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it was easily the biggest day in FC, and one of those memorables ones that we'll discuss for a while... the day started with the UPSC Chairman D P Agarwal sharing his views for two full breakless hours... there were few nodding heads on account of the ardent disagreements and arguments that made up most of the lecture... transparency in marks... making graduation subject compulsory in mains... shortening the length of exams... the usual stuff...

the next hour was taken up by D S Mathur... we were quite skeptical of him since his previous lecture on 'BioTerrorism' had induced more than a dozen heads to roll...down in sleep... one of them being mine... i remember more than one nightmare... i thought the topic could be used unchanged in the Al-Qaeda Institute of Terrorism and Violent Activities... Dhruva looked at me like I'd finally lost it, when i suggested the idea to him... even nivedita, the escort duty officer to Mr. Mathur, was praying with a vengeance that her Guest would do better this time... the prayers were answered... the lecture was on Code of Conduct for Civil Cervantes... and it was pretty interesting.. he topped it off with his account of the Telecom Scandal which had us all up and awake... about how the Govt of India had lost 1.75 lakh crore rupees and all... i especially love the stories that get unrolled in the class... real events, real people... not through newspapers but in flesh n blood... there's something enchanting about the whole thing... maybe one day it'll wear off, but right now, i enjoy the awe these 'big shots' inspire...

in what was considered by most to be the Jackpot Escort of the whole FC, i got to be on Escort Duty for one of the biggest men in the country - A P J Abdul Kalam.... though all i did was shake hands with him and spend less than five minutes telling him about my fellow OTs, what we wanted him to talk about and other similar small talk... the added perks included a real cute IPS officer who was in charge of the whole VIP affair and another interesting MBA guy who shared my frustration in the Corporate sector.... it had been so long since i'd met anyone from outside the 'Sarkari Island' i'm now a part of...

there was a lot of photographing to do... all of us resplendent in our bandgalas (guys, i mean) and the fairer sex in beautiful sarees(that would be me)... it was a rare opportunity... only the second time in our FC(the first one being the Inauguration Function)... there'll be a lot of uploading going on today n tomorrow...

chalo, i gotta go now... friends had decided on a night drive, but the main one backed off, complaining of a stomach ache... too much pressure in the FC na... PT, lectures, Q&A sessions... all the butterflies apparently upset his delicate stomach...

nite nite!!