THE CALL

'We could check it at coimbatore too, you know...'

'No, i'm staying home. '

We had to attend some function at coimbatore the day the SIMC merit and waiting list was to be published. No amount of coaxing could make me move an inch away from the computer. Well, the scene was pretty much like that on the day when the shortlist was published. Except that my parents wouldn't be home this time.

They had said they'll put it up by 5PM. Both the Merit and the waiting lists. Would i make it to the merit list? Was my GD and PI good enough for that? May be the waiting list...But if i fall in that, would someone from the merit list choose not to join giving me a chance?What am i thinking? Why would SIMC call a kid like me? As if i'll get to go to Pune. I hadn't even gone out to Ernakulam alone until a couple of months back and here i'm thinking of Pune. Like That's gonna happen!

But i couldn't help wishing that my name would be there in the list.Those quotes which are written on the blackboard and read out in the morning assemblies at schools , like, 'Hope for the best and prepare for the worst' etc etc popped in my mind. Didn't feel like talking to anyone else right then, so i was busy talking to myself and make me feel okay. Crazy.

Just like the last time, the MBA lists were out first . Around 4:45. Any minute now...Either you'll be in, or you won't. It's as simple as that. You can still apply to IIMC, IIJNM, etc etc etc....Some place would accept you...

Excuse me, me, would you keep quiet for a while?

The lists weren't out yet, but my parents were back. And just when i looked away from the computer for a second, the latest scary Adobe pdf files were out.

MMC JOURNALISM FIRST MERIT LIST

Okaaay....Now here it is, go on click on it......Me? Shut up!

Lord, it'll be nice if i would just scrape through like last time, it would be wonderful if i was the last person in this list...

7??? Oh my God, i was 7th in the merit list!

'I got in!!!'

'Really?'

'Yes! My name's 7th in the merit list, mom!'

'Go open that cover on the table'

'What?'

'The cake box. On the dining table'

Wasn't she supposed to give the cake to cousin Anju at coimbatore? Never mind, i love her cakes....

CONGRATULATIONS!

Just that word on golden brown pinapple pieces over the cake. That cake was sweet. And i didn't have to taste it to know that. Hmmm....grown ups are really hard to figure out at times. But i wasn't going to tell her that.

'But i like chocolate cake..............', I whined.

Well, calling up everyone i knew on this planet filled up rest of the day. Including Priyanka and Varun.Both of them made it in too. I love stories with happy endings! There is nothing more i can write about this . I was happy as i could be...I got into SIMC, I was going to stay in Pune for two whole years( maybe longer than that...who knows?). Right from that trip to write SNAP, till this day when i found my name in the list....everything that happened, everything i did, everything everyone else did for me...it all fit in perfectly to make my dream come true.