A truly epoch making event in my life occurred post my standard ten exams when I attempted to get the NTSE scholarship awarded by NCERT.
This is a prestigious award and is awarded to 1000 deserving candidates out of a corpus of almost 15 lacs.
Most candidates either give up before trying or succumb to the rigorous selection process.
There is a written test on 4 scholastic subjects and mental ability viz.aptitude followed by an interview at the Institute of Science with 4 outstanding scientists.
The caveat to this is that you are eligible for the latter only if you clear the hurdle of the former.
I had not done as well as I had expected at the Boards notching up just 86% when my peers who were less talented got above 90%.
However I did not give up hope.
Knowing that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity I stuck doggedly to my task (and this has nothing to do with dogs..) and focused on 4 scholastic subjects namely chemistry, biology, civics and physics and of course mental ability.
It was hard work but I knew this was a challenge to be met.
As they say “When the going gets tough the tough get going.”.
After perusing several tomes on my scholastic subjects the day of Judgement finally arrived.
Needless to say I had butterflies in my stomach (and was compelled to take a couple of anxiolytics to combat the nervousness) but I was positive and hopeful all the same.
The exam hall was like a Nazi concentration camp, the faces of the victims maudlin and depressed.
Further to my analogy in the previous sentence I attacked each question with the desperation of a camp victim fighting a camp guard for his survival.
After two hours the ordeal was over and it was time to await the results.
After two weeks it was declared that I had passed the elimination round and was then summoned for the interview round at the Institute of Science.
I was unquestionably elated but apprehensive all the same and finally the “day of the Second Coming” arrived. Whoa !!
Four scientists sat before me and welcomed me to a rather austere room with peeling paint and a rather rancid odour.
I guess that intellectuality and penury go hand in hand as the above environ suggested.
The interviewers left no stone unturned to unnerve me but each question they presented me was responded to with the temerity of a leopard.
They took me from topic to topic and domain to domain.
I had to draw from the remotest recesses of my brain to answer some of the questions which were unmistakably difficult.
And then the two questions that bagged it all for me...
The first question “What would you do to promote family planning in India ?”. I tried to side step the question but suppressing any real (or apparent) embarrassment, put together an intelligent reply that went down well with the interviewers.
The last and final question was based on physics. If you throw a ball with all the energy you can get and it escapes the earth’s gravitational field then how far can it go ?.
Using my limited knowledge of gravity and space-time, I conjectured that some planetary object would attract the moving ball into it’s gravitational field and it could not go on for ever. Remember gravity is an attractive force always.
And folks the rest is history.
Two weeks later my letter of commendation arrived and I was notified of my selection for the prestigious award.
As they all’s well that ends well.
This event in my life has served a source of optimism for my later years and I still look back at it with nostalgia.
Reference : https://housing.com/lookup
This is a prestigious award and is awarded to 1000 deserving candidates out of a corpus of almost 15 lacs.
Most candidates either give up before trying or succumb to the rigorous selection process.
There is a written test on 4 scholastic subjects and mental ability viz.aptitude followed by an interview at the Institute of Science with 4 outstanding scientists.
The caveat to this is that you are eligible for the latter only if you clear the hurdle of the former.
I had not done as well as I had expected at the Boards notching up just 86% when my peers who were less talented got above 90%.
However I did not give up hope.
Knowing that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity I stuck doggedly to my task (and this has nothing to do with dogs..) and focused on 4 scholastic subjects namely chemistry, biology, civics and physics and of course mental ability.
It was hard work but I knew this was a challenge to be met.
As they say “When the going gets tough the tough get going.”.
After perusing several tomes on my scholastic subjects the day of Judgement finally arrived.
Needless to say I had butterflies in my stomach (and was compelled to take a couple of anxiolytics to combat the nervousness) but I was positive and hopeful all the same.
The exam hall was like a Nazi concentration camp, the faces of the victims maudlin and depressed.
Further to my analogy in the previous sentence I attacked each question with the desperation of a camp victim fighting a camp guard for his survival.
After two hours the ordeal was over and it was time to await the results.
After two weeks it was declared that I had passed the elimination round and was then summoned for the interview round at the Institute of Science.
I was unquestionably elated but apprehensive all the same and finally the “day of the Second Coming” arrived. Whoa !!
Four scientists sat before me and welcomed me to a rather austere room with peeling paint and a rather rancid odour.
I guess that intellectuality and penury go hand in hand as the above environ suggested.
The interviewers left no stone unturned to unnerve me but each question they presented me was responded to with the temerity of a leopard.
They took me from topic to topic and domain to domain.
I had to draw from the remotest recesses of my brain to answer some of the questions which were unmistakably difficult.
And then the two questions that bagged it all for me...
The first question “What would you do to promote family planning in India ?”. I tried to side step the question but suppressing any real (or apparent) embarrassment, put together an intelligent reply that went down well with the interviewers.
The last and final question was based on physics. If you throw a ball with all the energy you can get and it escapes the earth’s gravitational field then how far can it go ?.
Using my limited knowledge of gravity and space-time, I conjectured that some planetary object would attract the moving ball into it’s gravitational field and it could not go on for ever. Remember gravity is an attractive force always.
And folks the rest is history.
Two weeks later my letter of commendation arrived and I was notified of my selection for the prestigious award.
As they all’s well that ends well.
This event in my life has served a source of optimism for my later years and I still look back at it with nostalgia.
Reference : https://housing.com/lookup
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