‘The wait is finally over. It’s high time that my two years of hard work, not to mention all those sleepless nights, finally pay off. All I ask is one favour. Don’t disappoint me…’ This was my silent prayer for the ‘D day’. The results were going to be out at any moment. All I wanted was enough marks to get me through the medical counselling. And I must say, I was in for a huge surprise.
I hadn’t exactly made it to the top. The day never turned out to be what I had pictured it to be. The part where I imagined everyone saying “You did it, Harini!” was taken over by “You ought to have studied harder”. I had scored fairly well but just a little short to ensure my future career. Counselling turned out to be as predicted — I had nearly 10,000 people waiting in line before me!
This left me with only the ‘other’ institutions that took students through a written test. This set me in a pursuit of one exam after another, each time hoping that ‘Fate’ was minding its own business.
On one such occasion, as I waited to take up yet another one of those exams, the conversation between two girls really intrigued me. One of them said, “I gained admission here just last week. They simply asked me to come and write the entrance”.
The other girl nodded in agreement, “These exams are just an eyewash!” Hearing that, the little interest left in me to write was gone. At the end of the day I had to resist myself from telling my father ‘How I’ve done the exam doesn’t matter. What really matters is money!’ Instead I gave him a big warm smile and thumbs up. At least that ought to keep him happy for some time!
