Channel No. 451

Bheem bheem bheem, chhota bheem, chhota bheem, yaaro ka hai yaar…

Channel No. 452

Gopi bahu, kisse pooch kr tumne laptop ko haath lgaya…

Channel No. 453

Big Boss chahte hai ki sabhi gharwale, assigned tasks ko theek se poora kre…

Channel No. 454

The Game is on!

It is going to be a challenging one to claim for the away team. I am pretty sure the bets have already been placed in favour of the mighty home team but let’s prefer to leave the prediction work for after the game here.

Both teams are out on the field, and as the children accompanying them leave, the captains toss to decide which goal to defend…

Ahh finally! I toss the remote aside and pick up my mobile to go through the day’s to-do. It’s Sunday number 84 and I am supposed to interview Gaurav sir for the amazing feat that he has achieved - AIR 100, GATE’2020.

What coaching center, you ask?

None!

Oh, self-study guy, must have had no social life and hobbies?

Outdoor person, golden gloves winner at AKTU zonal for football and also a notable badminton player.

Me – Half the work is done when you completely set your mind to doing something. And most people in our college come up with one, by the end of second year or even before. Was this your case too?

Gaurav sir - Yeah, just like everyone I had made my decision too, and it was that of getting an MBA. But owing to some personal reasons I had to switch my initial decision. GATE was never my first choice. It was more like a situational call. It was important for me to get a job at the earliest and so I altered my choice accordingly and opted for GATE.

Scoreline 1 – 0

It’s merely 11 minutes since start time and oh what a goal that was! The opponents blew through the defense or should we say the morale of the away team. The visitors have made a substitution. Will they be able to bounce back from this early hit? The midfield is moving quick…

Me – Initially being hit by the fact that you won’t be able to continue in the field of your choice, how did you carry forward?

Gaurav sir– Now that I was supposed to target GATE, I decided to start preparing for it. I remember I was out at IIT Kanpur for ‘Udghosh’ when coaching for GATE, offered at our college started. After coming back I was hardly able to attend 1 or 2 classes before realizing that something about this coaching tradition wasn’t fitting with me.

So without wasting much time I decided to go the self-study way, which is something that I am used to doing since my school days.

Till the end of 3rd year, I was more of a free soul, always craving outdoor activities. But when final year hit, I somehow stopped myself.

Scoreline 2 – 0

Goal!! The heat is rising and the away team has conceded another goal. What a wonderful assist that was and oh that last touch by their center forward! Goalkeeper seems unsure of what just happened. The visitors are in a tough spot here. With only 7 minutes to spare before half time…

Me – It has become pretty normal to hear from people how they let go of all social activities both online and offline and even give up their hobbies during their preparation phases. Was it the case with you too? Also, what kept you going through this phase and how did you manage college alongside?

Gaurav sir – I always kept one day a week reserved for other activities. Football and badminton are the two hobbies I picked up in college. I was a good player of both and always took time out for them whenever I felt the need of starting afresh.

That is one of the things that kept me going. I never took too much stress about things and my strategy was to play it, all calm and cool. Worrying less always accompanies more productivity.

Also, guidance from some of my seniors helped me a lot throughout my journey. To them I’ll always be thankful!

About college, I was never a fan of college lectures (I got 7.418 GPA).

The visitors are entering half time, 2 down. Let’s see if the tables can turn from here.

HALF TIME

Half time is up and the visitors are back with a 4-3-3 tactic. The attacking formation suggests they are ready to struggle and give it their all...

Me – Given the rise in competition in every single field of employment in present times, were you fully confident about this choice? How did you deal with the doubts that you might have encountered at your academic front?

Gaurav sir – The choice had been made and I just had to do it. I properly started in June 2019 after bidding farewell to our seniors. I went home for only 3 days that summer break. That whole month I was able to take out 9 – 12 or even 13 hours for my preparation. I was left with a lot of syllabus, honestly a lot!

I used our normal semester books for the syllabus. Solved previous years’ papers at least twice (this is a must) and attempted some test series after that.

In July I took up training with Indian Oil in Mathura, due to which the flow broke. I got back to college in August and everything was pretty random from there.

And about doubts, I used to leave them there as it is and visited them back after a few days thinking of them as a whole new problem, and somehow, that always worked out.

The home team is thriving with their home advantage and their defense is solid as well. Their center forward is back at tackling the defense of the visitors and ohhh what an incredible save that was!!

The midfield is in action and it would be a disgrace to the heat of the moment if some magnificent piece of action doesn’t unfurl right about now.

Scoreline 2 – 1

GOAL!The visitors go one up from nil. How well-timed was that pass? Oh this seems to have brought life back at the visiting camp. Is an equalizer round the corner?...

Me – It’s often said that one can tell your future by observing the company of people that you keep, as environment around a person is often found instrumental in deciding the level of productivity of that person. What according to you was their contribution in your case?

Gaurav sir – I had a small group from the very start of college. We were mostly from different branches and hence had different goals. Hanging out with these friends is something that I have always thoroughly enjoyed and didn’t stop the same even while preparing.

It is very important for a person to stay this way for the sake of staying fresh.

And that calls for a drinks break :D(FYI: mandated recently in premier league)

Honestly, I wanted the preparation phase to end as soon as it can. Before kicking off the preparation phase in final year, we even took a trip to Himachal. That is going to remain a fond memory.

Look at the shift. The visitors are suddenly ruling the possession percentage. There is no looking back from here for them. It almost looks like the defense of home team is ready to shatter in response to such beautiful dribbling from the visitors…

Scoreline 2 – 2

GOAL!!! What a way to score an equalizer. Oh what a game this has been. Being 2 down in first half, the visitors now stand equal…

Me – How did your final days of this journey go?

Gaurav sir – Semester practicals and assignments were all wrapped up by 15th of January and after that I got back to completing my leftover syllabus.

And this was when my health betrayed me and for 3 days straight I was bound to my bed with sleepless nights. I called home and for the first time in last 4 years, my elder brother’s tickets were booked for Lucknow.

And that evening somehow, I had my dinner in perfect health.

Just 2 days remained to GATE now!

It’s hardly 2 minutes to go before full time. Can one of these teams seal the deal before entering extra time?...

And the visitors have been awarded with a free kick. Is this it? The home team is pretty disappointed about this. And there goes a yellow card in the name of one of the home team’s top defender.

All eyes on the away team’s center forward as he is all set to take the aim. What are we about to experience?...

Me – Would you like to describe the moment you got to know about your result?

Gaurav sir – Sure, the result was supposed to come out on 16th March but out of nowhere they declared it on 13th. Obviously I had matched my answers with the answer keys beforehand but finally there it was: AIR 100.

Although I lost 2.66 marks to silly mistakes, I was still more than happy!

The goalkeeper throws himself in the right direction but fails to dodge the ball completely and it’s a GOAL!!!

Scoreline 2 – 3

And the away team triumphs. What a magnificent performance this has been. What a way to win for the visitors, out of their comfort zones, against mighty favourites, with everything going against them initially, this is a massive inspiration story!...