Today, I was watching Rocket Singh (Salesman of the year) and there was this dialogue, Har insaan me upar jaane wali or neeche girne wali qualities hoti hai, Akhiri me jo quality jeet jaati hai insaan ke saath waisa hi hota (All right, I don't remember the dialogue exactly but it was something like this only). So what are my qualities, am I going up or further up or down! Well, I don't want to think about that and such thoughts won't do any help to me. The fact is, Compared to what I was 10 years ago, I believe I am at somewhat better position. But, compared to my false (may true) fantasies of what I could have been, I am a big........ big LoSeR!! Anyways, Shit happens (Ain't it ? :P).. My somewhat carefree attitude coupled with a bit of pessimism is a deadly weapon that keeps me pulling down.
A few days back, I watched "3 Idiots", another perfect movie featuring Mr. Perfectionist (Bole to Amir Khan). Off late, he hasn't disappointed me or a large number of people (in general). Hits after hits, with some kind of message, that is how I would describe his movies. I was totally in love with his earlier movie, Tare Zameen Par, and with "3 Idiots" he had questioned our education system and also portrayed life @ Hostels (Rather, Engineering Colleges). During movie, He asks his friends to listen to their hearts and do what they want, not what world is running after. During that particular dialogue, Baba RanchhodDas ka gyan, I tried to remember what I really wanted during my final years at school and surprisingly I had no perfect answer. What perfect, Alas, I had no answer. I had a friend during school who thought that I was good at my academics and if I try then I can make to IIT. I had no confidence whatsoever, Not even in my dreams I thought about making to "The Institute" in India. I joined my hostel in 1999 and I passed out in year 2003 with a mere average performance (But that too was good enough for others to say I was a good student, may be because of my background, barring cases of a few extraordinary students, a first class (60 %) was considered good and I happily accepted the honor. So, I completed my schooling but did not have any clue about what to do with my life. I applied in Holkar College for B.Sc in Computer Science, My application was rejected. My cousin suggested me to apply for Gujarati College, I thought about dropping a year and preparing for Engineering Entrance Exam. Somehow, I managed to convince my father, I had to convince because fee for coaching and stay was a hefty amount as per my family's earning. I joined Gupta tutorials for AIEEE coaching and I spent a beautiful year with my school time friend Nayan, Kaplesh, Ravi, Gagan, Amit and Saurabh. Anand, Shitesh and Vaibhav were few others who were there for couple of months. Vaibhav was also preparing for MBA and we used to meet occasionally. Considering all, It was a wonderful year. In a blink of eye, that year passed away and we had to appear for exams. It was my first attempt at JEE, second at AIEEE and first at MPPET. Like last year, I failed once again in AIEEE. I did manage to score 3rd Rank (Category) in MPPET and my photo was there in news paper and my parents were happy. Before MPPET, I scored 9th Rank in IITJEE Screening test and that photo in the newspaper was "The photo" which gave me a bit of fame in my surrounding. A little boy from Jobat had photo in newspaper :) I had back to back exams of AIEEE and IITJEE Mains, because of that I was not able to attend my cousins marriage :( I thought I screwed up my JEE paper and I was a bit sad. Later while coming back to home I heard about my another cousin (son of maternal uncle) had met an accident and expired. Those were very hard days for me. My pet name and his pet name were same. Due to that I always thought n number of times before appearing in front of my Mama or his family, I always had this preconceived notion that my name will hurt them. And I didn't appear very frequently in front of them.
Later, JEE mains result was declared and I secured AIR-49. Okay, I just made to IIT given I was from category, otherwise I wouldn't have made it to "The Institute". But the number 49 sounded good. They really thought I was a brilliant student, the reality is I tried my luck and it worked.
Amidst all the negatives and positives, There I was, During Couselling I had this preconceived notion that Aerospace is a good branch, in fact, I was arguing with Jimmie about his preferences, he had CS-IITB, CS-IITD, Elec-IITB, Elec-IITD. That's it. I gave my big idiotic impression to him on very first day and there he was at the entrance of elevator when (1 month later) I entered H-13, Seven story building with three wings and Sky-Bridge, Beautiful view of Powai lake from Terraces and Windows, It was like a paradise. I was in the city of Mumbai, I had made to IIT and I was living in that amazing looking seven story building, Mess cone was another thing that added extra beauty to already beautiful hostel and the twin building of hostel-12 was also good. Thus, Started Life @ IITB, four beautiful and fun-filled years in my otherwise dull life.
I shall continue some other time...
No comments:
Post a Comment