The day i became a believer..

Was the day everything went wrong..

I am now ready to talk about an incident I have never fully discussed with anyone..

That was the day I went for an interview at IIT Kanpur for admission in their MBA program

How I wish I hadn’t..

What follows is a highly exaggerated account of events of that doomed day.

Believe at your own risk! (Actually I’m too embarrassed to admit that each one of those things actually happened!:P)

Well, the day started off pretty well..( In fact I think it was fabulous when compared to the rest!)

I, with daddy dearest, reached Kanpur Central in the morning.(He still doesn’t let me travel alone!!)X-(

We took an auto and the auto driver seemed to know the what/why/when/where of my visit. IIT is the most happening place in town, you see. Some city!:P

After that the entire day seemed to spiral downwards!

We were supposed to get an accommodation in the visitor’s hostel.

Yes. You guessed it right. No rooms available.

So we were given separate rooms in separate hostels so that we ended up paying double the amount!

No worries!

We could have managed that easily had my father not been a lazy uncle and got his cellphone roaming activated eons ago.

Still ok.

We decided on a time to meet. Next came the sharing of resources. That meant putting the toothpaste on my toothbrush and giving it to him. Cutting the soap into half. We actually took the concept of travelling light too far. But uptil then we managed, I convinced myself. I shouldn’t have ignored my gut!

I had enough time before the interview. While I was waiting I got a call from the organizers that my ‘roomy’ was on the way!!

A roommate?? Hello?? I don’t want one! What if she turns out to be a complete chatterbox. I needed to sleep.

What if she has a better rank than me?

Worse, what if she was prettier than me (which is pretty easy to be)??

Grrrr..

I’ve always been averse to any kind of unnecessary interaction. As my mother puts it, I am anti-social.:P

So now I would have a roommate in this short a stay.

No problem. I can handle it.

Well she came. She seemed friendly and well..lets say..I had no problems with her! :D

But then she asked me of something I couldn’t refuse. She had to do her kriya. Yes, yes..the one they teach you in the Art of Living. That meant I had to leave. Well, OK.

I complied and went on a walk, came back, slept, woke up, got ready for the interview.

Went outside the hostel. Tried to have a look at myself in the glass door and..oh..i fell.

Yes. In front of atleast a dozen people. In my business suit. Before an interview.

L

My dad came running and picked me up!( just the way they show in of those life insurance ads)

I’m OK..it’s OK dad..sigh!

Lets just go..alright?

So off I went.

A presentation. A bus ride to the interview venue. And then a long wait.

So long that the candidates became friends. So long that weather changed outside. So long that we lost interest!

The best part.

I was the last candidate to be interviewed.

The last candidate of the day.

The last candidate of the entire process.

Now, that’s not very encouraging!

Finally my turn. The student volunteers celebrated as the 3 day ordeal came to an end for them. For me, the ordeal had just begun.

Q:How does touchscreen technology work?

A: mumble jumble.

Q: are u never curious about it? (googly)

A: some more mumbling.

Q: so why do u have less marks?

A: well, I didn’t work hard enough. :P (bhaad mein jao)

Q: here’s a question on probability.

A: here is the solution.

Q: are you sure.

A: yes mam.

In the middle of it, a chaabi waala banged onto the door to signal that he now had to close the room.

Well.

That was it.

My interview.

in less than 10 minutes, it was over!

and then i had to get back to the hostel. now the worst part of being the last one was that the bus didn't think it had enough patience to wait for me. so i had to go back. with a senior. sitting on the carrier of a bicycle.(yes, i cannot ride one myself.never learnt it.long story)

And then the journey back to delhi.

Yes, I forgot to mention that while we were all chatting, a very considerate senior told me that the trains had been running late since a couple of days.

I didn’t take notice.

I should have.

Waiting on the railway station for 7 hours wasn’t something I was looking forward to.

But that was it.

The longest day of my life had finally come to an end.

The day I became a believer...in the Murphy’s law!

:D

That heady feeling!

Once again, my friends, I dawdle..

Forgive me but I just couldn’t stop..

So here I go, on a subject which is clearly the most fascinating, talked about, revered, enchanting and also the most overrated of all times.

Many a times, It’s led to heart breaks, broken families and sometimes (or maybe just once) even wars.

Sadly, It is also a subject I’m yet to understand, too lazy to organize my thoughts upon, too scared to pass a judgment on.

LOVE.

In my 22 years of otherwise dull existence, if there is something I’ve realized, it is probably the fact that It is not meant for the faint hearted.

;)

Trust me, I shudder as I type. :P

So what exactly makes two cheerful, easygoing yuppies fall into a bottomless pit of emotions (which may not be necessarily pretty). The worst part being, they don’t even realize how/what/when did cupid strike. The otherwise stable, balanced, thinking people lose control and worse, lose choice!

One day you are all happy and gay (please, please..no stale jokes here!), living your life to the hilt, and before you know it you can’t stop feeling pathetic about the fact that a certain someone saw it when you bumped into the glass door because you couldn’t take your eyes off them and your jaw dropped below your shoulders when they smiled at you and all you could manage were grunts when they said ‘Hi!’.

Some say it’s a chemical locha that makes the world go round (or maybe upside down).

Some say it’s the stars.

I just don’t think I’m certified to comment.

They’ll crib, they’ll cry, they’ll be jealous, they’ll play, they’ll ponder, they’ll resign, they’ll renounce, they’ll smother, they’ll suffocate. They’ll kill.

And they say it’s a happy place!

Bloody sadists!

Love, positively, should be a negative emotion!

Surprisingly it is not!

They say, it gives them strength, smiles, a reason to succeed, a reason to live. A life worth living. A ride worthwhile!

They say that’s all they need. Everything, the only thing they want.

It’s not a drug but more like the sun. Bright and happy but totally indispensable.

It makes criminals. Its makes poets. It makes drunkards. But it also makes marvels.

As for me, I simply fail to understand…

:D