That memorable day in KSOM and my INK…

Last two months were the toughest ones of my life. I was wandering in the peripatetic terra firma of my career. I had got to know varieties of new traits of human beings. It was like a never ending learning curve for me. A curve that not only taught me the real meaning of life, but also sighted light on the importance of self-belief and passion. If you are not passionate about anything, or if you don’t possess any concrete desire or purpose of achieving anything, then a mere breeze can make you feel dull and your life humdrum.

Everything was going pretty well, until I got acquainted with this word called ‘placement’. Indeed, to get a placement is always the primary thought of any student out here. Years and years of hard work and thirsts are answered here, in the placement process. The Google forms, shortlisted students’ list, and the CTC, these were the perks of going through a mail that was coming from the placement office. It was painful, yet exciting and new to me.

Whenever I used to hear the sound of the splash made by the students while throwing their friends in the pool’s water, my heart used to beat a bit faster.

‘Someday, my friends would also do this to me,’ Ahh! This very thought never failed to give me profuse energy and belief. KSOM posting the photos placed students in social media handles was something that enabled the system of my desire to dream a bit higher and bigger. Mine was a small dream, but a concrete one. I wanted to do this for my friends and college. And as the days progressed, my desire also touched heights of Orion.

One by one a handsome number of people got placed. Foliage of good friends broke into pieces, and new groups were formed. That new group consisted of those people who were placed. I, sometimes used to laugh a lot on this perplexed actions, but I wasn’t able to crack the code, because I was unplaced. At the stroke of the winter, things started to change. The word ‘pressure’ became the most sorted out word for me. All of a sudden life became full of snags. And, I started to apply for various companies.

‘You’re a writer, you don’t need a job. You’re earning well too,’ these types of statements were made by a lot of people in the campus, but on the other side my heart’s desire to taste success got intensified. I too have gone through a lot of criticisms and baseless shots of discouragement fired at me mercilessly in a meticulous way. I reached at a point, where I made my own life flummoxed. Colloquially a large number of people made it tougher for me to walk on the bridge, which was connecting the academic wings with the hostel wings. I could see the helplessness in the mirror while combing my hair every day. But, I too had learned the art of ignoring things. I learned to ignore criticisms, and then wayward statements made by others.

One fine morning I was reading a book of Dr. Joseph Murphy, titled ‘The power of your subconscious mind’. There was a line which went like this “If you have a dream, then try to realize it in your mind. Try to live that in your mind. Visualize everything as if it has already happened to you. Then, your world will be a different one, and who knows you might end up living that dream in your real life. Have faith in yourself, and ignore the chaos made by other people.”

That one line proved to be drops of nectar for me. From that day onwards, rejections made by all the companies were like new life lessons for me. In the course of appearing for various companies I learned a lot of technical things about Marketing, Operations, and last but not the least Finance, which was not my forte. Those little readings helped me in my dream company TCS, which I can’t forget till my last ride to the graveyard. In the TCS process, before the SKYPE round I calmed my mind down and started to introspect everything that I had gone through in the last few months. I mustered up all the little readings that I had done before, and concentrated sharply on producing those rightly in front of the SKYPE camera. I closed my eyes and started living my dream in my mind. ‘I’m placed at TCS’ I repeated this line again and again for a thousand times I guess. When my turn came I put a smile on my face and made myself clear to live that moment with immense contentment. Previously I was rejected by TCS in my Engineering final year, and the scenes of that event started coming to my mind thick and fast, but I didn’t want to experience those again in my life. I challenged to change the wind with a bigger hopes and meager fear.

I had been asked around twenty odd questions in the SKYPE round, and by god’s grace the experience from previous companies helped me. I connected all the dots and as a result I ended up answering ninety percent of the questions, which was a surprising thing for me too. Still, I was a bit nervous.

Late in the evening I got shortlisted for Operations and they asked us to wait outside of the PLM lab. Every friend of mine was there. Previously I had been rejected by ten companies, and I wanted TCS very badly. Clock went on running slowly as we waited there for two hours. A lot of incidents were going on in my mind including my own struggles, my family’s struggles, my dad’s delectable inspiring words, my mother’s euphemism, my teachers’ expectations and lastly my friends’ dry eyes. I wanted to add a new feather on my wing.

Through the glass door, I was observing Prof. Jitendra Mohanty, our Placement Head, having a chit chat with the recruiter. Their each and every movement was creating thousands of waves in my heart. Suddenly Jitu sir hugged him out of joy and waved his hands in air. Our placement department’s Amit Sir came sprinting towards the door and shouted, ‘everyone is placed’. That was it. A minute of silence prevailed, but that followed by an explosion of emotions, tear drops and happy smiles. My friends hugged me and I was quite. Drops of tear formed around my retinas and I thanked god for everything. It felt like I was in my dreams. Friends were cheering, shouting, and patting my shoulders. I could have given my entire world for their smiles. That thing deeply and precisely touched my heart. Like a surgeon’s silk blade, it tore the sheath of fear and nervousness of my life smoothly.

I wanted to share my experience only to say that nothing is impossible. But, if you have a dream then you have to toil hard for it. Nothing comes for free. You should possess a possibility. If people say that you’re incapable, then give them a thousand reasons to change their rationale. I don’t know how many sleepless nights I have spent in dreaming about this. Uncountable number of tear drops has been shed. But, life doesn’t fail to surprise you. I’m a firm believer of magic. Yes, magic happens. The place is surely KSOM, and the magicians are my mentors and professors out here. KSOM has completed an incomplete cycle of my life. From my engineering career I wanted to join TCS very badly, and KSOM just stepped in at the right time to ink it in reality. I’m confident now. I’m confident because I have toiled hard and survived it. I have seen some of the most disastrous days of my life throughout this struggle, but I kept all those emotions within myself. I saw people changing, I saw seasons changing too, but I can proudly say that a person who has his feet on the ground and still possesses high ambition to shoot for the stars is a person who can do anything. Be humble and be munificent. Be soft-spoken and be thankful, that’s what my parents and my faculties have taught me. A bright chapter is closed here, but I’ll rejoice KSOM forever in my life, in the cold pool water with my friends, and in that room number one two one with my friends. I’ll celebrate KSOM in the lecture halls with my beloved faculties, and on that bridge where I sit alone to sing a swan song that will last forever. Thank you for making me who I am today.

“KSOM, a place where dreams meet opportunities”

A proud KSOMian.

-by Suraj Kumar Chhatoi, MBA II.

Suraj is also an acclaimed writer with four novels to his credit.

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