Four Year Term at SJCE

That meeting with Satish was my first solid step towards becoming a HAM.

I had just the week before been invited to join the Sunny Side Cricket Team – the junior level of the famous The Mysore Gymkhana – where my elder brother was already a well entrenched match winner. (I was a medium pace bowler with quite a bit of pace and swing myself – but that is quite a different story). Also I have a feeling (I have no confirmation on this – sorry if I am wrong) that a new comer in the same period to the team was a person who went on the achieve great laurels – Javagal Srinath.

The training class was scheduled to start at 5.30 PM on all week days. I therefore had to make a choice between two – a “hobby – cum – family tradition” – SPORTS – or a “passion” – HAM Radio. This is again a situation that makes me believe in the “Destined to be a HAM” that I have mentioned about.

I broke “tradition” and gave up sports to take up my “passion”. I joined the HAM training classes. So, on the designated date I cycled to SJCE and there I was standing in front of the Ganesha Temple (not to pray but that was where Satish had asked me to wait) at 4.55 PM (remember the class was scheduled to begin only at 5.30 PM). At 5.15 Satish and others came out of their classes and walked past me – with a “wait, we will come”. Come back, they did after about 10 minutes. Promptly at 5.30 the training did begin and off I was on my way to becoming a HAM radio operator. During this period I met the other operators from Mysore – Yogesh (VU2YSG – not much of contact with him), Anuj (VU2JUN – presently working in Bangalore), Shiv (VU2SSR – went on to become a lecturer at the same college – presently Vice President of EXCEL SOFT), etc.

I was on my way to learn a new language. MORSE CODE.

That also started my four year term at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering – as an evening “student” – not for their Engineering Course but for their HAM course.

In fact such was my punctuality that certain ex students whom I had met only casually later used to ask if I had finished my Engineering!!!