I have this tendency to be too casual about things thinking that everything will fall in place and I wouldn’t have to worry... And one time that I really wouldn't want to forget is when I appeared for the entrance exam at St. Xavier’s college for Mass Communication in 2006.
Since the very beginning I knew that I would be studying medical, and if not, then maybe English or Mass Communication. That’s why I focused mainly on Biology and English (English because I always heard that the prettiest girls are found in the English Dept in any college, and Biology because...well...i love anatomy). Sadly when I didn't even get anywhere close to my ambitions of getting through medical or cracking into the best English dept in town, Jadavpur...plan B followed in automatically!
I started preparing for Mass Communication as a result of my failures in my other pursuits, plus...I had heard the second place where the best looking girls go was...yes you guessed it right! The due date with the exam was on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and the moment I stepped inside the big iron gates of St. Xavier's College, I clearly fell in love with the place ( read: with a lot of women who had come for the test!)
More than 500 students had come for the exam, and there were only 35 seats to be taken...my grit was shaken seeing the frenzy...but the beautiful faces motivated me all the same!
The exam was a bit high on creativity and less on knowledge. If at all anything, the imaginative side of the students was at play hand in hand with their creativity and graphical prowess. A lot of sketching and scribbling was required to wring out all the content that the brain could hold onto the plain white sheets of paper.
One part of the question paper asked us to develop an already given plot by taking it forward, using some props such as: paint, grenade, some rope, a stick...etc. The paper also tested the knowledge about world cinema and current affairs. There was some English grammar and comprehension which was not at all a problem for any one of us.
One part of the question paper asked us to develop an already given plot by taking it forward, using some props such as: paint, grenade, some rope, a stick...etc. The paper also tested the knowledge about world cinema and current affairs. There was some English grammar and comprehension which was not at all a problem for any one of us.
I finished the paper on time, but it wasn't all that great. I leaked the gk portions off my answer sheet, and it was only the sketching and scribbling part that I did well. I thought I had very little chance of actually clearing the screening test to the next round. I came back home and wasn't too upbeat about anything. My brother told me that I had royally screwed up my chances the moment he heard that the gk part was a sitter and I missed questions which were pretty much expected of me to know.
Now, mothers are the most optimistic people in the world after the Poets, and they know what their children are capable of. My mother was no exception and she was the only one who believed that I should at least go and have a look at the shortlisted candidates once. She convinced me to go even though I had to miss playing football that evening and travel by bus in the hot afternoon and then walk a kilometer to reach the college, but I listened to her (maybe she blackmailed me into doing it...). And when I reached and checked the list of the shortlisted candidates, I could hardy believe my eyes! I witnessed something which I couldn't ever describe ever with words- My name was there on the list.... It was the last day before the second round started! And all these days I could have very well prepared myself for the interview only if I believed a little bit more in myself and had dragged my lazy arse to check the shortlist a little earlier. And there was no way that I could have ever known that I would clear the screening if I had not listened to my mother that day!
The college took only 50% of the total shortlisted candidates and I did make it. And nothing would have been possible if I hadn’t trusted my dear mother's instincts. I owe her my graduation degree. Now I am an MBA from another good institute in Bangalore, and am getting ready for placements, and the nervousness has again set in- what company will hire me, what job will I get, what money will be up for grabs, will I at all get a good job in this financially stressed situation, etc. But I can just close my eyes and believe in my mother’s words that “what are you worried for, you are good enough, and like everyone else you too will be placed in a good organization soon!”
So moral of the story: Mothers don’t just blindly believe in you, they know you better than you would ever know yourself and they love you more than you'd love yourself. Their love drives you to the path of success, and it’s very unfortunate of the sons and daughters who don’t have faith in their mothers.
The college took only 50% of the total shortlisted candidates and I did make it. And nothing would have been possible if I hadn’t trusted my dear mother's instincts. I owe her my graduation degree. Now I am an MBA from another good institute in Bangalore, and am getting ready for placements, and the nervousness has again set in- what company will hire me, what job will I get, what money will be up for grabs, will I at all get a good job in this financially stressed situation, etc. But I can just close my eyes and believe in my mother’s words that “what are you worried for, you are good enough, and like everyone else you too will be placed in a good organization soon!”
So moral of the story: Mothers don’t just blindly believe in you, they know you better than you would ever know yourself and they love you more than you'd love yourself. Their love drives you to the path of success, and it’s very unfortunate of the sons and daughters who don’t have faith in their mothers.
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