The Untold Story Of Everyone Who Couldn’t Get Into IIT and IIM

There are two types of people in India:

1. IIT + IIM passouts
2. The rest of us

If you belong to the latter category, welcome to the majority club, where drinks are on the house and resumes are not that glossy. But hey, nobody listens to our side of the story. We struggled a lot too, we too prepared for IIT-JEE and CAT. It’s a different matter that we didn’t clear any.

Here’s how:

1. We were naive, so went to IIT-JEE coaching classes coz our friends went too

2. But can anyone understand the pain when we used to not understand a single word the Chemistry teacher used to say

Inorganic, organic..diagrams. WTF? Am I the only fool or others don’t get it too?

3. You realize that most of the class don’t get it either

So you simply go with the flow. Act as if you understood.

4. At rare times, when you did understand….the feels

I got that…I got that….fuck, now let me dream of being an IIT-ian. Enough study for today.

5. At other times, you just cursed a guy named Irodov

6. You even bought the answer keys to books like IE Irodov, ML Khanna, HC Verma

And realized that you actually got everything wrong (point #4) and that the answer key is tougher to understand than the questions.

7. It dawns upon you that, ‘maybe..I’m not made for it’

Then your mother says, “Padhega nahi to kaisa kar payega”. Then you got confused.

8. Can I actually make it, if I study? Or is it just a trap?

It’s a trap, it’s a trap.

9. After 2 years of ‘coaching’, some late night study session, the D-Day arrives

IIT-JEE screening (for older guys like me), we had screening + mains

10. And…you flunk at the screening

You even got negative marks. How cool is that?

11. IIT-JEE chapter closes at this for many. But for some…there’s something called KOTA

I’ll take a drop and study hard for a year. LEL.

12. One more year of pure bakchodi

Some drop in self-esteem.

13. And…you flunk at the screening. Or made it through, but flunked at the mains.

14. For most the journey ends here. But for some…go to point #12, Repeat.

15. You get into a good engineering college (not IIT)

16. It so happens that everyone in your college is either preparing for GRE or CAT

17. And you make the same mistake all over again, expecting different results

Let’s bell the CAT. I’m going to the IIMs.

18. This time you find the course fairly simple: Quants, English, DI & LR, phod denge BC

And you become complacent.

19. Enter All India MOCK CATs

Phod denge BC to Phat ke haath me a gayi BC.

20. Incidentally, the seemingly simple math problem isn’t that simple

21. You question yourself, “Am I really made for this shit?”

And a sense of Déjà vu dawns upon you.

1 month to CAT: “I’m going to duck everyone in the lace”

15 days to CAT: “I’m going to attempt English and LR, then Quant, if time permits”

10 days to CAT: “I’m an engineer, why am I doing this?”

5 days to CAT: “I just need to revise now. No new concepts”

1 day to CAT: “Ab kuch nahi ho sakta. Let me sleep instead.”

CAT day: Bhagwan bhadose, karo click click.

22. And…you flunk so bad that phatne ki awaz Gujarat tak ayi.

For most the journey ends here. But for some….

Not everyone is made for everything. Just because we didn’t clear JEE and CAT, doesn’t mean we should. The world also needs its Sachin Tendulkars and AR Rahmans.

Ma, didn’t I tell you..I always knew I’m made for bigger stuff. 😛