My fortune and some nostalgia - Part II

I proceeded with my studies taking Dual honors course in Mathematics and Computer science. And I certainly don't remember how those another two years passed there. By the time I lifted my head up and saw the horizon, it was already completion of my graduation course, I had done my summer training project and I'd got admission in MCA too at Banasthali Vidyapith, which is supposed to be quite reputed for that.

My life was going all well, I had got adjusted to the routine I was following there. The one month passed in MCA course was real fun, with new hostel, new friends, new kinda freedom - the "seniority" and a certain kind of ownership to the place.

I remember when I was pursuing my last year of graduation, one morning while browsing through all dozens of newspapers as my daily morning routine, I read about this advertisement that covered one half part of a sheet: "WASE" - Wipro academy of software excellence. It was a collaborative program of Wipro Technologies with BITS Pilani where the students getting enrolled in this course would be doing their MS from BITS Pilani in Software engineering as well as at the same time, they would be working on live projects at Wipro offshore development centers.It was a four year program with a bond. The whole course would be sponsored by Wipro and enrolled students would get some pre-defined scholarship (stipend) every month for their work.

I was a bit fascinated with the ad. It was something new, different and felt quite challenging and I really felt like going for it. It seemed to be a lot different from what I was doing that time, but I was not eligible for the course, as it needed only the graduates and I was still pursuing my graduation.

Nevertheless, I kept that ad in one section of my memory and closed the door. By the time I'd entered MCA I'd already forgotten about that owing to the "everything-going-perfect" kind of life I was leading that time.

One fine day, I was just coming out of our practical lab when I randomly glanced at the notice board. It was surprisingly empty today - except for one small piece of photocopied sheet stuck on it.

Out of curiosity I proceeded ahead and tried to read it. The photocopier machine seemed to have drunkenly done its work and none of the words were clearly visible, except for the big bold banner of "WASE". The word immediately triggered the wish I had made some one year back and I quickly scanned the whole sheet again. There was some date for getting enrolled to the entrance exam. After struggling a bit I figured out that it was just the next day.

I rushed back to the hostel and immediately sent a mail and all the details necessary for enrollment. I talked to my friends and discussed with them. Some of them seemed to be quite interested in it (I dunno why nobody used to read the notice board) while some were of the opinion "4 yrs - what use? Who'll do all that for four years and all.And there is bond too!!!".

I was anyway interested and did not want to argue with anyone for this, and this time I guess for the first time in my life, I simply went ahead with enrolling myself to the course - without asking my parents. I don't know what came in me - I simply enrolled myself and then told my father about it. He was as usual ok with it. My mom also agreed to it and I was happy!! :-)

The exam was just 5 days after the enrollment and nothing was conveyed about it and its procedure. I was completely blank about what I was going to face when I went to Delhi for the same. I just knew the prerequisites and they were quite good (at that time at least, I am talking about 2003! I know it has degraded a lot now.)

1) Only 75% and above in grad.were allowed (means not even 74.9% can enter).

2) No back logs accepted

3) No drop outs accepted

And lot of other things, which I don't remember right now.

The moment I reached the building where the entrance procedure was going to be conducted, I was surprised to see such a huge crowd waiting. We all had our enrollment IDs , that were sent to us in mail and we were directed to the rooms. Not going into much details about the exams (I myself don't remember what all was there in that.), just that the duration was of 3 hours, it was all objective type exam with negative marking (I hate that!), six sections, half an hour for each. I mean it was just like any other normal entrance exam with some twists and turns and two-three flat questions.

There was a break for 3 hours after the written exam, still we did not know what was going to be the next.After three hours of lunch break, it seemed like written papers were all evaluated for the particular center. I was astonished to know that around 780 students appeared for the tests on that day, just at Delhi center. Out of these some 230 got selected in written ones. The score was not made known to any of us, anyways the ones who cleared it were not bothered too!! :).

From our discussions, I was told that we might be interviewed by some panel and then they'd decide about who'd they take in for the course. I was like ok! let it be - anyways it is not any life-death situation. Worse I'd go back and continue with my MCA there - big deal!!!

Then came a surprise - Group discussion (GD). I did not know about that. It came very unexpected. I'd never seen or participated in any group discussions till now and I really became nervous this time - not of losing something on this, but of facing people.

I did not even know about the topics that might come up. The only two things I felt confident about were:

1) I had been a regular reader of at least six of all the English news papers, our library used to get as well as the magazines on general affairs and current problems etc.

2) I had been a fan and voracious reader of CSR - Competition Success Review magazine since my childhood.I really loved to read it, especially the interviews of IAS toppers and the Group Discussion!!. So I just knew a few things about how the group discussions should go like...but all in theory!!!

Now after eight years of theoretical studies, it was the time for practicals!!!