I think this week is going to be the most critical week for my professional and personal life. I was just wondering if it is so, for most of us who are in the same boat. I am certainly going to take all calculated steps from my end and hopefully things will fall in place.
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St. Pauls was a secondary school. After my 10th, I had to move to other school. The options were limited in Jodhpur. There was one St. Anne's and the other was Mahesh School. St. Annes was perhaps the favorite destination for most of the students but it had limited intake with the selection criteria being the combination of academic performance, donation and a host of other things. To put it more directly, for me it was nearly impossible to get an admission in St. Annes. So I never even thought of making an attempt.
Mahesh (Maheshwari) school was like a melting pot with almost infinite intake capacity. It was also a bit notorious, with a number of funny stories floating around (stories like - someone throwing a shoe at a professor, students putting crackers in the wash room and so many more). I was taking it as an opportunity to prove my superiority/ capability in a new environment. The summer vacation passed in lots of cricket and "day-dreaming" of all the fame I'll earn in Mahesh School.
That was perhaps the outcome of being in a small island with limited exposure. In St. Pauls i was very much unaware of the outside world and the competition which existed. I clearly remember my first day in Mahesh school, I came back with a severe headache. Almost every other class mate there, was better than me. There were some NTSE scholars (I wasn't even aware of what was NTSE ), a 10th position holder in Rajasthan secondary exams and a huge chunk of people into some serious IIT preparation. My headache was just a physical manifestation of my ignorance and "incapability" (if can call it so). Next few weeks went into some introspection, some information gathering on various fronts (it started with decoding the meaning of YG file, BT (brilliant tutorials) etc etc.) and during all this time I always wore a mask of knowing all these things better than others. It was probably the first big learning which I learnt in a somewhat hard manner - "Never underestimate others, you might just end up making a fool of yourself". I still have that feeling somewhere at the back of my mind and it makes me so uncomfortable while giving interviews, making presentations or talking to someone, on topics where my knowledge is shallow.
To make up for "my ignorance", I remember putting in some extra efforts for the first unit exams. I did well in the exams but everyone else appeared to have had done better than me. After the exams, in one chemistry class, our teacher said that he was extremely happy with our performance in the chemistry paper. He also made a statement on one particular answer paper which he found to be quite stupefying, he also said that it was roll number 9 or 11. I was 7, so I just heard what he said w/o any reaction... I am sure 9 and 11 must be thrilled that time! The next day he came back with the assessed answer sheets... I got mine in the end.... because it was not roll number 9 or 11 who got the highest, but it was me!!. I got full on full in my first announced result...... from then on, I was always in the good books of this teacher (Mr. Acharya) and that too in the top most slot.
My overall performance was not exceptional but I did pretty decent and was ranked fifth in the class. I was so happy, at the same time was bit confused - as the person who topped the class )Sumnesh) was a dark horse (he was not one of those people who were into IIT preparation or NTSE scholar or rank holders in 10th.)
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Right now working on - Nothing!! I have just put in my papers
Right now listening to - November Rain G&R