What I have been up to lately

I've been having those blog blues everyone seemed to be writing about sometime back. You know, didn't write because I couldn't think of anything interesting to say.

"Doesn't seem to stop you from talking", observed the missus, "not having anything interesting to say, I mean".

The missus confuses insult for wit, but I am dignity personified.

"Many people enjoy my writing, I will have you know", I told her in my most majestic manner, drawing myself up to my full height, which being half an inch less than the elder son, robs me of my alpha male status.

Any way, all this is by way of introduction to what I wanted to write about, which is that I'm back to school. Well sort of. I joined a course in Robotics.

When I announced my intention to join up, the missus raised a shapely eyebrow.

"Why?" I asked her combatively "you think I'm too old for the classroom?"

"Naren, this course is for final year engineering students looking to add some value to their CVs, not geriatric wannabe technology geeks."

She seemed to have read the prospectus.

"Well, I'm joining up anyway", I told her, chest out, stomach in, like my gym instructor keeps telling me.

And off I went, with the requisite amount of finance in my hands. The young lady in charge curtly asked me for my qualifications and asked me if I could see programming.

"I beg your pardon?"

"See programming", she reiterated.

"See Programming? I'm afraid I don't understand.. Ah C programming!" I'm pretty quick on the uptake. The lady was referring to the ability to write instructions for computers in a language called, for reasons best known to the highest echelons of geekness, 'C'.

I confessed that I was not an expert.

"It is very very important." she asserted, sternly, adding "If you don't know C programming, we will set you on fire" or something along those lines.

I decided something had to be done about this, and walked into a computer training institute near my house. An earnest young woman made me fill out a form and accepted my fees.

"We will start day after tomorrow, she told me.

When I reached home, I got a call from her.

"Sir, there are a couple of things you left out in the form. Could you come by and complete it?"

"If I tell you over the phone, could you fill it out yourself?" I asked her

"I suppose so", she replied. "Ok, what's your father's name?"

"V. V. Shenoy"

"And what is your date of birth?"

"21st april 1965"

Pause

"I mean YOUR date of birth, sir, not your father's"

Now it is my turn to pause.

"Miss, that IS my date of birth."

"Oh."

Well that was that as far as the computer training institute was concerned but the robotics course had its charming moments too.

We did the usual first session hellomynameis stuff followed by branch and year of passing out. I passed my engineering in 1986. All the other students are born after this date. And the teacher calls me "Sir". Most of the class thought I was on deputation from the State Government to assess the quality of students and teachers, and spent the first two sessions behaving as if I was an Aztec god looking for some decent human sacrifices..............