Eight months TIME in Lucknow

I could reach LKO by 5 in the evening of 19^th June, 2006 and met my maternal uncle (Munna Mama) to purchase some routine things. While dropping me at my room near Kapoorthala fly-over he invited me to join him on his Marriage Anniversary dinner that night at Aryan (nearby hotel). It was new setting for me in LKO but since i had faced many other such situations, I knew the worst case. Next morning I could feel the challenge I myself had prepared for me. In the first class we were tested and I learned a lot (which means I could not perform upto the mark). All new faces were scrolling each others’ personalities and presenting themselves as if they have already rejected an offer from IIMA. One of the guys sitting beside me was continuously murmuring into my ears. He was not able to attempt the test paper and so was afraid of his money he had already paid in the form of fee. He was loudly counting number of sources he had to get money back. He wanted to confirm this money back policy from me. At my room I met Anshul. He was also from RaeBareli. It tuned very well and soon we started a good friendship life. He was in different room (single seated) of that lodge. I was alone in a double seated room. Three other guys came back to back to stay at my room but unfortunately for them and fortunately for me they left the next day only. Due to some relevant problems we started searching some other arrangement and finally zeroed in on a house in sector B, Aliganj. The upper portion was for landlord and we were given 3 back to back interlinked rooms set at ground floor. I decided to drop my luggage in the middle room. Apart from me and Anshul, we had one more guy Sai Gopal. He was from Varanasi and was in LKO apparently for the same purpose. In the first three mocks my percentiles shoot up and then stabilised at 50 – 60. This was discouraging but I geared up my studies to overcome this. I met with Sudhanshu’s sister also in TIME. She had joined in April itself. We used to have tiffins for all the three times. Munna mama used to visit my room to crosscheck my study routine. In between I had once gone to Allahabad to bring my luggage. This visit was quite secret as I did not want to let this know anybody. But Alok met me there and we shared some good time while analysing career at Prayag Station. In RaeBareli I met Ashish Singh from Mayank’s reference. He also wished to come to LKO but some personal problems were hindering him to go. In class I searched one guy Pradeep Mishra who was from Vikas Nagar, LKO only. We started going to write our mock tests together. By that time Ashish had also come to LKO with us and now we were four in that 3 rooms set. We set a routine. Ashish and I used to study till 3-4 am and then we used to wake up Anshul for his study. This boosted our study. We also used to visit Hanuman Mandir and other temles on Saturday. Papa also visited 2-3 times surprisingly and found me in order. Thanks to God. By then, Papa also started understanding the importance and benefits of MBA. I applied for CAT and other exams like XAT, Narsee Monjee, SNAP and IRMA. To stand on the safer side I applied for MAT also. While CAT was nearing I had got a feeling to prepare one more year in Delhi. I discussed this with Anshul, but he motivated me and told me that I could still excel due to my stronghold on Quant. Then I decided to work more and more on quant. My CAT centre was Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector J of Aliganj. I was little volatile when I saw a mob outside the centre. Aspirants were ranging from 18 years to 40 years. The upper extreme contains Coaching Spy to heat up the post CAT discussion. I was amazed to see the elegance of CAT and then dipped myself into the paper. Firstly I doubted on CAT test paper makers as there were some silly questions. But actually it was different pattern which ruined so many careers. I attempted well in Quant section and got satisfied in English and DI sections. In the evening we went to Cyber Cafe and Ashish was made sit to calculate his score. He was terribly looking in the space and could not believe his doings and CAT marking. When I sat in front of the screen I got the twist Ashish faced. He had actually not set the Paper Set and worked out on Set A in lieu of C. I calculated my score. It was 99 out of 300. Score was considerably high and I guessed my percentile to come into the range of 90 to 97. I thanked God and called at my home. Papa said my RashiFal was reflecting the same thing. Anshul and Ashish could not perform upto the mark. I find it luck because paper was easy and we all three could have done well. Sometimes destiny does not let you exercise your efforts in order to set you on a destined path which is better for you. This is the time one should not give up. Ashish and Anshul set their minds for other exams specially SNAP. Sai had also left our room to stay somewhere else as he was bored with us. Except CAT and MAT I could not do well in others. In CAT I finally scored 94.59 %le (99.13 in Quant, 81 in DI and 65 in English). I got calls from different good colleges. Pradeep also could not score well in CAT but he did well in XAT. Anshul decided to prepare for one more year. Ashish got a call from one of the Symbiosis group of Colleges. I and Ashish joined BSL for English. Meanwhile we met two other good people, Bhupendra and Ashish. They helped us a lot. I went Delhi for my interviews and stayed with Rajiv (my DJH roomie) who was there for IAS preparation. We shared light moments and finally I came back to LKO. I could not clear LBS interview and very depressed. Now I met with 2 choices. One was to join BHU on 26^th March and other was to stay and wait and finally watch. I convinced Papa that if no college confirms me then also I will get final call from IIFM, Bhopal. And the same happened. I again thanked God and there were happy vibes moving all over in my home. All were happy estimating my salary after two years and outlook towards the society. Ashish finally got 98 %le in MAT and got admission in IRM, Jaipur. Pradeep took admission in ITM, Bangalore with one of our common friends Gaurav Mishra. I met Gaurav with Deepak Jaiswal (my AU batchmate). Deepak, Bhupendra, Ashish and Anshul started preparation for next year CAT exam.