Family Migration to Bombay

Family Migrating to Bombay

Rangan received a good news from home that his younger brother Devanathan was selected in the written test and interview and he would be joining IIT Kharagpur, in the faculty of Architecture on 1 st July 1964. Rangan’s father also was to retire by the end of August 1964. A family decision was taken to migrate to Chembur, Bombay to live with our eldest brother and family. Meanwhile the elder brother of Rangan, Parthasarathy took the initiative and took the responsibility of bearing the curriculum expenses of Rangan and Devanathan. Rangan went along with his younger sister Lakshmi and donated blood in Sion Hospital in Bombay. Back in the college in Karaikudi, Rangan talked to his group mates and decided to spend the study holidays with them, in their homes and with the consent of their parents, as travelling to and fro to Bombay was time consuming and expensive. With the assistance of class mates, Rangan made a couple of visits to Karaikudi Railway Station Junction and Station Master. During the meeting with the station master, necessary information and data were collected. Rangan delivered his second talk on the “Railways- Signals and Safety”

Second Rank in SSLC

Rangan passing out of SSLC

Rangan focussed and studied very well for the ensuing examinations, from the 1st test, considering each test as the final examination. He was well prepared and answered a question in Social Studies, comparing the lives of a village boy in West Bengal and of a boy from Kerala. It was well tabulated and presented in an unique way, which had impressed the teacher.  The next day, the Social Studies teacher approached Rangan’s father and said “Rangan’s comparison of the two boys, the presentation and handwriting had been very good. I am  happy with his performance”. Father just smiled and offered the teacher Ragi Malt drink, which every body liked in the home.  Rangan took the advice of his father and used to study only from 0800 morning to 0800 night and never studied beyond that timings, even during the examinations. When the results were announced, Rangan was happy to secure second rank in SSLC examination securing 412 out of 600. The first rank was secured by his class mate and playmate  Rangachari who secured 420 out of 600.

The Moment

The moment of truth

After writing the final year examinations and bidding tearful farewell to the class mates, Rangan proceeded to settle in Bombay with his father and eldest brother Narasimhan’s family from April 1967. He gave a helping hand to his brother and sister-in-law and spent a good time enjoying the vacation. Rangan spent lots of memorable time with his sisters and brothers and their children Anu, Jayashree, Malini and Sriram as he was away for 4 years. He did not apply for any job pending the results. Rangan wrote a letter to his brother Parthasarathy that he had done very well in the examinations. One day, it was announced in newspapers that the Engineering Exam results would be announced on 15 Jun 1967 and exhibited in Madras University Building in Chepauk and subsequently the list would be available with the respective institutions. Almost all the classmates of Rangan went through the display and confirmed their passing the B.E. Degree examination in first class, second class or otherwise. None of them could confirm about Rangan’s status as either passed or failed. His roll number should have been displayed, some where in the list. He was confident that he would get good marks as told to his father and brothers. 2 more days passed without any information from Madras or classmates.  On 18 th June 1967, Rangan went to Chembur Railway Station to buy vegetables and provisions for the home. On return, he sighted the postman coming out of the building from a distance. As he stepped inside the home, his father was reclining on an easy chair and holding a post card in his hand.  Father said “Rangan! This is a post card letter for you from my friend, P.S. Ramaswamy Iyengar, sent from Madras. He has sent a separate letter to me. He had sent his son to check from Madras University, display board on the early morning on 15th June. I am told that your Roll No was separately typed, along with a couple of other rank students. Go to the Puja room, offer your prayers and then read the letter”. Rangan did accordingly and read the post card. It was a four line letter. “Congratulations Rangan! You have passed the B.E. Degree in Mechanical Engineering with Honours. My best wishes. PS Ramaswamy Iyengar. 15 Jun 1967”.

Final Year Practical

Final year- Last Exam. Practical

The last day, final year, practical in machine shop. The students stood in line and each one picked up first chit for the shift-session and the second for the machine to work.  Rangan’s test was slated for the 2nd shift-session and to work on the slotting machine. The job involved centering a circular steel piece using a rotary fixture, drilling and making a key-way in one hour’s time. Classmate Nagappan was allotted the first shift-session to work for the same work and with the same slotting machine. Nagappan was a role model for Rangan in practicals. Nagappan  did the centering and drilling in the allotted one hour and could not complete the job, though he was very good in practicals throughout.  When Rangan took charge for the second shift-session, he was surprised to see the piece already centred. All he was to do was drilling and slotting. The time Rangan remembered the Warden Venkatachalam’s advice and kept focussing only on the present. Within 45 minutes, Rangan completed the allotted job to the satisfaction of supervisor and handed over the finished job.  Rangan was called first for the viva-voce. Being the last exam, the Professor of Mechanical Engineering, RN Varadarajan took the viva-voce along with the external examiner. During the viva, Rangan revealed the truth and said “Sir. I could finish the job in time mainly because of   Nagappan, as he had done the difficult job of centering the piece”.  Professor Varadarajan said “Rangarajan! I appreciate your honesty. I will give you the highest mark in this practical and I shall also give additional marks for centering to Nagappan. My best wishes for you to become a good and respectable engineer”. When Rangan came out of the machine shop, he was totally blank for a couple of minutes.  His legs took him to the Kali Temple.

Final Year preparation

Each final year student was allotted a single room in Kuppuswamy Naidu Hostel to focus on studies and project work during 1967. Many of the final year students opted for staying in the hostel during the study holidays to be together, understand each other better and focus on securing maximum marks.  The taste of ecstasy of being in the final year and the feeling of impending separation from colleagues were weighing heavily on every one. The final year had a lot of leisure time and a project work.  Rangan had chosen “Air Conditioning of Dewan Bahadur Murugappa Chettiar Hall” within the campus to prepare a draft report on the feasibility, together with his close class mates. It was well appreciated as a group assignment. The final year examination dates were announced, starting from 15 th March 1967 to 30 th March 1967. Rangan used to study aloud, walking along the railway track nearby, adjoining shady trees.  Rangan used to study from 0800 am to 0800 pm only as rule, even during the examination days, scheduling the revisions. This happened on a day, just before the start of the final year examinations. He was studying for the Industrial Engineering Subject, walking along the railway track. By instinct , he noticed a shunting engine just a few feet away from him on the same track. Probably the engine driver, was pre-occupied with signals and not aware of Rangan’s presence. With a jerk, Rangan took courage and rolled down the ramp, as the engine was moving on an elevated track.  Without panicking, Rangan straight away proceeded to the Kali temple, where he used to offer daily prayers. He spent a couple of minutes in silence before the deity. In the meantime, a group of fellow students, stood silently by his side.  On hearing about the incident, the Warden Lecturer Venkatachalam came to the temple and consoled Rangan, after administering Tetanus injection. He said “Rangarajan! Do not ever think of the past. It is history. Do not think of the future. It is a only wish. Focus and do your best for the present. Everything will fall in line. My best wishes”.

Bolinder Engine test

Heat Engine Lab- Bolinder Engine

During his 4 th year in 1966, Rangan realised that it is always better to keep communicating with the lecturers and keep in touch with the Labs.  One day, he noticed that the Bolinder engine in the heat engine lab, was being dismantled for overhaul, as it was regularly used by the students for testing.  Rangan utilised this opportunity and recorded the design details like cylinder bore diameter, Piston dimensions, stroke length and other relevant details in the observation book, before they were assembled. On the day of the practical examination, the students were asked to pick up chits and on picking the chit, Rangan was thrilled to read “Brake Test on Bolinder Engine”. This gave him a huge advantage in practical. The external examiner in viva-voce test was surprised to see the data recorded and tabulated in the observation book. He said  “Rangarajan! I am happy with your approach and I am giving you maximum marks.” During the last few days, Rangan was feeling a vacuum after bidding farewell and wishing Rangachari a bright future.

First year Quarterly Examinations

Rangan studied very hard. On hearing about Rangan’s selection to Engineering College, Rangan’s sister-in-law’s brother by name Srinivasan gifted him with a Multi Log Slide rule on his return from London. This slide rule had been the pride possession of Rangan for long.  There were 180 class mates for the 3 faculties Mechanical, Electrical and Civil Engineering. In the quarterly examination conducted by the college, Rangan secured the third rank and was offered a book on Structural Design.  On going through the marks, he realised that he could have got the first rank, if he had done the machine design drawings better. Those with less neatness were getting more marks. He approached the lecturer Venkatachalam and sought his advice. Venkatachalam said “Rangarajan ! We give as many marks for indicating dimension lines, centre lines and dotted lines for the Plan, Elevation and Endviews besides marks for neatness also. Neatness is not everything in Drawing. Drawing is the Language of Engineers”. Rangan got the clue. Rangan’s eldest brother was working in Bombay in VSNL Satellite Communication Wing. As Rangan became familiar with the subjects and classmates, he collected data from on satellite communications. In September 1962, he delivered his first talk on “Overseas Communication through Satellites”. This had earned a good name and appreciation for Rangan from Lecturers and Professors.  Towards the end of the year, more like minded classmates joined him in studies. Rangan formed a group of five with Narasimhan, Chandrasekhar, Sadhasivam, Sampath and Rangan, to gather data from Library, tutorial books, earlier years’ question papers with the sole aim of documenting, understanding and obtaining good marks as a group. During the annual examinations, Rangan made it a point to include all dimension lines and was glad to secure the third rank in the college, amongst 180 classmates.  Other team mates also secured good marks strengthening the morale of the group in working together.