Exam Tour : Phase II :- Pune

13th December is the day when I arrived on mother earth 24 years ago. Naturally, this day holds a special place in my life. This year, for the first time in my short span of life, I happened to write an exam that also of TIFR. The guys over there are known to be tough and this year was no exception. The exam was at the Chandrashekhar Auditorium, IUCAA (One of my favourite and frequent exam centres). I met many of my classmates and juniors. Gayatri almost scared the shit out of me when she said that she had prepared for an essay. I was put on ease when she told me that she was not giving Physics but Wildlife Conservation.
After the exam, I went for lunch with Anustuv and Avdhoot to the Old Canteen. Later that evening we i.e. me, Aradhana, Anustuv and Chiti went to Durvankur for a treat. The place was suggested by Aradhana and sponsored by me (Surprise!!!). After dinner we had cold coffee at Coffee Stop in Model Colony. I and Anustuv chatted late into the night as we used to do in our hostel days.
Next two days passed without much excitement. I was back at Aniket’s room and studying for INAT that was on 16th in Chandrashekhar Auditorium. I cleared the entrance but fared badly in the interviews. I have to do something that I don’t screw my subsequent vivas. The questions are not that difficult. It’s the interviewers who create a panic in my heart. My confidence reaches bottom low even before I reach the viva room.
I was so shaken up that I needed someone for support. Someone soothing and comforting. And the only name that cropped in my mind was Aradhana. Well she did just what the doctor ordered for me. We talked over all and sundry while walking through the streets of Pune with her punctured cycle as our solitary companion. We parked her cycle at Swargate and then went for a dinner at Girija on Karve Road. The dinner was a Marathi-Rajasthani affair and went well apart from an untimely intrusion by Aniket.
Two more days passed with books, Around the World in Eighty Days (Game) and Big Bang Theory. On Saturday night we met Kaustubh Akant with the idea of dinner but he seemed to have other ideas altogether.
Sunday the 20th was the day of the last entrance, NET. Wadia College was like a fair. I think the college was full upto the brim. I met all my friends here. This time the exam was tougher than last June but I did satisfactorily. Then we did the unthinkable to relieve ourselves from the stress. We went to play football in the university!!! And this indeed worked. I went to the university on the pillion of Barrel’s new Discover. He drove like he was reading a manual and driving. Yet he managed a decent speed and reached before others. (He broke a signal as well!!!)
After the match, we went to Subhadra for dinner. Aniket dropped me back at the station at midnight, where I embarked on Mahalaxmi Express for my next destination, Sangli.
Hope to go to Pune soon.