An Audio Engineer - Am i?

THIS BLOG IS ABOUT THE STORY OF ME SO FAR!!!

Well! I was an average guy in class right from school and never really bothered much about studies. My wish was to become a software engineer and enter in to Infosys (Which was my dream company at that time). As expected i got lower grades in my 12th grade public examinations(managed to pass though). 

The only course i could afford to get in an engineering college - Media Technology (But ended up getting a degree in Electronics & Media Technology. Lol. The course name itself got changed). I had to select between three courses - Civil, Media, Food Processing and i selected Media, thinking i will still have the chance of getting in to software industry which i was interested in. "The first course in engineering in media", "Studios", "Graphics", "Animation", "Gaming".."blah..blah.." These words were good enough to convince my parents and relatives and me as well to an extent. So i have finally joined in  Media Technology.

COLLEGE: The first day of college and there was a test - tat too in "ENGLISH" for splitting of students in to different sections. Different groups of students from different branches are mixed up and put in different sections. I was put in "B" section along with some ppl from media tech and the remaining from E&I. First day at college, met uthiesh raju, dilip kumar, charles dickens, allwin n many more. I sat in the first bench thinking i should study well as i got less grades in my school. CHARLES Dickens - the first fight (LOL!! - Charles hope u remember :P). But later he turned out to be one of my best buddy. College life started going normal with routines. The first year with common syllabus does not create much of problems and i managed to get average grades.

MEDIA TECHNOLOGY: Starting of Second year -  Media technology from different sections put together in to a single class. Ragging by seniors, new staffs, Electronics subjuects, Maths, Programming Languages etc..We were under the Department of Electronics & Communication.  It was going fine and suddenly the confusion starts. "Where are the studios", "No media subjects", "No media Staffs". Lol, most of our classes went in discussions and arguments. But as i was not much interested in media, i was not really bothered. I was always interested in learning technical things. Finally two staffs were appointed and one among that was Mr.Leo. 

Finally at the end of second year we had a separate department with media subjects and staffs. Luckily inspite of so many fights we still had some papers on maths and some other technical subjects were not removed, which has helped many of us in various ways.

Third Year: Well!! This is the year most of the things had happened both good as well as bad. Quite a number of new staffs were appointed. One among that was Mr. Emmanuel Jerry Rajadhas - the one who is responsible for wat i'm today. Though we never had a subject on Audio, he use to come and take classes during free hours and teach audio. I have never imagined even in my wildest of dreams that i will enter in to the field of audio or even learn about audio. If it was not for him, i would have surely not known even tat such a field exists. Although i did not have much of interest in audio initially, i started learning it as it was the only useful thing that was happening those days. Most of our classes were free as no staffs will come. The studios were getting ready. Atleast we had hopes of seeing the studios before we finish our course..

Electronics & Media Technology: The Next confusion - Should we be given a B.E degree or B.Tech degree. The title of the course should be Media technology or Electronics & Media Technology?? Arguments & Fights favoring both the sides and finally decided with the Electronics & Media Technology. Very Few people were worried about what we were studying rather than the degree or the name of the course. 

Night Classes on Audio: Though i was not very close with jerry sir initially, after the fight with him on an issue, became close with him and started attending the evening time classes after college hours. It was a very few number of ppl who stayed for these classes and it use to go on really late. There were instances where we have stayed overnight and attended classes for the next day straight away. Never knew a person can make learning so much easier and interesting. Yup, Learning became fun and interesting for the first time. Started liking the evening classes more than the college. His classes were so interesting that, there were instances where few of my friends bunk the college and come to college in the evening for jerry sir's classes. He was able to relate with anyone so easily since he had a vast knowledge on almost any area that you can imagine. Whatever questions on any area asked by any person, he will have an answer to say. He inspired me to read a lot and learn new things and gain knowledge on various domains. I started reading and doing studies on own in audio as well as other areas of engineering. I use to read and get my doubts cleared in the next classes. Even for the stupidest of doubts he use to explain and make us understand. We were helping him in the making of the audio studios from the very beginning. The cables, Patch Panels, the tables, PC, tables, - we were a part of it in the making. We stayed more time in the studios than in our hostel rooms at those times. Though i had started learning audio  with interest, still i had my dreams on getting selected in a software company through campus interviews. After all, that was my childhood dream. 

CAMPUS INTERVIEWS: It was towards the end of 3rd year, companies started coming to the campus for recruitment. And Infosys was one among them. It was my dream company which i always wanted to get in to. I prepared the whole night for the aptitude before the interview date and i was confident of clearing the aptitude. I did clear the aptitude round and went on for the personal interview which was the last round. It was almost like final if you clear the aptitude round for the infosys. The personal interview is just for a formality. But to my surprise i have not cleared the personal interview. Around 8 people were rejected from the people who cleared the aps round. and i was one among the rejected few. That was the worst day of my life i thought. Many other companies came for interviews. but i did not get in any of them. And finally i decided to go for higher studies as i did not get any good offers. 

MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGY: I joined again in the same college and again a new course Multimedia technology. I did not know seriously if i was doing a mistake by selecting a new course again. But then, i thought i can atleast learn things from jerry sir if i stay there. These two years is the time when i started a lot of self learning and started studying things on own. Though the college syllabus was very easily manageable, i still use to read whenever i get free time. I learned anything and everything that came my way. I came to know that it will be useful for me somewhere. Things that i learned with respect to audio during these days  were very minimal. I still wanted to get a chance to go in to a software company. I got an offer from wipro through the campus interview.I was very happy and i thought finally i am getting in to a software company. 

AUDIO ENGINEER: When everything was going fine, there was an interview call from a company for the post of Audio Engineer. It was forwarded to me and i thought i will just go and attend since it was told that they will pay my travel expenses and food and accommodation. The interview lasted for 3 hours. The job profile was too big and the responsibilities were bigger for a fresh candidate. Till then i have seen line arrays only in pictures, Let alone line arrays, i have not worked on normal audio systems itself on my own. I had only theoretical knowledge. But in interview it was told to me i have to buy a line array system and operate rhat and maintain it. The interview panel was satisfied with my knowledge on audio and they selected me. I was in a dilemma as i had an offer from wipro and on the other side this offer. "Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood" Lol. Finally i had chosen this offer as an audio engineer and joined here. That is how i became an Audio Engineer. I have done quite a few projects here on audio which i will update in my next post. Well!! I am an audio engineer too!!