The year started with arduous notes-preparation for board exams to add to that IIT-JEE, AIEEE…….
Those were the times of intense pressure. No time to rest just keep on studying and studying. Too much of competition and expectations. I was fearful if I could walk through it or not?
There came the shocking news of the demise of my maternal grandmother. This was just a shock for me. The one who showed so much love and affection is no more. I was unable to attend even her funeral services due to my exams.
The spotlight were now on the board exams. Preparation was not up to the level and the nervousness was at the Everest height. Thankfully the exams went well but "history repeats itself", what happened in the 10th class board exams happened again my Maths and English papers didn’t go well.
The board exams ended but still no respite now the entrance exams!!?!!
IIT-JEE exam was round the corner and my brain was blank. There was no confidence in me as I took the IIT exam. But post exam analysis showed I did relatively well, there was some hope that I would be in the merit list(at least). This instigated new confidence in me for the other exams. So armed with new vigor and confidence I started to prepare.
The other exams went as planned. Hopefully, I also mastered mathematics which has been my weak points in the exams at Career Point and in IIT-JEE. VIT, AIEEE, BITSAT, OJEE all went as expected. BITSAT was extraordinarily good while I expected bad rank in OJEE due to my carelessness( I didn’t prepare for it actually).
Meanwhile, it was fun time. I enjoyed the break. I saw a lot of films. Went to the film hall to see 'jaane tu ya jaane na' and 'hancock' along with my friends.
Now it is the result time and my finger were crossed. First the board exam results, the horror of English returned, my %age this time too stayed below 90 just due to it.
Well the result of the board exams was not for which I was excited about, but the entrance exams.
First the VITEEE results and as expected I got a good rank but that didn’t interest me. Then IIT-JEE results, to my surprise I was in the merit list but not a good rank to get a seat in any IIT in any good stream. AIEEE results came out much earlier than expected. It was nearly 9pm on that day when I heard that the results are out. I ran to the nearest cyber café to get the result. And the result, 30th state rank. My happiness had no bounds. So, I dropped the thought to join in any IIT or to prepare for a year. My mind was now to join in any NIT, may it be Warangal, Trichy, Suratkal or Rourkela or IIIT Hyderabad.
Then the OJEE results, I didn’t cared about the result and I expected it around 200 with the performance I gave. But, I got a rank of 21. It was a great surprise.
Now, the counseling time, first the IITs. Even if I was unwilling to go for counseling, my father insisted. So, I agreed to go at least to gain experience, how the system of counseling works. We stayed at an acquaintance's house. The day we reached there, it rained incessantly. I made my choice sheet ready.
It was raining cats and dogs. The counseling went well (is what I thought then). We had the train the next morning. But alas!! A flood like situation developed in Balasore (station in our way), so all trains were cancelled. And we were stuck. After a day we decided to take an alternative route. And set out in a rented car to Baripada. The journey took far more time than it would have taken in an ordinary day. I the way I saw the catastrophe created by the rain. Roads flooded, houses washed, helpless people having nowhere to go. From Baripada, we took bus to Berhampur via Bhubaneswar.
What a day it was!! A totally forgettable misadventure.
The counseling results came out. But what happened was totally unexpected. I had kept a M.Sc. Subject in applied physics that too in ISMU Dhanbad as my 3rd preference and I got that one. That was a terrible mistake.
The time for applying for BITS came. With such mark I had no chance of joining was what I thought then. And I had no intention of joining in any branch other than computer science. So, I prepared the choice sheet carelessly. But when the result for this counselling came out, there came another jolt. My mark was increased to 340 as there were error in the questions. But I had no chance to change the choice sheet. I rued for what I did. I got CSE in BITS, Goa and I was unable to see any chance of me getting into BITS, Pilani. So, I dropped the thought of joining BITS.
It was time for the AIEEE counseling and I was determined to take CSE in the best NIT I can get. I reached Rourkela on the day before the counseling unaware what destiny has to unfold before me here.
The counseling went well and I got a seat in CSE at NIT Rourkela. I was happy that I would be studying in my home state, but there was gloom in my parent's face. They expected me to study outside Orissa. The day after the counseling I went to IG park and surprisingly I found some of my friends there. We had a great time visiting the animal galleries and boating. It was a surprise to me that many of my friends got seats in NIT, Rourkela. I came back to Rourkela after 15 days for my admission and this time I had the opportunity to visit Hanuman Vatika (which has one of the tallest statue in Asia).
The days before I had to join the institute were full of fun and frolics. I enjoyed my time going to my friends places and going to cinemas with my friend. At the same time the idea of going away from my friends made me uneasy. I knew I would miss them.
The day of joining NIT, Rourkela arrived. I arrived at Rourkela with my parents (my brother didn’t came as he was having exams). I was allotted a room in the second floor of our hostel (G.D. Birla hall of residence). But most of my friends were having their room in the ground floor. So, I insisted the officials to allot me a room in the ground floor and I got one. Room no. 9, which was already allotted to Suraj, Nihar (both were my friends in my secondary schooling time) and Ajit (from Dhenkanal). After room allocation we went to our relative's house and also visited Hanuman Vatika again as my mother had not come the last time.
The next day my parents left for Berhampur. There was a tint of sadness that I will be living without them. But having my friends around, never a feeling came that this place is alien to me. We also got two more room mates, one-Shakti who is from Tamil Nadu but lives in Kuwait and other Chaitanya who was also a classmate in KV. Those were the days of enjoyment. The days were full of fun and frolics. We roamed around a lot and played a lot too.
Enjoyed times at the night canteen and yes, table tennis at the midnights.
This hostel became a home far away from my home. We enjoyed a lot but we neglected our studies a bit. The result, we were unable to perform well in our midsem. The situation at the hostel during the examination times is worth seeing. Everybody in a tense mood, studying the whole nights. As soon as the exams ended we got a short vacation and we went to Berhampur.
In Berhampur too, we roamed a lot, visited each others' home, went to film hall to see 'kidnap'. I played a lot in the computer. It was a good experience to be back to home for the first time after admission in NIT. Our AECS batch had a wonderful get together party at Gopalpur beach. I had the opportunity to meet my old friends there.
After returning to Rourkela, life went as usual. After the end-semester exams ended we returned home.
The day I reached home I got my laptop which was gifted by my uncle. The next day I had a visit to my father's aunt house along with my parents and brother. At night I gave the selection test for overnite, a coding competition by IIT, Kharagpur. But the very next day the unexpected happened. I had some problems in my right knee. I was unable to bend it. I had no choice but to stay at home for the whole vacation. It was such a disappointment that I was unable to enjoy the vacation.
New year came I returned back to Rourkela with the knee not properly healed. The real reason of this was even not known. Only later, it was realized that I am having a meniscus tear.
This is how the year 2008 had been for me.
