What if ....

Tough times make a man strong. This incident is one of the toughest I have faced so far. It just goes to show, how cornered you can feel sometimes in life and then the unimaginable can happen and turn things around in a jiffy.

Just to keep you interested (into reading my blogs), the toughest day(s) so far were those in Infosys, when during my training period, me and my friends had an 'incident'. Some were fired, some were disciplined and some escaped scot free. This 'incident' will be covered later, for sure!!!

Yes, so the second most toughest day of my life. A day, where I cried bitterly, I gave up all hope and cursed myself to death. I must have made a million and counting mistakes till date. But, this was not a mistake, it was the blunder of the century.

I scored a decent 269/300 in my PCM (physics/chemistry/math) papers during my 12th standard. Not a score to boast about, but not a very bad score either. I had never planned what I am going to do after my 12th. I did not even know what Engineering colleges were good. No research what-so-ever. No elder siblings to guide me.

Just because all my other friends were also trying for a seat in the Engg colleges, even I gave it a shot. Now, I had no clue of how to apply and what are the various rounds that the Mumbai University conducts.

My aim was simple, apply for the tough colleges first and the last two options should be those ones where I will surely get an admission. This was what MU called the 30% quota. I did not give a damn and applied using my simple logic. 'Tough colleges first, sure shot admission in the last 2 options'.

So I sat through the night before the forms submission. Finally, at about half past 2 ( I remember the time too), I had chose the 5 elite colleges. Filled the form and kept it ready.

Next morning, my friends and I reached VJTI for form submission. Not even once did I ever discuss my choice with my friends. Of course, it was my research, my effort, I did not want someone else to take advantage of the hadrwork put in by me. That's what I thought.

I submitted my form. I was relaxed, because I knew I was going to get a seat. Wow, I will soon be an engineer. Nice!!

In a few weeks the list was out. None of my friends had got admission, but I had made it through. So this should have been my happiest day right? Why toughest day?

Well, here are the facts of that dreadful day.
I had got admission in a C grade college called S. Jondhale College of Engg, Dombivali(E).
I had got admission into the not-so-buzzing department, Mechanical Engg.

Worse things were in store for me...
The seat that I was so proud about was from the 30% quota. 70% of the seats were still open for admissions.

And yes, the clincher was that I was ineligible to apply for those 70% seats. So simply put, I was royally screwed! I was stuck in a situation and there was nothing I could do about it. It was my 'choice'.

When my friends heard that I had made it through to S.Jondhale, they would not laugh at me, but sympathize. That evening, Sumeet, one of my best friends, came over to my place in Malad.

I looked at him, he gave me a disappointing look. Inadvertently, tears started rolling down my cheeks. I had just screwed up my career. All the hard work put through my school and junior college days were futile. I had goofed up, and that too big time.

He gave me a few words of courage. But I was inconsolable by now. Weeping, I told him, "Dude, I screwed up, what I am going to do now?".

At this time, I did feel disappointed in myself but not as much as I felt bad for my parents. They had given me eveything. Everything I asked for. And they never questioned me. They have never asked me during my entire lifetime, "Why are you doing this?". They had immense trust in what I did (even today), and that gloomy evening, I had let them down. But they did not show it to me, they tried to pep me up and told me to take it easy.

It was a tough day, I must say. I did go to S.Jondhale college for 2 whole months and then stopped.

But, thanks to my parents blessings, 4 years later. I was Bachelors of Engg. in Information Technology from Mumbai University. And the college was not S.Jondhale. It was not a SPCE or VJTI kind of top notch college too, but it was a decent college by the name of Vidyavardhini's College of Engg and Technology.

Life may have been different, if I was to do Engg from S.Jondhale. Hence the 'What if....'.

Thanks to my dear Mom and Dad, things turned out well for me!!!

P.S: The change in college and branch happened due to a change in the admission rule for that year (1999) only. It was an exception year, because the new Information Technology course was added.
How lucky was I? The exception rule gave me permission to apply in the 70% quota and I made it to where I think I deserved.