Some of the best things you get in life are the ones that you plan the least for. Call it Murphy's law or whatever. Take getting into BITS for example. All of 11th-12th was spent in preparing for the JEE. The BigDaddy of exams, the thing which was going supposed to change your life forever. After hundreds of hours of misdirected preparation, when I finally gave the JEE-mains, I knew that I was not going get a seat of my liking at an IIT of my choice, or for that matter, I wasn't going to clear the Mains at all. (This doesn't mean that I didn't shed a tear when the results came out ;) )
BITSAT was just an aside to the main story. A till-exam-day neglected poor brother of the JEE, for which I wasn't even sure whether to appear or not... I remember, my family had a holiday planned out at Mahabaleshwar, immediately after the BITSAT. So I was kinda looking forward to that, the exam being a minor hiccup in the euphoria of FINALLY being free from all entrance exams! Who in the lord's name would go to godforsaken Pilani, or the tourist haven of Goa, leaving a seat in the COE, Pune. Pune, the Oxford of the East! Pune, my hometown! If I was to leave Pune, it had to be to go to an IIT! I even seriously contemplated retaking the JEE next year.
I know BITSians will not like this, but in my pea-brain, BITS did not figure in the list of must-do things! I think, this was more because of the environment than because of my own doing. I did not know even one student who was at BITS at that point in time. Later, when I decided to go to Goa, I had to dig out contacts of contacts of contacts who had passed out from BITS 15 years back. So much for the BITS network! Also, I think, the BITSAT being in its first year, I didn't know what to expect out of it, what the cut-offs for various branches will be, and so-on.
For the record, the exam went well. I scored 305 (later re-evaluated to 309) and I remember cursing my PC, coz I was so sure that at times, all options on the Maths test were wrong! But who cared, right, it was all over in 4 hours or so. Yay!
After the exam, I remember driving back in the car. The radio was playing 'Zaraa Zaraa' (The song still takes me back to that moment!). Not even 20 minutes on the drive back, we were held by the traffic constable from aamchi Mumbai. Mama, so to say. Oops, stupid Puneite me, who cares for seat-belts in the post-exam euphoria! So then ensued the pleading, the 'Mama, Punyahun alot, lakshat nahi ala.. Jaudya naa..' Typically, he retorted with, 'Udya gaadi station warun gheun jaa, fine bharun.' (Take the vehicle tmrw from the police station, after paying the fine.). Then, the path of least resistance. Bribe the fellow :)
My mood (and pocket), considerably lighter, I headed back home, where a delicious Mom-made meal awaited a ravenous me!
Turns out, the heavens had conspired to make it the biggest day of my life. It shaped the course of the next 4 years. 4 wonderful years; and when I think about it, its not just 4 years, but my entire life! Looking back at all the wonderful experiences I had in Goa, I would not trade that for anything else. But that makes for an entire different series of posts...
For now, some of the best things you get in life are the ones that you plan the least for!
