How Sekhar Anand got wasted, got dumb and never had a life

As I was looking through the JEE results a few days back, I couldn't help but reminisce those amazing days of my life. The preparation for JEE ... aah, they were the battlegrounds of the very best brains in India. (Well, at least that's what I thought before I came here and got wasted.) The exam became a challenge, and believe me I am pretty bad at them. As an avid reader of the fantasy genre, I came across the statement "Adversity and sorrow carve out a person's soul, so that he might have the heart to behold happiness". Was fantasy nothing but a different cloak on the thing we call reality, I wondered. It were these thoughts that led me to finally arrive at my life's motto, "Aim for the stars, you will atleast go sky high".

So I set out preparing for this exam with an aim of becoming the AIR1 and nothing less. The first year passed by in a blur. The masti was there, the shame was there and there was also a dissatisfaction. That summer something clicked in me, thanks to my mom. My holidays were spent in my study rather than outside it ... some might say that I worked hard, but for me that became a challenge and thus fun. The second year started with a bang. Pen-fighting was a matter of honor and organic chemistry was the new buzzword (thanks to rajnie sir). The second breakfasts I had at maurya with Akshay, pypa and Sid & the stupid book thefts of pypa that I took part in are the memories that will last a lifetime. The teachers this time around were even more cool. We had fun in the classes -the probability problems in maths, the quick fire organic in chem, and neelesh sir in physics. Then came the AITS, the moronic boards and finally the biggie.

JEE ... physics went average, maths was cool and I got to stare at the walls during chemistry. A stupid friend made me to believe that I was nowhere near the cut-off. I told of this to my mother, contemplated for half an hour("Shit maan .. Not again") and for the next month I prepared for the other exams with a resolve that become well proverbial in the household. Within the span of a week I gave AIEEE, EAMCET, BITS and ISI; and excelled in all of them. The day of IIT results - i was expecting nothing great out of it. I was drinking tea happily when my dad calls up to tell me that I scraped through. I didn't celebrate a lot. I now had all the
pride of an Ishkan knight burning in my heart.

The next time something big comes my way there's a small change, a small belief that I could draw upon my resolve once again and that the only thing that could ever stand in my way would be me.
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Well, rather serious post,eh? Here come the fun trivia! My top five memories from those days:
1. The penfights, the farzi football games, the country waale antakshari game (heck noone named this game) !!!

2. The books Pranay and I stole, the samosas and the sweets Sid n I never paid for and finally the cool drinks that Ajay and I lifted for the whole gang!!! Damn I was among kleptomaniacs ..

3. The humiliating yet funny "stand up and ..." in English, French, Maths and Chem classes. (SK Rajesh was particularly into me with his "Sheiigarrr")

4. The second breakfasts at Maurya with Akshay and Sid ... aah the chutney there ...

5. The bus rides back home to KKP ... The whole dumbass bunch of teens (me, Yash, Harish and CPP) somehow magically again got transferred to the same place - IITG!!!

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