I just ran as hard as I could, and then, the race started.

I just ran as hard as I could, and then, the race started.  <Part II, Class 12th>

The journey Of class 11^th and 12^th was indeed  *******.  But now after all this, after getting into a medical college, I am being told, “The” race is yet to BEGIN. Life is indeed a Bitch..

2^nd April 2011: After Class 11^th Final Exams

I was sitting in my room playing on my pc (still vista :p), when my father showed up and like every other day said, “Son, these are your free days, why don’t you utilize them efficiently, you can revise your class 11^th notes, or do some MCQ’S, shall I get you some more books ? “

Class 11^th was over, and so were the final exams. This time, was my time, and I missed it a lot. One whole year of studying, mugging and struggling really made me feel beaten up. ;)  I still had a week before the commencement of the new session in the school, and two weeks to the next session in the coaching institute. I wanted to have hell of a time, watch movies, play games, go out with friends and everything that I would be deprived of in the coming year. The coming year was going to be a thing.

I had performed decently in the final exams, descent enough to save some respect among the school teachers. Seriously, NO ONE cared. Even the teachers, being aware of the fact that their students have been bought away by the coaching institutes, understood well, and were pleased even by a descent performance like mine. Of course, it’s the English teacher who you need to tackle. That teacher just won’t let you LIVE.

 You see, I have nothing personal against this subject.  English, my friends, is very important to learn and practice. People, CAN NOT let you live in this world without this language.

BUT, it’s the stories, the dull stories that we were made to read, and mug up each word as the “Question Paper” would be based on the text-book and any answer out of the book will make you lose marks. That, my friends, is CBSE.  And that is exactly why I hate these kinds of exams, and thus the subject.

I was just taking a chill pill in the Great Indian education Race, but my parents just don’t seem to digest this. I had decided to drop Mathematics and take Physical Education as my fifth subject. This was to drop off burden from my shoulders. But it might have done vice-versa.  You see, math is a subject you need for almost every other stream, be it engineering, commerce etc.  By dropping math, meant you have no other choice to make other than the medical career. NO backup. That my friends, can really get the burden ON your shoulders.

The concern of my parents seemed fair.

With just 3-4 thousand MBBS seats in India and about 3 lakh wannabe doctors appearing for the exam, the remaining 2 lakh 95 thousand students will sink like the stones put into the sea and disappear without a trace.

٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)

2nd July 2011

A tall dark man walked into our classroom, the teacher wished him and so did all the students. I got to know, he was the Director of my coaching institute, a rare figure to be seen in the classrooms. He took the teachers mike and started,

“Students, this day, is a historic day. (why ? coz you showed up for the first time ?) We are proud to announce the results of our institute this year. As you all know our institute has been performing remarkably well for the past 15 years, but this time, we have created a record. This time, Our institute has got 105 students in top 100 ranks. ( !!! ) Yes, you heard it right, 105 students in top 100 !! (yes, I wanted to ask him how)  Please accept these ladoos as treat. (wow ! now, who cares) Students, please mind, these ladoos you are eating are not any ordinary ladoos, these are called the “Magic Ladoos”, eat one and you get a sure  chance of selection, eat two, and you get selected with a good rank. (I ate three).  ALL THE BEST!"

In the midst of the magic ladoos thing, I forgot to enquire about the 105 out of 100 thing, But, who cares, we had free ladoos !! :D

The class finished, and we saw the pamphlet of the selected students. 30% students belonged to the GENERAL category, 20% SC & ST, and remaining OBC’s.  Since each category gets it separate ranks, many students had the ‘same’ rank, and thus getting more than 100 students in the so called top 100 doesn’t seem so hard.

The great Indian Reservation System it was, for the upliftment of the backward classes. Friends, this system reflects the Sad story of every GENERAL candidate.Belonging to the GENERAL category, makes you feel irritated.   I just don’t understand how someone with a low score should be entitled to a seat in a medical college just by the virtue of belonging to a backward class.  Some say they don’t have the required facilities to prepare for such tough exams. Right, then why can’t their education and coaching be subsidized so that they are equally prepared and ready for the cut throat competition others face?  Why are they granted a direct entry into these colleges thereby denying admission to much capable individuals? I know, these questions will never be answered. And neither did I care.

UNTILL, I got to know that AIIMS has a total of 77 seats, 35 out of which were open for me.  *BOOM* 

Solution?    STUDY  :|

٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)

2nd August/ September/October/ November  2011

So, it went on and on.  Day after Day, I had the same schedule to follow, no different than the 3 lakh wannabe doctors drilling hard to get into a college. You want to have a look ?

<><><><><><><><> 

 6 am                           Wake Up.  Because…

7 am                            School Starts

                                   {Give your attendance ( that is why I go there), do your school homework, chill out with friends,  complete coaching assignments, chill out with friends, pay attention to science classes, Return.}

1:30 pm                      School Ends

1:50 pm to 2 P.M.      Back ! Run to bed as fast as possible.

3 pm                          Wake Up ! Lunch !

3:30 pm                     Leave home for the coaching institute. Because….

4 pm                         Coaching Starts. Lag Jao Beta.

7:30 pm                    Finished.

8 pm                         Back ! Have some snacks n milk.

8:15 pm                    Self Study (Note: First time in the day.)

Includes understanding today’s lessons, revising pending notes, completing assignments, MCQ’s do till your eyes cant permit you.

11 – 12 pm               Have dinner if you have any energy left then Bed.

Saturdays n Sundays ? No school, so it must be easier, eh ? You just can’t imagine. :|

<><><><><><><><> 

♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖

Friends, I don’t want to sound scary or discourage you from taking on this stream. Being a medical student is THE best ever thing you can feel in Life.  NOW, after finally getting into a medical college, I realize, this schedule, these sacrifices, these were totally worth it. It’s all about the FEEL you will get, when YOU heal, when you make someone smile, when you become a doctor. It’s totally worth it.

♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖

Friends, there are many things that made this schedule possible: 

->My parents.  Did everything they could, to let me carry on the schedule smoothly.

->Proximity of my bed with school and coaching institute. Took me less time to travel, and thus more time in bed.

->Equally determined friends. Be it at school or at coaching.

->No facebook addiction even when  I never ever deactivated my account. You see, if you have determined friends, no one spends much time on fb, so you don’t have anything on fb.  Simple.

->My focus ONLY on studies  ;)  :/

 

But there IS something most important that kept me on my feet right through this tedious schedule, this was enthusiasm. You see, every time I went to my classes, I learned something new. Whatever it was, it was something I haven’t read before, and thus made these tiresome classes FUN,

“When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.”

Love what you do, love what you learn, take it as a new experience, feel the busy schedule you never had, experience the fun in having so much more new information all together.  My friends used to call me insane when they heard this, but, this was the only way I knew of, to take a good lead in the Great Indian Education Race.

٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶٩(-̮̮̃•̃)

2^nd December 2011

“Congratulations! You have been selected for the Top-80 Batch!  Here, you will be thoroughly revised the two year course by the best teachers of the institute. Your classes will start soon.”

This call did give me a cheer, being selected for the Top-80 batch was a big deal. This time, this was batch of top 80 students from the entire country. That surely sounded BIG. But the happiness was as always, short-lived.

The classes were supposed to be held EVERY DAY, from 9 to 8, ha ! Friends, this was 9 am to 8 pm. This meant you would need to miss most of the classes because of upcoming school board praticals, preboards etc. But the limited classes I attended, was sure an experience.

My coaching institute did the best to take care of these ‘gems’, as these were the students who will give them ‘the’ ranks. That was not a tough task, as the batch itself comprised of ultra-geeks, who would prefer solving physics problems than having sex, for whom fun meant memorizing the periodic tables. This is when friends I realized where I stood.

You see, I scored a border line performance, good enough to become the twelfth man on a cricket team, but not quite a player material. Beating these top 79 students from my institute was almost impossible, and to get an All India Rank under 35, well, AIIMS seemed out of cards.

First you aim for AIIMS, then you look for second best (MAMC, ha!), then you just pray for anything. True Story.

31^st December 2011

Well, because of the bad timing of this batch, I wasn’t able to attend many classes. All I now needed was some time of self-study. The teachers in my coaching institute were done with their part. Of course, the monthly bombs ;) were enough to keep us on the track !

The next year IS going to be the year of my Life. Board Exams + Medical Entrances

The people of the city seemed to be excited about the New Year, they went to parties, congratulated their friends, made resolutions and had fun.

I looked into the dark sky, overflowing with fireworks, and then moved my eyes back on the digestive system of the earthworm. This is totally going to be worth it.

1^st January 2012 

TO BE CONTINUED……..

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