Sunday, August 15, 2010

ASCO SUMMERS: Beginning of a new voyage

Here I am beginning from where I left behind.


I wondered whether I had entered an all girl's class. That was so silly of me in believing it; not realizing that in college there is no such thing as separate classes for boys and girls. Suddenly a tall boy came towards me. I wondered whether I was going to be ragged. But the chap shook hands with me and said" Hi, Me Shashank." And this chap is Shashank Mehra, one of my very good friends that I have in this institution.


As I begin to pen down my experience in these two years, I am reminded of a lot of memories which are continuously hitting my brain at the moment. I entered ASCO as a student totally puzzled, confused about my future in this cruel and competitive world. However, these two years have moulded me to some extent to bravely face the world. Now coming back to the school of "gems", I would say BJMC III C. I have deliberately chosen the word gems because I have learnt a lot from them since when I met all of them.

Many people ask me as to how is it that from being a low ranked student in school and failing to even score a pass mark in my subjects, I have transformed myself to a good level of academic level. Without hesitating for a moment, I reply- that is because of the support which I have got from my classmates. This class is full of extremely talented and humble people who have a great career waiting for them ahead. Honestly speaking, the numerical equation has also contributed to a bit of my academic turnaround. When you have an astounding majority of 30 something pretty faces around you, it becomes very significant for any ordinary guy like me to make a mark in this class( I fear I might have offended many of them by my naive statement. sorry). However, I have some of the great friends in this class who have brought about a great change in my life. And inshallah, if I do something big in life these people will also have their share of credit.

An interesting incident comes into my mind while I am talking about my class at this moment. It was way back in 2008 during the initial weeks in ASCO. As I am very fond of News & Current Affairs ever since class 5, it was the presentation day in my class. Our teacher Nipunika Mam had asked us for a group presentation on the latest news personalities. Ours was the last group to present. I was very nervous as all the five groups had performed really well before me. To add to the woes, I was asked to present on behalf of my group. I was really nervous which was evident in my fumbling during speaking. After I finished speaking, I saw the class in dead silence. I was scared thinking whether I had messed everything up. But to my surprise Mam gave me a perfect 10.

That's where my story started.

( Next: People who have changed my life.)

Prelude...Prequel.....Whatever...:P

" Mass Comm!!! What's that?"




" Why go to Noida? It’s too far."



" Why change stream after schooling in Science?"

These were the questions being asked to an 18 year old student who had just finished his schooling and was ready to face the big fierce competitive world. These questions were a part of a daily routine for this boy possessing a skeletal-like physique who had dreamt of entering the world of media ever since he was in his tenth standard. The skinny boy used to love writing stories right from the age of nine. Instead of comic books, he was made to read magazines and newspapers by his parents. Never had he imagined that a time will come exactly after ten years when he will get an opportunity to join the profession of journalism which mostly catered to newspapers and magazines.

Fast Forward. Cut to 2008. Sorry for making you all to wait so long to know who the skeletal boy is. That’s me. It was a time when I finally cleared my Class XII Board Exams successfully with a “whopping” 76%. I deliberately used this term as I hadn’t expected that I would even pass this time. As the inspirational speeches by great leaders fascinated me more than Faraday’s Laws of Electromagnetic Induction and the Ketones and Ethers failed to inspire me at all. Finally, I decided to pursue Bachelors in Journalism and Mass Communication from Amity University, Noida. The reason why I chose Amity was mainly because of its huge infrastructure and the brand status which it had attained at that time, thanks to the colossal ads in the prominent national dailies.

Finally, the day came. I left my cozy home in Dhanbad, Jharkhand to head towards a place entirely stranger to me. Noida, a city famous for IT companies, glitzy malls and the most important thing which mattered to me, Amity University.

Fast Forward. August 11, 2008. It was my first day in ASCO or in expanded notation, Amity School of Communication. I only knew what I had read about this institution on the website. I still remember I was tensed about the incidents of ragging in the colleges in recent years and being late for a week made me bite my nails in fear.

After enquiring with some people, I entered my class BJMC 1 C which was just opposite our Head of Department’s office. As soon as I entered the class bustling with the people who were my classmates, I stood still. There were girls and only girls everywhere. I wondered whether there were separate classes for girls and unknowingly I had entered an all girls…….