PUC and BE Admission woes---- 1965 to 1966

I passed my SSLC in 1st Class in May 1965 and applied to KGF First Grade College for PUC ( Pre-University Course) in PCM ( Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics).
I got my admission and classes started in Jul 1965.

For the first time in many years, there was no need to wear a school uniform and there was a sense of freedom. We had 5 subjects--- English,Hindi,Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I had set my eyes on doing Engineering and , prior to joining PUC, I had been to Mysore during the holidays with my dad.There we met A.Venkateshaiya, dad's uncle and a leading lawyer in Mysore.He told me " Get 80% in PCM and you are assured of a seat in NIE--- National Institute of Engineering in Mysore.

So that was my target in PUC--- get 240 marks out of 300 in PCM.The rest did not matter.

Wonder of wonders--- there were actually 4 girls in our class of 50.One of them was Parveen Wahid who was my classmate in Convent.For the morbidly curious, let me straightaway clarify that she was not the "Z" I had referred to in one of my earlier blogs.The other 3 were some "pavam" girls whose names I do not recollect.

From school, I had K.B.Ravi, Sasi, Achiah, George Abraham, Subramani and M.A.Ravindra to keep me company in PCM.I'm not sure if Len Ryder took PCM or whether he went to History, Politics & Civics or Economics.Need to check with him.

We also had NCC twice a week.Colin Chapman was the Senior Under Officer and he cut a dashing figure in his NCC Uniform and highly polished boots.The best part about NCC was eating the delicious muffins afterwards.

Mrs.Jagadish took Physics and I had to resist the temptation to call her "Aunty" instead of "Madam" since I used to meet her very often at the Club and at social occasions.

Mr.K.S.Vibhakar and Mrs.David took English.Mrs.David had taught us Social Studies in School so she was another familiar figure.I still remember her husband dropping her off at school and college on his motorbike.

I forget who taught us Chemistry,Maths and Hindi.One more reason why we should put our memories down to paper or online.

We also attended our NCC Camp.It happened like this.We were in our 1st year in NCC and not really compelled to attend the camp.However, some of us got a call that the tents had been set up in Gymkhana Grounds and we could join the camp if we liked.I remember that Len, Subramani, M.A.Ravindra, Achiah and I attended this camp.Not sure who else among our group was there.

We had great fun packing and enjoying tent life.Dad and mom also came to see me with mom fretting over the "inconveniences" that I was being put through.I think the Camp went on for a week and included a trek to Bethamangala.The camp also enabled me to interact with some of my seniors who were in BA and BSc.We also had shooting with a
.303 Rifle in a shooting range near the Ulagamadhi Hills close to KGF.

It was in PUC that I participated and won my first Quiz competition which was a forerunner to many other Quiz competitions in my working career.

The term was over in Feb and then I sat down preparing for my exams.Dad used to wake me up in the early mornings and frequently reminded me that this was the most important exam for my career.In a sense it was, since good marks in PUC meant admission in an Engineering College which was supposed to be a passport to a good career.

Dad and mom went off to Bhadravathi to attend Kamalakshi's wedding on 6th Mar( or was it 8th Mar?), 1966 and I bravely plodded on with my studies.

Finally, the PUC exams got over by 20th Mar and I then spent one of the best 4 months of my life visiting Bangalore, Chitradurga and Bhadravathi and attending various weddings.

Mom had prepared Haal Obbattu ( one of my favourite sweets)for my 15th birthday on
21st Mar.In early April, I went to Bangalore and visited the Congress Exhibition.Rummy and I attended Lily's wedding as well as my cousin Thammayya's Chikkappa's wedding and then all of us went to Chitradurga to attend Gayathri's( Shiva's daughter) wedding.The wedding was held in the Dodda Mane and the groom was Ramakrishna whose mother Rathnamma was the sister of Lakshmidevamma ( Appaji's wife).

Rathnamma's husband was a Justice of the Peace( JP) and was the Editor of a Kannada Newspaper.I forget his name and I'm guessing it was Shamanna.He was a very friendly person and treated me as an adult even though I was just 15 years old.

Rathnamma had a shock of white hair with a big round kunkuma and perpetually twinkling eyes.Till now, I have not met a lady who had as much lakshana( grace) as her.

Apart from Ramakrishna, their other children were Shankar( who was then a captain in the Army), Ranganna ( a journalist like his father), Ramdas ( my age and who became a doctor) as well as a daughter who was also called Gayathri.The entire family( parents included) were fun-loving and we all had a roaring time in the wedding.

After the wedding, we all went on a picnic to the Chitradurga Fort and Capt Shankar regaled us with nice Army songs.

From Chitradurga, I went to Bhadravathi in the company of Thammayya ( Vasu--- Saraswathi's son)and we spent a nice few days there in the company of Shankara and Nanjunda.

I came back to Bangalore to attend Kanta's wedding on 6th Jun 1966 at Bangalore and then came home to KGF to await my results.
The results were duly announced in "Deccan Herald" and I had got a First Class with an overall percentage of 72.2% with 78.8% in PCM.I was a bit shattered since I had expected at least 80% and wondered whether this was enough to get me a seat in Engineering.

Anyway, I filled up the necessary forms for applying to the Directorate of Technical Education and was called for an interview on 21st Jun 1966.Dad took me to Bangalore in his sidecar and I carried all my papers with me.

There was a new complication.The prevailing rules had mentioned that I should have completed 16 years by 1st Oct 1966 to be considered for admission to Engineering but I would not have met this criterion.

Anyway, I went and attended the interview.I was already tall for my age ( around 5ft 9")and the interviewers were surprised to note that I would not be fulfilling the age criteria.

I returned to KGF and found that that I had not been selected because I was underage.

Dad was shocked and immediately consulted his uncle Anantharamiah and cousin Mari and filed a writ petition in the High Court.The Court immediately stayed the DTE's orders pending the final judgement and ordered that I and two others should be admitted immediately in an Engineering College.

This judgement appeared in "Deccan Herald" with my name mentioned and so I had already become a celebrity.

Within a couple of days, I got a letter offering admission in BDT College of Engineering,Davangere and I was asked to report immediately.The reality that I would be leaving the comforts of home hit me then and I felt pretty depressed.

I remember that we all went to see a Kannada picture " Badukuva Daari" at Olympia Talkies the evening before my departure and mom wouldn't talk to dad because she was pretty upset about my leaving.

Dad and I travelled to Davangere and we stayed at the residence of M.S.Ramachandra's ( dad's colleague) sister in Davangere.The admission formalities in college were over but I didn't get admission in the hostel.As a temporary measure, I stayed in the room of Hari ( my Nundydroog Mine neighbour) who was then studying in his 4th Year.Hari was already sharing his room with his classmate so I was feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Matters continued like this for a week and then I wrote a letter to dad that I was finding it difficult to get admission in the hostel.

Dad briefly mentioned this to his good friend G.N.Krishnamurthy ,a rice merchant in Bangarpet who with his wife had become family friends by now.GNK and my dad were classmates in Central College,Bangalore and revived their friendship after over 15 years.

GNK immediately picked up the phone and made a trunk call to his good friend S.V.Gopala Setty who was the Principal of Malnad College of Engineering , Hassan.
Gopala Setty immediately offered admission in MCE and also said that , if need be, I could stay at his house till I got admission in the hostel. These are words that stay in mind after 44 years because they impacted me so much.

Dad immediately left for Davangere again and came straight to the hostel and asked me to pack my bags since I would be shifting to Hassan.We then caught the night train to Hassan and immediately went to the hostel where my KGF friend Priyan was staying.He was studying in the 2nd year.

The college admission was over and I was allotted Room No 31 in the Old Block of the Hostel. My room-mates were B.K.Murali ( who was also underage like me and had filed the writ petition along with me)and C.R.Bhashyam.

I was relieved that I had finally found a college seat and ,more importantly ,hostel accomodation.

The one lesson that I learnt from this was that steely determination could get you anything and I have to admire my dad's persistence in the face of heavy odds.It's not easy to file writ petitions and go to court but dad was absolutely convinced that he was right and didn't hesitate to spend money.

The admission saga had not ended and I'll be covering this in my next blog when I write about my first year in the engineering college.

Bye for now.