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the morning brought in news of two (atleast for me) sudden demises. Anil Wilson, former principal at St. Stephen’s and Michael Jackson passed away…

Now..I am a hindu graduate and to even talk good about Ste-vens is like Shahrukh stating that Aamir is a better actor…which btw he is…as is hindu better than ste-vens! :) no..seriously…i havent been a big fan of ste-vens driven largely by the snob value they exhibit…but i do think that the college is very different from the rest of the DU crowd (and i would place LSR too in the same bracket…maybe SRCC too…but no one else). and a lot of the credit for this goes to Wilson

i recall the summer of 2008, when i had just passed out of school…with a phenomenal earth shattering score of 88%..which in today’s world will surely fetch me a seat in lovely professional university (havent heard of it…CMON..!!!)…i know of my relatives who will NOT get a seat in the top 5 DU colleges even with a 90%…crazy…!

so yah…with this 88% in my hand…i applied for physics at 3 colleges…stephens, hindu and venki..! stephens was first to come up with their list and…would you believe it…i hadnt made it…short of just 1 mark…just 1 friggin mark…! i mean…had i even answered that electrode question with a diagram and nothing else…i would have got that 1 mark…!! and oh..i had also applied for electronics (gen) at stephens

i eventually made it to hindu…but not before i gave an interview for electronics at stephens. yes…i had made it to the cut-off…and sat facing wilson and a physics prof who didnt seem to be of much importance.

wilson: what do you want to do later in your life?

me: astrophysics…i want to become an astronomer or astrophysicist (and btw…there is a difference!)

wilson: so where does electronics come in the picture

me: ummm..it doesnt…but stephens is a powerful brand name

wilson: you think a brand will take you to your destiny or the content of your academic program

me: both…honestly…

wilson: no my son…trust me…tomorrow if stephens is bombed…it doesnt exist anymore…but your education will…tomorrow if we start producing criminals…the name is destroyed…but your education isnt…

me: (what the hell is this dude talking about!…if he has already decided not to take me…then just say so!)

wilson: i would love to have you in Stephen’s…but would much rather have you do what is meaningful for you..even if that means going somewhere else.

10 years down…i see the importance of his words…today i am where several of my friends from the iits/iims/srcc/stephens etc would love to be…or atleast i am where they are too..! i recall that i used to compete a lot with a friend of mine from school…in terms of who is going to score higher in the term exams…! he eventually went to DCE while i couldnt clear any of my entrance exams…and 3 years back he got placed in accenture and i was in kearney! i dont mean to undermine accenture (well…maybe to a certain bit!) but the fact is…even a DU guy with just a bsc degree is up where the other super cool studs are…

that was the first and last time i interacted with wilson…but have been following him ever since…! it is indeed a tragic loss…

…and so is MJ’s demise!! i have friggin grown up on the dangerous album cassette, which at 48 bucks was my most expensive spend till that time…! i havent been crazy about him…like some other fans who have stripped naked/fainted/lost their voice/killed their wife to arrange for concert tickets (ok i made that one up)…! but hey…i liked him…and i think everyone who grew up in the 80’s did…!

ofcourse…recent developments hadnt left much of MJ goodwill all across..but he had already done what he had come out to do…

good job dude…wish that last tour of yours had happened…