1. Give advice to (someone)
o He was counselled by his supporters to return to Germany.
2. Give professional psychological help and advice to (someone)
o He was being counselled for depression.
3. Recommend (a course of action
o The athlete's coach counselled caution.
And the paradox: Anna University Counselling.
I remember telling my friend once, “I’m not going to attend Anna Counselling. It’s for the idiots”. Ultimately, I was no exception; I was an idiot as well. Ask anyone in Tamilnadu who awaits the D-day about counselling. They barely know the procedure. In times like these, one educational institution or the other organises a special counselling session ‘How to prepare for the counselling’. Talk of irony, this certainly is one.
I remember my dad asking, “Dei, Hindu newspaper la counselling pathi potrukaaname! Padichaya?” (Did you read the article in The Hindu regarding counselling?). I answered in the negative. Is counselling a misnomer? Well, don’t ask such questions. The concept of counselling is better to be accepted as a dogma. Wasn’t that how we studied all the subjects? “Don’t keep thinking. Just write as given in the book!” That was another dogma.
When Chennai welcomed me like a fresh, just-from-the-pan pottikadai bajji, I still didn’t know how the ‘C’ was going to be. Strategists argue that the best thing to do before a meeting is PPCC (Plan Practically, Carefully and Creatively). I wish to differ on this count. The best way to spend the eve of ‘C’ is to sleep, sleep like you never did.
When you wake up, it is still the eve of the ‘C’ and there is calls abuzz about one guy or a girl getting their desired course of study. You see the clock. It tells you that there are 15 more hours until you are lead into AC halls and made to sit in front of a monitor that decides your fate. What? A monitor is all that’s needed to make or break your dreams? And then you remember, certain things are better when left unexamined.
I woke up early on the D-day when my phone alarm beeped with a ‘IT’S YOUR DAY!’ message (a la Match-fixing technique). An IPL commentator would term this a Pressure cooker situation. To watch the seats in your course of choice take a plunge, watch helplessly is the worst possible thing that can happen. Your consolation: You can do the same to others when your turn comes in front of the computer terminals that decide your fate.
I came out of the C-session with an allotment order for the last of seats in a course I wanted. My month-long permutations and combinations did bear fruit. For some, it was a disaster. I remember watching a parent cry since her ward didn’t get their desired course. Shit happens. But one can’t allow it to touch meteoric levels such as the C.
I once again remember that counselling meant giving professional, psychological advice and assistance. And then I remember to accept this specific C as an educational dogma put forth on unaware students like us. The ones on a roll in Anna University are the umpteen monkeys roaming around without certificates and a cut-off to boast. We, the same pottikadai bajjis, are neatly packed and sent to different colleges to be feasted.
And the C-word ends. You feel better? “Definitely, maybe”
-Gopsay
