SCREW THAT JACK

Engineers know how to draw. Yes, sure they do. But what finally comes out of the Engineering Drawing session is nothing less than modern art at best. It took our professors one complete semester to tell us how to fix a mini drafter on to the drawing table. No doubt they never expected us to draw something which manufacturers would understand. The instructions were very simple. There are two components, a 'connecting rod' and a 'screw jack'. Learn them and you can clear the exams. Although there were eight other component drawings in our syllabus we had complete faith in our education system. They cannot go beyond the basic two designs.

It was seventh semester final exams and next day was Engineering Drawing exam. As for the two of the class back bencher, vichu and I were playing cricket. Years later I realized it helped us to relax and perform better in the exams. Hell if we had know it earlier we would have made a pitch right in front of our class rooms. I casually asked my giant friend Vichu, (although he has lost a lot of weight now... god knows what they feed him in Australia. This is surely a fall out of the racism there and I strongly protest against it...) can there be a chance that they will give a component drawing in tomorrows exam other than the two we had just scribbled on our note books. He grinned as if he had just heard about news of infidelity of his girl friend. Thank god for the inertia of his extra weight he never came and hit me. But the message was loud and clear, we will not discuss of any other drawing (I still do not know what the other drawings were).

Next day in the morning we were again travelling in our beloved PNK SRT bus. After all these years today I realize we never tried to find out what it really meant. As usual we didnot get a seat, but our speko friend Amol had his seat near the window pretty well occupied. If I had that luck I would have slept all the way up to the college. But he ofcourse was the torch bearer of the 'RICH PEOPLE CAN BE HUMBLE' group. He was sitting with many drawing sheets and a giant smile on his face which said 'I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST AFTERNOON...' I kept my distance as I knew he can be a potential demoralizer, especially two hour ahead of the exams. But who can stop Vichu. He went ahead and asked the deadliest of all questions.... 'Hey, whats in those sheets'. The grin on the Specko's face grew another four inches either side. He said he had done all the drawings in the syllabus atleast once. He took names of components which seemed more like names of our forefathers contemporary to Greeks and Romans.

Just in front of the examination hall Vichu and I looked at each other as if our death sentence was about to be handed over to us. And whats worse we were not even married... As we entered in to the hall, Vichu recollected the names of all the Gods and Goddesses he knew. Some how I heard Shakila and Pamela also in those names, although I was not in mood to inquire about the details.

The question paper was of four pages although what really mattered was the last page, last question. I was somehow not finding the courage to open that last sheet. Then suddenly I saw the hand of Yuvraj going up in the air with a 'thumbs Up' sign. It surely meant 'All izz Well'. And surely it was. The SCREW JACK had lifted our souls. And we surely screwed it. All of us did pretty well. HAIL BHARTHIYAR.... HAIL BHARTHIYAR UNIVERSITY.....