July 2003-May 2005 : A Journey

It's been a while since a very pleasant storm struck Girish's and my life....and We are sure that it's a life transforming bit of news..Girish and myself saw the gods granting us our long yearned for wishes - A seat in the IIMs and has it been a windfall...Girish has made it to the best of them all- IIMA, and yours truly will by his grace go to IIMB....I just wanted the "sinking in" to be completed before attempting a post..hence the delay...

It all seems like a blur- the years of effort, the disappointment of not making it last year, the pressures at work that almost made me stay in office the last 48 hours before the exam, a potentially dangerous accident that I survived with the least damage possible, the hours spent reading Business World and stuff I was totally unbothered or simply unaware of, the early morning 10 km drives in semi asleep state to the GD PI classes, the numerous chat sessions with Raama, the thousands spent in the phone discussing anything vaguely related to CAT and B-Schools with Girish, the hours spent analysing SIMCATs, the hits made to Pagalguy.com hunting down any bit of gyaan related to MBA, the pep talks of Hyd junta, the numerous times Self doubts almost got the better of me and threatened to consider calling it quits, All in all I must say God has been very very kind to me and that I am one of the most fortunate fellows on Earth...

It all started when on July 3 2003, My joining date at TCS got postponed from July 16 to October 6 and I was suddenly left with nothing to do for the next three months....That's when Raama and Kaushik Rajan asked me to consider preparing for CAT 03...Strange to note that this was how a passion was finally given the go- ahead....Something had always stopped me from writing or rather preparing for CAT....I needed that bit of "goof-up" from the TCS-HR to convince me to shrug off the laziness and put my head down....
For some strange reason, some one decided to cancel that CAT, which I had done very well ( infact that still remains my best ever CAT to date), and the re-test was a flop mainly because I just could not digest living away from my mother in Hyderabad when she was undergoing a surgery in Chennai....Well, No excuses but that's the truth.... and I still remember the LONG train journey from Chennai to Hyderabad after messing up that CAT on Feb 15 2004....BK and Vatsa were there at the station and I cried as much as I have ever...I still remember BK calling me from home that night and I spoke for 45 mins from the train toilet;)
Numerous mails, phone calls, and a needless depression later, I started to stop fooling around and face the truth and start all over again...That has to be the best decision I have made....God has carried me from then....May 04 - April 05...this entire year has been centered around the CAT...and I am delighted and thankful to god to be where I am....
Girish flying down after an MS to join my "dream chase" was a piece of magic that God decided to enforce....and our journey together has been as it always has been...
The moral of the story is something I have made a part of my Belief set...."GIVE 100% to whatever you do WITHOUT FEAR OF FAILURE"...It required this episode in life to reinforce that....

Sorry People if this was a bore to read, or too "me-centric" but I thought some readers might draw inspiration from an example of the fact that God's grace, a dream, honest effort and good guidance from family and friends can lead to that dream being realized.....

GOD IS GREAT...Hope he carries me in my future endeavours as he has so far.....