Chapter 2 - Dream On...

The counselling day was a saturday.The next day being sunday,I woke up early in the morning to attend holy mass at church.As usual I struggled to get concentration during the holy mass...but whenever I realised that I am in church I looked at the the huge idol of Jesus Christ on cross and requested him,"Give me one chance,a NIT admit..plzzzzz..even BIT will do.....plzzzzzzzzz".

My sister and brother-in-law were in Kerala for two days to attend a marriage function.We(me dad and mom) went their home in the afternoon.I detailed to my brother-in-law the options that I gave during counselling and also told him the chances abt BIT,Mesra.He told me that he had a friend working with him graduated from BIT,Mesra.He called him up and enquired abt the college.
The feedback he gave was really engaging.100% placements...gud reputation all over the world...better than most of the NITs except a few..(like Trichy,Warangal)..2nd best private college...fully residential college...n so on...which implied it was totally worth the extra money we are paying.Hearing all these ,I found myself standing infront of very prestigious college...with all
well furnished infrastructure...a lot of huge buildings.....and I was roaming around the college wid a lot of north indian friends....checking out some cute babes...and speaking English in western accent..and sometimes in Hindi too...and as I was completely enjoying the moment there came in between some weird Malayalam...which made me realise that I am still at my sister's home..I was teleported back....But my mind wanted to return to that wonderland..but I resisted..I told to myself,"I don deserve all these...not even in dreams..so stop dreaming"...and I put restain to my mind's north-Indian tour.

We returned home in the evening.As soon as I reached home,I switched on the computer without even bothering to change my clothes,as I couldn't restrain my overwhelming curiosity.While computer booting was going on, phone rang.Mom attended the phone and called out,"Joju(my nickname) its for u"..."Who the hell is calling me now",I thought...'May be the allotment is done and it's one of my friends on phone to enquire my status"...I rushed towards the phone...It was one of my close friends on phone.He was my hostel-mate and classmate for 2 years...His counselling fell on the same day as mine and he had an AIEEE rank much higher than mine(staterank around 200)..But I didn c him der on counselling day..and in the whole BIT thing I forgot to call him up.

With great curiousity I answered the phone,",Hello,wassup..?.didn u come for the counselling ?"
He said he came early and left early as smthing important had turned up.But I was sitting dere, right from the beginning staring at the stage waiting for my turn.But even then I
didn c him !! Then he asked me abt my counselling.
I told him the details.I stressed the point that I gave BIT,Mesra.
"Ooh..you too gave BIT,Mesra...BIT,Mesra-ECE is my first option"
I was shocked for a moment..His opting for BIT,Mesra meant that the probability of me getting into BIT was reduced by half.That too it was his first option...Which means he is gonna get it 90%.....nobody else wid such a high rank is gonna give such a distant college as their first option.
And then he started telling me that BIT has statewise reservation and all those things which I thought only few people knew.I tried to soothe myself by thinking still CSE is left.
Trying to hide my disappointment,I enquired abt the options he gave.He told me that he was very prudent abt the options and gave only nine of them.
I replied."Nice, any ways u r gonna make it to the first option itself".
"May be u too will end up in the same college...may be we can do our engg. also together",he said.
I replied,"Maybe...Ny ways c u tomorrow at NIT"..n I hung up the phone.
Mom asked me,"What was he telling abt BIT ??"..
I said,"BIT is his first option..which means my hopes....",I didn bother to complete my sentence..
I walked towards computer,this time with much less excitement.Ny ways I decided to check the allotment status.I connected the dial-up connection and went to AIEEE site.It displayed 'Seat Allotment'..wth a superscript 'new' blinking..Now,that means the allotment was done.Now my heart beat shot up.

Being a dial-up connection it was taking time to load.'Damn this connection'...I told myself..When you don have even a trace of patience left...u start cursing watever that make you wait.....Atlast the page loaded completely..and I entered my ID and watever was necessary...The page disappeared and new page started loading...I was staring at the tube like thing at the bottom of the browser which gets filled up corresponding to the % of page loaded..As it started increasing towards the end so did my heart beat...Atlast the page loaded with my details..I scrolled down to see my fate ...
OMG !!....that was BIT,Mesra ECE....."Ammmmeeeeeeee(Mom)...I shouted out....What happened ??...She shouted back as if sm thing bad had happened to me..
I ran to her bedroom....she saw me gasping..She asked,"What happened ??"..catching my breath I told her,"I got ECE @BIT,Mesra"...
"Thank God",was her response...Then followed a series of phone calls to my relatives and sm of family friends who already wer at NITs...They all congraulated me...They all said in one voice"You are very lucky mann...BIT is a very gud college better than most NITs...but sm of them even added.."Hey thats very far away..Do u plan to take up the offer ??"...But I was determined..I gave them a strong "yes"..

But then I remembered,"What happened to my friend ??"..He told he gave this option only....may be he was confused abt ECE and CSE..may be he got CSE and may be we are together again..I called him up to confirm his allotment..
He replied,"No..I didn check my allotment"..
I asked him,"Do you have internet at home ??"
He replied,"Nooo"..
"Ok then..do one thing give your AIEEE roll no...I'll check it up and call you back",I said..But he declined the offer flatly..May be he wanted to know the allotment himself !!
"Ok...call me up wen u confirm ur allotment "..I told him...he consented and hung up...But he never called back...

The next day early on I left for NIT calicut wid my dad....This time my dad didn't accompany me to NIT..upon reaching calicut, he went to office...So I went alone to NIT..Upon reaching there..I started looking for my friend...But I think he never came..The attraction of the day was the distribution of allotment letters to the concerned students..I wasn't so late..though the distribution had already started...When I heard my name called..I went upstage..a little proud..thinking of the earlier question"Are you sure you want to go upstage for couselling ??"..I said to myself
"Yeah man...I am damn sure"..

There was a panel on stage,consisting 2 ppl, distributing allotment letter after signing and applying seal...After going through my documents one of them looked at me n asked,"BIT,Mesra,huh ?...Thats a good college..n gud reputation all over the world !! "
I smiled.He then signed and handed over me my allotment letter and wished me 'all the best'..
I took a good look at my allotment letter as I walked down the aisle.After reading my allotment letter I had a special feeling-a mixture of happiness and satisfaction and don know wat else-which is inexplicable !!

After coming out of the hall I looked at the notices put there...to check who were the others who share BIT with me....My friend's name was not there.....I felt a little disappointment....I checked other names...there were no familiar ones....Just next to that notice was a list displayng all India rank of Engg. colleges by some survey...I went through the list to c whether BIT was dere ...Wow..It was ranked 17th..I felt a little proud.."I am going to study in the 17th best Engg. college in India",I said to myself...

As I was going through other notices I overheard a father and son, standing nxt to me discussing abt BIT ....I dared to approach the guy and ask.."Hello, did u get allotment in BIT ?"
He replied,"Yes....Why??"
I said,"Me too got allotment in BIT....I'm George"..and shaked hands with him...and his father too..He told his name but I don remember..He possessed a very attractive personality...and from the way he spoke it was quite clear that he was an NRI ..We discussed a little abt BIT,Mesra....A college abt which I didn even have any idea 2 days before...and now I am going to spent nxt 4 years my life there..This is how life can change in 2 days!!

I caught a bus back to home after lunch(Again Chicken biriyani..I can't stop myself from having chicken biriyani from Calicut).As I sat in the bus enjoying the beautiful scenery outside my mind wanted to resume it's north Indian tour..As usual the a natural response triggered from the back of mind immidiately..."I don deserveee..";this time I stopped it....and said to myself.."Now ,who cares I deserve or not..I got it and I'm going der..Thank God"...and I resumed my dreams...the big college....north Indian friends...babes n ......