Chapter 9

Lukewarm, absolutely!! Physics and Chemistry were a disaster!! Mathematics went great as usual!! I had the possibility to top even India in mathematics, but physics and chemistry could prove to make the biggest change in my life! It was more or less equally great for the others too. Suresh had risen from the ashes. Like a phoenix! Pradeep had done great too! Jayakant claimed to be a great flop, considering what everyone had expected from him. The other guys had put up decent performances. The whole situation was kind of wierd. We knew it was all over, and we could not do anything about it anymore.
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A dream of so many years shattered in a moment, I was at a loss for words. I could not talk to anyone properly for a few days, I suddenly became an introvert, and I really wished I had not left room for discrepancy in that problem. But I could not do anything now. It was not within my reach anymore.
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The farewell was over, and the future ahead of us was rough. The board practicals, then the boards, and then the JEE. The board practicals went off smooth. Physics was a cakewalk. As simple as it gets, a few connections, a few hi-fi physical terms used while viva is being conducted, hoping for the Saravana Bhavan meals given to the invigilator to work well, and man, you come out with an easy 30. Then came Chemistry. Most feared of all the practicals, the practical came the day after the FIITJEE open test. I had studied well for the open test, and I did it quite well too, but that evening, I had convulsions when I realised I had the whole of chemistry practicals to study for, and a tough examiner to face in the practicals. Soundarya miss was unusually gracious that day. She had always been a great person, though she was a strict teacher. I had always dedicated my hating of chemistry to her, simply because after she stopped teaching me chemistry, I just could not take chemistry from another teacher. Now she, my favourite, was there during my practicals, and in her presence, the tension flew right out of the window, and then the practicals went cool. In fact, I gave the examiner a practical solution to a practical problem, something regarding NaCl, though I hadn't watched Dasavatharam then, and he had been impressed! The chemistry lab for a change gave me a heavenly feeling. Next was the CSc practicals, M.S.N.B to the rescue!! M.S.N.B and Ramu sir were there in full glory, making great fun of everyone in the lab, irrespective of the fact that this was our practicals!! It was some fun, but at one stage, as I began to flop, M.S.N.B helped me out, typed for me a small segment, and saved me. As for the project Pradeep and I flicked from the net, we somehow managed to answer the questions asked as we had read the project work in detail.
So, we had our practicals done and the boards were awaiting us. There was not much to do then, but to do question papers. A lot of them, but not for the boards, but for JEE. It was an awesome experience, writing two papers a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, and then going for a walk, a long two hour one. This was the routine of almost all the lastbenchers everyday, probably the walk was out of place in their schedule. A lot of fun we did have this way. But for on the exam days, all the chatting was only on the phone. Only Vidya I met twice or thrice, during my walks. So, it was a time I started enjoying life alone, started getting ready for a probably solitary college life.
The boards went off in a flash, the only emotions caused being the end of schooling. Then came in the D-Day. JEE on April 13th. Vidya, Rahul and I had the same centre. At Sankara, the same school which Vidya hated getting into for different reasons. The first paper went off pretty decently, and I thought I was on track to an awesome rank. But, after the whole thing was over, I checked a few solution papers to the questions and I felt...
Lukewarm, absolutely!! Physics and Chemistry were a disaster!! Mathematics went great as usual!! I had the possibility to top even India in mathematics, but physics and chemistry could prove to make the biggest change in my life! It was more or less equally great for the others too. Suresh had risen from the ashes. Like a phoenix! Pradeep had done great too! Jayakant claimed to be a great flop, considering what everyone had expected from him. The other guys had put up decent performances. The whole situation was kind of wierd. We knew it was all over, and we could not do anything about it anymore.
We decided to end the brooding then and there. The next day began with a meet at K.K.Anand sir's place, followed by all of us rushing to the Dhaba at Cenotaph road, and then Freez Zone. We spent one of our last parties as a gang of friends. It was a huge group, the whole of lastbenchers, with a few friends of Jayakant too. We had a lot of fun, and then rushed to catch up a movie.
Such visits with friends stay with you forever, and I really wished this one did too.
Then it was time for me to change gears. I had to start working for the Olympiad. I went to the camp in Mumbai, and I realized I was in with a great chance. I performed, worked, but there was one problem for which I thought I deserved atleast 5/7, but was given 2. That made the difference for me. I ended up seventh, one short of a place in the team, and that too by 2 marks. Had I got the 5, I was in the team!!
A dream of so many years shattered in a moment, I was at a loss for words. I could not talk to anyone properly for a few days, I suddenly became an introvert, and I really wished I had not left room for discrepancy in that problem. But I could not do anything now. It was not within my reach anymore.
But now, I had something new to cheer about... The IIT results were out. I got a 694. 694 wasn't my mark, it was my rank. I had made it. My ambition had been achieved. What happened after that wasn't of great significance. The Lastbenchers had to split.
I went on to do my ECE Dual degree at IIT-Madras, and so did Pradeep. Rahul, and Rajesh did their Chemical in IIT-M, while Sairam did his ED Dual degree course in IIT-M. Jayakant did his EEE in IIT-Rajasthan, and that too because it gave him a few years at IIT-Kanpur. Sandhya and Nishant went abroad. Sandhya went to UPenn to do her BS in BioEngineering, while Nishant went to NTU,Singapore to do his BTech in CSc. Karthik, Krishna, Rajesh, Priya among others went to BITS, Pilani. Karthik forgot Sandhya for good, when she dumped him for some American guy from UPenn. And so he got hooked to a Tamil girl from BITS, Pilani. Still, Krishna, Rajesh, and the others, kept him in control till they finished their Pilani course. Now, he is in Princeton, with his girl in MIT, and so the two are still very much in touch, and very much in love too. And so did my long time friend Vidya, though I guess I didn't miss her as much thanks to the cell phone. Narayan did his EEE in Amritha, while Sailesh did scrape through the CMI entrance.
And finally, Suresh did his Mechanical in IIT-Roorkee. I did miss my best friend, but still as they say, through distances, you conquer hitches in friendship. Suresh got himself hooked to this Telugu female, Rasya Venkatarajulu, in Roorkee. His relationship is in full high in Stanford now too.
As for me, it still hurts. Still alone, still waiting to tell. But I'm just 22, and I got a couple of years left. So I can wait. As they say, when you desire something very badly, the whole universe works in a way such that you obtain what you desire. So I am sure the universe will work for me some day too.

As of now,here I am in Pampa hostel, IIT-M, and blogging about my long lost school life, when I ought to be studying for a quiz in Chemistry II, in my 9th semester tomorrow. And I guess, life will go on, just as my thalaivar's kuselan is going on. Full houses to 2 years!!!