Visit to VTU(Visvesvaraya Technological University, Jnana Sangama, Belgaum)

First off, this is what I would like to tell anyone who is planning to obtain their transcripts from VTU – apply early!! This would mean a lot of savings – both money and time-wise. For those applying early, there is the option of applying through the college. You could get the necessary info from the Examination Section of the concerned engineering college. You could take receipt of the transcripts in about 5-6 weeks from date of application. However, I dint have the liberty of applying early, so what I did was as follows:Pre-preparations: From what I read on a few blogs, I came to know that Xerox copies of original marks cards have to be submitted along with the application. One blogger had even written that the copies had to be attested by the college principal. Not wanting to take any chances, on the eve of my departure to Belgaum, I coerced my dad to go to my college armed with the originals and copies of the marks cards, and try to get them attested. I was very lucky in that the attestations were done on the same day (it usually doesn’t work that way in my college!!).I also got dad to obtain a DD of the required amount from Bangalore itself, since we did not want to waste time running around for DDs in Belgaum. The DD has to be payable at Belgaum.I had also read that the Registrar – Evaluation (whose signature is mandatory on the transcripts) is not available on all days at the university. Accordingly, I got dad to try and call on the registrar’s office phone number, which was given on the university website, but I got no response. Dad enquired with the regional office in Bangalore, but they too provided him the same number. No response. The date was 28th November. The deadlines for university applications were fast approaching. With no other option left, dad and me decided to leave for Belgaum the same evening. We booked our tickets on the Rani Chennamma Express, scheduled to leave Bangalore at 21:15 hrs.Travel: we reached the railways station at around 20:15 hrs. Ample time left. The rake was yet to be shunted onto the platform. We loitered about here and there, and at around 20:45 hrs, the train was shunted in. Another 5 minutes for the reservation charts to be pasted. We quickly identified S1, entered the coach and claimed our seats. The train departed punctually at 21:15 hrs. We were on our way to Belgaum. There were a couple of school children who were going to Belgaum for a sports-meet. Had some fun chit-chattering with them. I was feeling really sleepy, so I climbed up onto the berth, covered myself with a warm sheet and fell asleep. I was awakened by the T.T.E., who had come to inspect the tickets. Dad showed him the ticket, and I fell into a deep sleep again. The next thing I knew was the train halting with a jerk at Hubli. The date was 29th November, and the time, 06:15. Most of the passengers were still sleeping, so I too closed my eyes and lay quietly. After about 25 minutes, the train slowly departed Hubli station, and within minutes, everybody was up. I woke up dad, and we both came down to our seats and sat down to watch the scenery flash by. The sights of the countryside were especially soothing. Rolling grasslands punctuated by small water-bodies, lush green fields, mountain-tips sparkling in the early-morning sunshine, small patches of human habitation and at intervals, the earth being excavated to lay down a parallel railway line. The morning was beautiful. The train halted at various stations like Dharwar, Alnavar, etc., but no sight of tea-vendors for a long time. Dad and I are accustomed to the morning cup of tea, so we waited anxiously for one. Finally, we spotted a vendor, and bought two cups of elaichi tea from him for Rs. 10. Sipping the steaming tea with the cold wind from the window lashing against the face was a heavenly experience. It was 08:15. Belgaum was fast approaching. Dad and I took turns to watch the baggage while we went to the toilet to freshen up. Soon, the tile factories on the right side of the train, houses, shops, etc., and a busy road on the left (on which, incidentally, we spotted a bus of the university) heralded the arrival of Belgaum. We gathered our luggage and got out of the train. The time was 09:00.One of the blogs that I had read had mentioned a bus-station just opposite the railway station. However, we thought it wise to check with a traffic policeman who we spotted regulating traffic outside the railway station. He pointed us away from the bus-stand, saying that we would get buses from the intersection of the main road. Imagine our consternation, when a policeman at the intersection directed us back to the bus-stand opposite the railway station! We trudged back to the bus – stand and enquired with the station master there, who told us to wait for the bus that goes to “Santhibastawad”. It was here that I met two boys fresh out of college. Safair and Abu had studied at the Don Bosco engineering college in Bangalore, and had come to Belgaum to collect their consolidated marks-cards and provisional degree certificates. We talked for a while, and then dad and I decided to hire an auto to the university. The auto-wallah asked for 100 bucks, and dad asked for seventy. Since the auto-wallah did not understand the word “seventy”, I had to summon up my last reserves of Hindi and said “Saat aur dus”!!. AW grinned at me and said “satthar”? Ok. Soon we were along to the university. We passed the KLE’s Institute of Technology and the Gogte Institute of Technology. Soon the crowded streets gave way to a road lined with trees and thickets on both sides. After a 10-km ride, we reached the university; AW dropped us off in front of the administrative block. The time was 10:00 sharp.Optimum route: at the bus-stand opposite the railway station, if you do not spot any buses that go to VTU, it is better to take a bus to C. B. T(very frequent), and take a bus to VTU from there. AWs fleece you.There were clear pointers as to where the examination section is located(2nd floor), and we went up there in a lift. I entered the examination section and asked the receptionist for an application for transcripts. The receptionist, while giving me the application, informed me that I would not be getting the transcripts that day, since the registrar was not in office. I called up my counselor, who told me not to worry, just submit the application, and return to Bangalore. Accordingly, I filled up the application, attached the attested copies of marks cards, and the DD(Rs. 250 for the first copy, Rs.150 for every subsequent copy, all on a single DD – the rates are subject to change, better to check with VTU before taking a DD), and submitted the same. When dad enquired for the phone number, he was given a totally different number than what is mentioned on the website!! I reproduce the number here for anybody who wishes to call up the registrar. The number is 0831- 2498136. Since we had booked our return journey on the Karnataka Sampark Kranti express that leaves Belgaum at 18:55, we decided to hang around the university and try our luck at the end of the day.We soon located the cafeteria and breakfasted on vegetable rice and ksheera. After breakfast, we settled down under a tree on a bench to pass time till 16:00, at which time we had decided to leave for the railway station. Somehow we passed time till about 13:00, after which we decided to move to a different place. Three more hours to go. We went outside the administrative block and settled down on a patch of grass under a tree. Other visitors like us had already settled down there. Safair and Abu were there too. We had a banana and biscuits that mom had had the sense to pack for us. Dad slept for sometime, while I watched the buses to Santhibastawad go to and fro. Around 15:30, just to try my luck, I went up to the examination section, but the transcripts were not ready. The receptionist promised me that the transcripts would be mailed by the following week. Around 16:15, we took a bus bound for C.B.T. However, since we spotted the railway station on the way, we got down near the station itself. Near the station, we spotted a small restaurant, and we had dosa and tea there. The time was 17:00 hrs. Two hours to go. We settled down on the benches in the railway station. After sometime, when it was announced that our train would arrive on platform 3, we moved to platform 3. During this time, we noticed that activists of a political party were traveling to Bangalore. They first crowded into the Rani Chennamma express, but their leaders directed them to the Sampark Kranti express. These people did not possess reservations, but nevertheless crowded into the reserved compartments, despite repeated requests by their leaders over the P.A system, not to do so. They occupied the berths forcefully, and reacted rudely to anybody who dared question them. Perhaps it was the crowd-psychology – they were making it a point to act rudely, and act boisterously. However, by some stroke of luck, our berths were cleared out and we settled down to sleep by 21:00. However we had not had dinner yet, since the train had not stopped anywhere, and the pantry car had closed down since the time the activists got on. However when the train reached Hubli, there was a large contingent of the Railway Protection Force waiting to receive us. They swarmed on to the train and expelled people without reservations from each reserved coach before meticulously locking and securing the coach. However, we could not purchase any food from Hubli either, since there was a lathi-charge outside. Each time the train moved, somebody would pull the chain, and the train was forced to halt. After a series of such halts, we left Hubli about 45 minutes behind schedule. We had to sate our hunger with a pack of biscuits and water.However, the train made up for lost time, and we reached Yeshwantpur ahead of schedule. We reached home in about 20 minutes and then began the wait for the transcripts.. Hope it doesn’t take more than a week…

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