I had no idea what to do after finishing Class 12. According to my parents, the only course that guarantees a “good” future was MBBS. So I joined a prestigious coaching institute a week after my results. I had to stay in a hostel with hundred of others, all hoping to crack the exam. It was indeed a ‘rat race’.
After 10 months of work and sleepless nights. I thought I was ready. But on the day, I wrote the entrance test, I knew I had got it all wrong.
I clearly remember the day the results were out. Even the neighbour, with whom I never had a conversation, wanted to know if I would be a doctor or not. I got call from every relative I know, and with every call, I felt like I had failed in life. The next couple of weeks were very difficult, I had to explain why I couldn’t clear the entrance exam to every person I met. I felt I had let my parents down; I started believing I wasn’t good enough; and that it was the end of my career. I did want to try again but I haf lost all my confidence.
After some consolation, I gathered energy and applied for geology at Fergusson College,Pune. I got through. My life changed gears. New faces, new campus, new languages, new culture, and most importantly: new friends. I even joined the college film society and started travelling. Things started to change and because of all that time out-doors, I soon realised my true calling— the environment.
I then applied for a masters in environmental management at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, and also applied for entrance examinations for all Central universities Because I loved every thing about the environment. I prepared well. This time, instead of mugging up for 12 hours a day— as I had done during my MBBS preparation— I started enjoying what I was reading. I studied about three hours, every day and surfed the Web for matter.
Finally, the results were out. I had topped the entrance examination to Central Universities and secured 12th rank in the entrance exam for the Forest Research Institute. I chose FRI because my best friend too had been selected for the same college.
Coming to FRI opened up a whole range of opportunities for me. I was introduced to ways in which the environment was actually being managed- like the restoration of barren lands, concepts of waste management, conservation etc. I got to be closer to nature than I ever was. I realised I could choose any direction of my interest here.
So, all in all, I got to travel; make friends for life; got to do much more than study inside a room and discovered my interest.
Today, I am glad, I failed that medical entrance. It wasn’t the end, but the beginning of me.