Starting an year with hopes and ending it with an uncertain future

An year gone since i landed in Singapore and my gosh!!! how much to look back... Let me go through the days that flew by..

Landing in Singapore on Chirstmas Eve 2007 and recieved by pradeep (a UG classmate and to be PG classmate). The day i came i was dumbstck by the grandeur of the airport. alighted at Terminal 1- Jet airways and the sight of huge walkways and travellators just excited me and my eyes couldnt ask for more. The first taxi trip to YOHA Hostel still remains in mind. My roommates were a wonderful mix. An indian, 2 malaysians and 2 indonesians. Celebrated New Year with a countdown and 5 mins of Fireworks in the shores of Singapore River along with Sathiyavelan. Registration, Orientation, Welcome Gathering, Subject Registration Medical Test, Immigration Formalities all flew by and MY!!!! classes started. Along with that came the challenge of starting my Dissertation work under Dr. Luo Fang Lin under the topic "Super Lift DC/DC Converter" (I ought to mention that he had found tat converter and any amount of googling would lead to his name only and also tat he has found 28 converters till date). Ought to mention the fact that i broke my 1 yr contract with the hostel and moved to a plush home with class mates and frnds. They are Naveen Basha, Lokesh, Saravanan, Nazreen Banu, Gomathi and her husband, Arunachalam on Jan 16th.

New atmosphere to contend with n of course the huge task of studying after 18 months of work. Sleep was inevitably round the corner whenever i open a book. Selected four papers and finally settled down with a plan of studyin everyday, but it was never to be and days flew past like months and classes were gettin over at rapid rates with some professors condcting class tests which further intensified the hate for exams. Got lot of new friends and among them most natably part time students like Prakash and Sethu. Some more classes and the truth hit me hard --- exams are a stone's throw away.. Prepared a timetable for preparing along with arun, sethu and prakash.

There came a jolt. Some problem in house(lets not get into it) and was told to request to vacate after the exams. It came as a lightning bolt from a blue sky and threatened to hamper preparations. But still managed to overcome it started perparations. Never would i forget those days. Sleep at 7 AM - Wake up at 1 PM - go to univ - study till 6 AM.... God!! my life style has changed. Sittin in Canteen B days(sorry... nights) passed with exams nearing and tons of stuff from printed papers being loaded into the fist sized brain. Exams went as usual with half the questions answered properly and other half scribbled. 2 weeks later i came to find out how stressed i was due to these exams and slept for 2 days to relieve that stress.

It was now time for searchin a place to shift and later me and lokesh decided to move into Hall 11 in the university for three months till the vacation ends. It was time when many went home but we stayed back in singapore. Time was hard to kill and occasionally Project Work and Part Time job helped in killing the time. Days meandered along at snail pace. Visited Sentosa, Bird Park, Night Safari and a horde of other places. Thanks to santosh the last 30 days of vacation went a bit faster(due to him stannering about missing home). And again come july first week, its was time to search for new accomodation. Found one in Student Hostel and myself along with lokesh, arun and ashok moved in on july 16th signing an one year contract again.

Arrival of new students and more friends. Second semester started and again choosed four papers. For the first time our group was split between two papers and i selected one along with santosh wheras arun, gomathi et all choosed the other. Started working on project in full swing which lead to the pressure of completing the project within 3 months increasing everyday. One month into the semester started facing problems and numerous doubts in the project. Prof guided me well and introduced me to a PhD student Jiao Yan Ping who was kind enought to help me out and again days and nights passed away in EPR lab and Canteen B in view of completing the project. Prof Luo's occasional help and guidance carried me through and his confidence in me grew as it neared completion. Days flew by without notice loads of syllabus finished and Mid semester holidays(Recess Week) announced its arrival after a jolt given by the internal tests conducted by professors. Deadlines approaching and classes nearing its end mounted huge pressure and climbing up the ladder in the "TO DO" list was job search. Somewhere in the fag end of september, got the go ahead for starting the thesis work and was much relieved for the simulation work had got over. Gave a rough draft to Prof Luo 15 days before the exams and told him that i'll continue work on the project after the exams.

Slogging out period started and yet again another timetable was prepared with everybody's ifs and buts sorted out. Night Out's in Canteen B started with arun, gomathi,, sethu, prakash and vellian joining. Serious slogging out and November 26 was the last exam i wrote in NTU. An evening get together agganged and stress of the exams was brought down with a nice and a calm dinner. End of exams and then a couple of days of sleep later back to thesis work. Numerous corrections and print outs later got the go ahead to submit the thesis to the programme director. Meanwhile job search was the priority and everything else was far behind in importance. Reports of recession poured in and anexity increased along with fear.

A couple of weeks later again after some corrections submitted the thesis for examination and wow.. i have completed the course successfully. Here i am today sittin at home and searching for job opportunities admist pouring reports of retrenchment and unemployment.

Looking forward to the next year.