The road to SPJIMR !!

What a year it has been!! … If I sit back and take account of the year 2009, I would slap myself more than a couple of times and give myself a pat on the back. Details on the same follow. But before I get there I must mention this. I spent the whole day in office today reading blog entries by rockstars, guitarists, violinists, karate champs, poets, singers, sportstars, debators etc. etc, not to forget the percentiles and percentages (which in some cases made me feel dizzy). Hail all!! Speaking of myself, the diversity stops at sports and music, just to make things clear, playing-sports and listening-to-music, NOT vice versa. I have tried my hand at everything, from kabaddi to golf. Some achievements here and there in related areas is what earned me a call from SPJ, yes I am a profile guy!!

Anyways, coming back to the year 2009, in my case it will not just be remembered for the SPJ success. Mine is a classical case where I will cherish the journey more than the destination. The journey has been long. Longer than it should have been. 4 years of preparation to get admission for a 2 year course defies all logic!! Okay, so let’s board the time machine.

CAT '07: The run up to CAT '07 was a tough one. Loads of work at office and little time apart from that. Had put my best foot forward inspite of all that. Screwed up DI. Got an offer to travel onsite. Accepted! Bunked all other exams. 2 days after I travel I get a call from SPJ. Alas!!

July '08 - Nov '08: Every single day I thought of getting down to pen and paper already having lost a lot of time. But it finally came down to the last 2 days.

CAT '08: Not much hope as I walked in. As an experienced campaigner, I didn’t find it too difficult to keep myself busy for the 2 or so hrs. Post exam the familiar "I screwed up" feeling followed.
Week after the CAT Sunday: An on-site offer yet again!! (Is this some kind of a screwing strategy?) This time with incentives added, one of them being a lot of friends from office travelling together. And just for 2 months. I gave the nod. Did not fill rest of the forms. But was sure of getting a call from SPJ keeping in mind the trend in the last 2 years. SPJ didnt disappoint :)

The fun begins ……..
Jan '09: Travel to China. Thought of preparing for the interview, but with a 9 to 9 office schedule it was like mission impossible!! Most of Jan I was sure that I would return much ahead of time for the interview.

Feb '09: Work started piling up and the chances of returning for the interview were fading real quick. Time for Plan B. The falling sick drama. It had to be serious and it had to be real. But there was a twist in the tale. I had tickets booked for a pleasure trip to Beijing late Feb. So the onset of the ailment had to be timed to perfection.

Late Feb '09: Beijing happened. Missed my flight on the way back!! A night at the airport, starbucks, Mac and a home made video of my random thoughts on anything and everything. (For all you guys, if u ever wanna record your thoughts, record it on cam. Its 1 helluva experience!!)

Mar '09: Time to execute plan B. What should the disease be?? (Lymphopsychoma of the intestine ?? he he …) Whatever it is it should be good enough to get everyone concerned! So I decided not to go too technical on the medical front and decided on "blood-in-the -sputum-don’t-know-what". The confession was followed by a medical test by a chinese doc who shoved like a 100 metallic instruments down my throat expecting to find an alternate source of energy there. Results negative!! Plan worked to perfection!! I had to go back to India for further diagnosis!!

Twist in the tale: Return date was decided as 24th of Mar, the day of my interview. Damn!! Damn!! I had to come up with another lie. On the spot!! And I came up with "I have to go see my family doc who knows my med history and he is travelling abroad on 23rd. So I have to be there by 22nd at least". A voice in my head kept saying "What the hell are you saying??". But they bought it!! Voice in my head says "Well done!!"

The return: It was the most unpleasant journey ever!! I lost my laptop. I knew where I left it. Just a 2 minute walk back to fetch it but I couldn’t. Bloody international borders!!

Even without any preparation, I had a feeling that a convert was possible!! After all, you win some, you loose some!! I had already lost enough. I guess God was just being fair and making up for the losses that i suffered. After reading the experiences on PG, I thought every1 had an equal chance and I was no hot-shot. But then came the first list and my name honoured the SPJ website!! So after 3 years of work-ex, 4 years of CAT-ex, innumerable mock tests from all possible coaching instis(and not to mention the lost hours of sleep on Sundays), a couple of sacrifices and a whole lot of lying, I made it !! The hangover still remains!! :)

Some facts and figures for those interested: %age 77, 90, 86.6. %ile 93.39(CAT), XAT bunked, no other calls. Extra curriculars include state level TT, and some prizes for sports in school. Award for paper on "Plagiarism detection" (inspite of 4 years of dedicated plagiarism in college ;)), scouts and some achievements at work. (not enjoying typing this boring stuff). I got no idea what got me in, but for now I am just trusting the interviewers better judgement!!

As a person, not an extrovert. Not really an introvert. Very very short attention span. Rebellious to anything that requires effort. Always game for an adventure. Love challenges. Daring for sure. Do first think later. Love travelling. Love eating (have had octopus, snails, frog etc. So nothing is beyond me!!) . Share an affinity for the unconventional. I goof up very often, each time bigger and grander than the last. (with the lost laptop the bar is set really high now, am scared of whats to follow). And yes, I generally make a very bad first impression.

See ya all at college :)

P.S.: This was my first attempt at writing. Please excuse me if I am not too articulate :)