Not even halfway through the holidays, I was pretty much bored of everything. Guess all play and no work made for dull days. Gals, contemplating to kill me (refer to the previous chapters), weren’t helping either. And given my family, that was nowhere near the pack-your-bags-we-are-going-on-a-trip type, rest of the break didn’t seem to be heading towards anything remotely interesting either, let alone exciting. I was too ashamed to admit it, but I wanted schools to open. Shine’s expressions were similar too, but none of us wanted to admit it. It was like “let’s see who blinks first”.
One day, over the phone, Allan told me something about FIITJEE. It was supposed to be an institute (or institution?!) that was gonna get you through to IITs.
“Now what the hell is IIT?” I thought. It wouldn’t be a surprising question when I tell you (much as I hate to admit it now) that I didn’t really have any dream at any point in my life (I still don’t! I know I’m doing something, why, I have no idea!). My father signed up for Navy directly after his 12th standard exams and my mother is a graduate. So I had this picture in my mind (dumb-ass that I was):
- Joining Navy was cool (maybe it was the water).
- All those sexy uniforms and places where you are posted (especially
- Graduation doesn’t pay; you either become a teacher or a housewife (can you imagine now, how stupid I was?).
It’s pretty weird, but my mind was kinda made up, I was gonna join Navy and as for graduation, I would do it just for the heck of it..!! That’s when Allan dropped that bomb on me. Simply put, it was the first time I came to know that everyone in this world is tagged (more or less with their jobs) and you are as good as your tag. It took me even more time to realize that there are numerous sub-tags too. For example, engineers can be IITians or Not. IITians, as we all know (hopefully!), are highly valued, but the truth is both suck (as my IITian friends tell me themselves, though I suspect there is a common code of conduct between all IITians due to which they all try to play humble).
Anyways, I would’ve certainly followed Allan and joined FIITJEE, but when I heard about the fee structure I was too shocked to reply and I decided that I wasn’t gonna go to IIT after all, extremely stupid decision, considering that later on I joined the same institute, at the same fee and not to forget that I had to complete my entire course in one year instead of two (but as they say, when time is wrong mind passes shit instead of ideas!!).
Allan, I thought, was too ahead of me, so I wanted to discuss, about what to do, with someone more like minded. Of course, I went to talk to Shine. Adam was there too.
“What the fuck is this IIT?!” Shine looked genuinely shocked (told you, he’s like minded). I told them what I knew. Adam was shocked even more, the fact that studies didn’t end after 12th standard was news for him. Shine looked up towards the sky (I think he does that too often). Adam, on the other hand, said goodbye and walked towards his home. With the look he gave, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had killed himself before reaching home (fortunately he didn’t). Maybe he made his peace with the fact that the only way to rescue himself from his family profession of milking cows was to study further. Shine was done consulting God.
“See bro, I don’t think this IIT crap is for us. No matter how hard we try, we can’t get in. We are just not up to that level.” I love true pessimists like him. They’re no good to society, but arrive at a decision very quickly (though those decisions turn out to be a load of crap, but let’s not go into that).
“I think right now we should concentrate on getting through our school studies. If we get good marks then we can do our graduation in any subject we like. What can be more satisfying? As far as getting a job is concerned, who doesn’t get a job these days yaar? We will too.” I know it’s the lamest thing you will ever hear, but at that time it sounded very impressive. More so when he told me about a tutor he knew, a certain Mr. NPB. He was believed to be an excellent math teacher.
Shine thought that studying under him would secure a nice future for us; we might even become a mathematician someday. Crap, crap, crap. But being the true math-lover that I am, I really loved the sound of that word “mathematician”. I knew nothing about what a mathematician is, but I definitely wanted to be one. My belief in Mr. NPB was even more strengthened when after returning home I came to know that Mr. NPB had taught my father (and my uncles) in his 11th and 12th standard days (he was like our family tutor). Now, I thought, anyone having such a long experience has to be good. So I waited for the next day, when I was gonna meet my mentor (supposedly!), and take my first step towards being a mathematician (again supposedly!).
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