its rocking!!!

BLACKI
First few days after result, I just did not realize the importance of getting interview calls from all 6 IIMs. Pagalguy has a term for such cases, a BLACKI. I was happy to be associated with another such acronym. It was the gyan session with Rahul, that I fully understood its implications. Like they say in Spiderman, "with great power comes greater responsibility." That night Rahul was at his best. And he did convince me for one thing.

"End of the day ABC stands apart. I know I will get into atleast one of the 6. But, which one? If among ABC, it will make all the difference. If not ABC, I will repent my whole life for not doing something that I should have."

Call it brainwash or anything you like. That very night, I decided to give my 'all' to the preparation. The events that unfolded after that, would finally define the course of my journey. Good and Bad, I had mixed experiences. Everyone around me has been supporting and encouraging from the word go. And I am really thankful to all.

Jobless for two months
Joblessness - it sucks. It sucks big-time. I had my mission - Mission IIM. Still I can tell you, joblessness kills. I had my time when I wanted to think as if the forced banishment did not happen. But then that was the truth. I had no escape. I tried my best to indulge myself in doing things that will help me overcome the boredom. Eventually it helped me. Reading habit is my biggest learning from this phase.

Preparation
Preparation? What preparation? I do not know what did I prepared. Just to mention, I chatted with lots of people, watched all the movies in town and read lots of books, news articles and blogs. Most important of them read my mind. I convinced myself about my 'self'. I feel that is the most important preparation for any interview. The study of self, it takes you a long way.

D-day
D day was to come on 11th APril, but 'honorable' SC gave its 'historical' ruling on OBC quota issue and the D-day just vanished from in front of our eyes. Quota or no quota, I knew only one thing. I do not have a say in this. I just want my result. And if it is positive, I will be the happiest person in life.

May 1st did not hold any special significance, other than being a holiday, for me till this year. But as the end of April approached, it became clear that it will be the day that will define my future. The new D-day. I waited eagerly for it, with my heartbeat breaking every speed record I knew of.

And it begins
May 1st, 00:00 hours IST, and it began.

IIM Bangalore came first. Bora gave me the link. My heart was pounding as I keyed in the address in my browser. IIMB was my worst performance in any interview. I did not have much expectations from it, so. Still I saw my number there. OMG. I am there. I just could not believe. I checked 6-7 times, refreshing the page, and downloading the result again and again. Finally I accepted it. :) Yes I did it.

IIM Calcutta next. Again, it was Bora who sent me the news. He wanted to check it for me, but somehow I felt like checking it myself. I was out for breakfast. I headed straight to home on full speed on my bike. Keyed in the registration number. Guess what, my heart is still pounding. And I was there too. IIMC was one of my best interview performance so I had lots of hopes with it. I converted it. Two big ones in my kitty. One more to go.

IIM Kozikode has an interesting story. There was a IIMK result link on PG which was not visible on the official IIMK page. During first few minutes, this link gave "Sorry, your name is not there in the list." message to every query. I was surprised and did not want to believe it. So waited for some more time before giving this 'news' to anyone. And whoa... the next time I keyed in the details, the results had changed. I was there. Still the link was not yet on the IIMK site, so waited some more minutes. Finally as soon as the link became official, I cracked the news. I am there. It is 3/3. For records, IIMK interview was the only stress interview I had. A pathetic GD performance. On my 'request' they had stressed me in the interview. :)

The BIG DADDY
All the while I was checking IIMK result, I was refreshing IIMA site. Big Daddy was supposed to give its result at 11am. There was no update, but. 11:30 - still no update. What the hell!!! The wait is killing. I just could not enjoy my success so far.
Again it was Bora who gave the link. And again the heart was in the same state. My whole preparation was in front of my eyes. And I was there. I had got through IIMA. For the first time, I shouted on top of my voice. Yessssssssssssss. ABC it is. Yes I DID IT.

L and I came pretty late in afternoon. Somehow I checked them with the same enthusiasm I checked the first result. L made it 5/5. Last one to come was Indore - my hometown. My mom was very happy to know that there is an IIM in indore and I can study there. But when I told that I do not intend to study from there [unles ofcourse I do not get admission in any other college], and that even if I join it, I will live in the hostel, She settled for any MBA college in country. :) Bora again gave me the link, and it worked again. It is 6/6

About Bora, he rocks. He has some miracle touch.
Thanks a lot Bora. You rock. Looking forward at sharing the dorm with you in IIMA.

I am a BLACKI again. :)

I have no words to describe this feeling. It's just wonderful. It's rocking.

And here comes the most important part of this post/mail. I want to thank every soul that has helped me reach this stage.

My parents for helping me to become what I am today.
My sister and jiju for the never ending support.
We the people at the-hangar (Me, ravi, chandu, arpit, aditya, nikhil, joyesh, saurabh) have spent each day as a closely neat clan. And I know it would not have been possible without you guys. Thanks so much.
Rahul and Rout: You two people have been the inspiration. You rock!!
Shashank: you are my elder brother. I can never forget the support that you have given me all this while.
Bhushit: Boss, you know it. I owe it to you. You proved it to me that one does not need an MBA to become a good manager. Now that I will have an MBA, I will try to become a better one.
My team at Juniper: I might have disappointed you guys but I know you will forgive me. I respect and thank all you guys for the help you have been to me. Vasu and Tao, thanks for being the best manager I could have got there.
Brijesh sir, Gulshan sir and Ajay sir - for all your help in preparation.
Namratha: Your mock interviews helped a lot. You can be cruel at times. Still you rock.
Sumana and Sanjana: for all the books and the support. I know you too wanted me to leave your bangalore as soon as possible.
Too all my friends: Thanks a lot to all of you.

And to myself - for holding on to it for so long.