The Placement Story-7 of 7

College opened on d 1^st of august…. I reached clg on time… wid a draft of 50,000 in my hand… I still had nt paid d fees… it ws looking even more of a burden to me. I reached clg wid a smile on my face… never mind a fake one… tried cracking a joke or two… n even went to watch a movie d very first day… all dat ws a farce jus to show dat all ws well… where it certainly wasn’t.. Whenever I saw, d smiles on d faces of others.. the only thing dat came to my mind ws dat….. hd I also been placed, things might hv been different wid me…. I kno dis certainly wasn’t d way I shud hv thot, butt I jus couldn’t help it…… I ws nt in d best of shapes mentally… I had started to tinker wid my nature, I hd started to look at myself differently…. Things had gone horribly wrong in d past month…. I don’t reject d point dat I may nt hv been dat deserving…bt still………..!!!!! the pain ws more so coz of d efforts , our parents put in…. I cud hv taken all dis in my stride n moved ahead un moved, bt I jus couldn’t manage to see d d disappointment on d face of my parents coz of me… where they hd given me all I wanted, I couldn’t giv them there share of happiness…. It was looking like a wasted life for me!!!! things had never been so gloomy ever before…..

A day or two later, we wer informed dat a company by the name of AZTECSOFT ws coming at MAIT on 8^th of august… no-one had even heard d name of d company…. neither had I. Some prepared hard for it… bt I had lost all hope… I dint prepare… During the time at clg, before august 8^th…. It ws like d worst one week at clg I had ever experienced in d past three years… sometimes I seemed to get lost all in mysef, I behaved strangely.. trying as hard as I cud to show dat all ws fine wid me, n nothing ws wrong. Finally a day before 8^th of august… quite a few ppl took a day off.. I dint…. I really had no hope left !!!! On d evening of 7^th of august after much persuasion frm mom, I went wid her to buy new clothes fr clg… as it ws d start of d new semester. Later dat night, I opened a buk n sat on d study table…. all lost. Dad came to me n told me to study well. Everyone went off to sleep around 11 dat night, except me. What happened after dat is really nt worth mentioning here…..!!!! I dint sleep dat night… jus hd a nap around 5 am in d morning n woke up again at 6 am. On the morning of 8^th I reached agrasen around 8:30… d same clg which on the morning of 13^th march ws looking like a crowded market, ws a deserted place… fr a moment I thot hd I reached early.. then I called ankit to confirm d timing.. I ws not early. Slowly a few ppl started coming in… while standing outside the clg, the total no. of ppl wer ot more than 10-15 frm our clg!!! we all joked “RACE MEIN AKELA BHAAG RAHE HAIN, FIR BHI NAHI JEET RAHE”… soon d gates of d clg wer opened , n we wer asked to move inside… then we wer given an attendance sheet… the list had shrinked … there wer only a handful of ppl left in d class who wer featuring in dat list. Ankit n me looked at each other…n jus laughed out!! Bt deep inside d pain ws sharp. The written ws conducted later.. n d results wer announced. I again hd managed to clear d written… out of a total of 135 students dat appeared around 65 cleared d written… then the GD ws conducted.. fr d first time I managed to clear d GD round… before this, I had cleared 5 of the 9 pprs I had sat in, dis ws d 6^th written I had cleared in d10 pprs I had given!!! and in all 5 of them I had been rejected at the very first point of interaction wid d ppl frm d company, dis ws d first time I managed to clear it!! Next ws d technical interview… I ju saw a ray of hope again,…… maybe dis ws my day!!! I tried to revise some technical stuff… bt it ws not of much use.. iws among d first ones to be called fr d interview….. then I thot my bad luck had caught up wid me again.. I went into d interview room… I went okay types…. not as bad an experience as sapient or tech mahindra!! Then d HR interview got over in less than 5 minutes!!! After dat d wait fr d result began…. quite a few ppl called in to enquire abt d result. Late dat evening, I ws sitting wid ankit…. assuring him dat dis night he wont go away disappointed….. I had experienced d pain of going back home after getting rejected, n I really dint wanted to experience it again… n certainly dint wanted anyone else to go thru it again… I ws desperate dis time…. I wasn’t ready fr another round of frustration!!! Soon, the results wer announced…… dis time my name ws announced in d selected list….. “PHEW” dis ws d first word dat came to my mid at dat moment… happiness n joy ws d last thing on my mind at dat moment… everything dat I had thot of doing before…. That imaginary punch in air dat I had imagined a month back jus dint come… soon I realized dat, Ankit ws nt been selected…. I knew exactly wat state he ws at dat point… I rushed towards him… jus dint had d courage of uttering a single word to him… stood there in front of him…. watching him… I had no words.. suddenly I felt lie loosing all my strength, I jus couldn’t help it!!! Then I switched off my cell…. dis time d reasons wer different… d person wid whom I ws coming back home hd nt been selected…. also there ws ankit there jus next to me n I jus dint wanted to attend any calls in front of him… Whatever I may say, now… the moments dat I had imagined before, jus dint took shape…. there ws no feeling of bliss coming frm inside… it ws more of relief than anything else.. at d same time I ws nt able to imagine wat ankit ws goin thru at dat time. I cud feel his pain The journey dat began on the 13^th of march finally culminated on d 8^th of august!!!! n quite fittingly at d same venue!! I reached home… Dad opened the gate n asked kya hua I said, “HO GAYA SELECT” then mom came n asked.. I said “ HO GAYA”.. d smile dat featured next on their face ws d one I ws waiting fr so long…. Bt still all those things dat I had imagined before jus never came naturally to me… I still wasn’t happy from inside. It ws more of a relief than anything else… soon phone calls started pouring in…….. it ws at dis moment dat I remembered d night of 14^th july again…. I really ws lucky to have such great ppl around me wen d chips wer down, who tried to help me out, who wer willing to share my sorrow….. I may hv thot d wrong way bt they never did!!!

The date 14^th july holds a special significance for me frm now on….. I might forget anything else… bt I wont frgt dat day…. it had taught me a lesson of a lifetimne… the lesson which I will keep wid myself all along my life… it is d date which will keep on reminding me in bad times, dat I hv faced tougher times… nothing comes easy here on dis planet… and friends n family are ur most treasured possessions… don’t loose them at any cost…. If u hv found a gud friend, consider urself lucky, n I consider myself the luckiest person on dis planet.. wid such great frnz… those who wer willing to help me out wen d chips wer down… I wont go here naming any of those.. all are equally important to me , n I dnt want to miss d name of even a single person!!!

P.S.- The date of the post below it also tells apart of d whole story