungeons and others think of them as complete
college misfits.
Every company, irrespective of the pay packages, looks to hire smart
brains and ensure that every hired candidate is the top of the lot. Good
aptitude, good at logic, good at communication, well versed in basic
technology, a topper since kindergarten and what not; they truly believe that
all these qualities can be found in one single student.
In the lead up to the placement day, Gods and Goddesses replaced
Justin Bieber and Rihanna posters in our rooms. Heart rates were on the
verge of causing massive heart attacks, the bathrooms were converted to
strategy centers and cigarette butts were commonly sighted everywhere.
Each batchmate who found a placement was an outcast, spontaneously
ostracized from the main social circle. The placed students had a hard time
finding a mate to boast about their glories or even to raise a toast over their
secured future. Break-ups among couples were high and they began to
behave like arch enemies if one was placed and the other was not.
In short, it was like a nightmare.
Thank God, I got placed in a medium-tier company and that too not
so soon, although the inter-batch rivalry and jealousy lasted till everyone
was placed. Once the whole lot was placed, the ‘Herculean spirits’ were
back again, and generous hugs replaced the cold stares among peers and
tears patched up the break-ups. We were one big happy community again
with more important and significant agendas like ragging the juniors,