Suresh B. Kulkarni Experiences in his own words BE MECH 1964
I was born on 13 June 1944 around 9 p. m. in Hyderabad, India at a time when the Monsoon season was just beginning and the mango season was coming to an end. I have a few memories of my early childhood, from maybe 2-6 years of age: playing with friends, going to school, and eating dirt( which gave me stomach worms-ugh!). My mother had hired a rickshaw and its owner, the“ rickshawalla” to take my sister, Roshni and me to and from school. One day the car of a prominent government official hit our rickshaw while we were on our way home. While we were not hurt, we got to ride home in his car and were the envy of all our neighbors. Another time, my mother gave me new pens and told me not to take them to school. But I did anyway and someone stole them. I remember that I cried a lot that day.
My school career started at All Saints High School, a school for boys from Kindergarten to 6th standard( 6th grade). I did very well at the school and had a double-promotion, from the second to the fourth standard and skipping fifth, I moved on to the sixth. Another promotion was suggested, but my mother said no. In 1952, the parent school of All Saints opened a new school called Little Flower High School and my whole class of about 40 students was transferred there. That was the same year I started having trouble with math and got low scores, so my mother spent the entire summer holidays coaching me and taught me not to memorize but to capture the concept. From then on, I consistently scored 100 / 100 in every examination. My parents gave me a bicycle when I entered high school and I rode it three miles to and from school everyday. In 1959, when I was 15 years old, I graduated in first class in a state-wide examination. There are four classes based on marks: first: 70 percent and above; second: 50-70 percent; third: 30-50 percent; and failed: less than 30 percent. My parents presented me with my first wristwatch to commemorate my achievement.
The first year in college, known as Pre-University Course( PUC), was my first exposure to a co educational system-there were two girls in our class. Because we boys were afraid of girls, we avoided talking to them. In the PUC exam I scored over 90 percent in Math and Science( physics and chemistry), which enabled me to get into engineering, a five-year course. I also received recognition for scoring the highest marks in chemistry. Both the PUC and the first year of engineering were held in Nizam College about two miles from home. The bicycle continued to be the mode of transportation. The second through final year of engineering was held on the Osmania University campus. This was 8 miles from home, so for that I had to ride the bus. Engineering was fun.
When I graduated“ first class with distinction”, ranking sixth of the top ten students in the entire state of Andhra Pradesh, the newspaper printed my name along with the nine others. To see my name was a“ mind-blower!”. That was March 1965. My dad had decided that I should do my master’ s degree, a two-year course, at the Indian Institute of Technology( IIT) in Kharagpur near Calcutta, about 1,000 miles from home. This IIT was the top engineering school in India and there was stiff competition for entrance. Each applicant had to go through a three-day exam; first two days, written and the third, oral.
There were five areas of specialty: Production, Industrial, Foundry, Machine Design and Material handling. Each area admitted only seven students. Production, the area I wanted to join, had the highest demand because we knew those graduates had the best job prospects. After the exams, the selection committee posted the names of the selected candidates on a bulletin board. I had“ woolies” in my stomach as I approached the board, thinking.“ What if I didn ' t get selected?” But my name was there!
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