Intro - The day CPT results were announced!

I know it’s a bit too late to write this. Actually I began writing almost instantaneously after the results but had time to complete it only now. And since my blog has come up only now, it’s only correct to put it up now. Better late than never!
The series narrates a day in my life, viz. September 8, 2007 if my memory hasn't failed me yet. This was the day when my CPT results were declared. The rest is history!

I have tried to compile the day in 6 parts already posted on my blog!!!! Do read and leave your comments!!!

PART I - The day CPT results were announced! – The day begins!

It was Monday, probably the third or fourth day of ENIGMA. Reached college early at around 8 am or should I say, was forced to reach early. Double tension – Himani and BC tutorials! I wasn’t thinking much about the CPT results, they were to be the next day. I had a bigger test today. I had just finished scripting our BC Tuts dialogue. Akanksha had to still read it and I didn’t have the time to go through it. She had been told to reach the Admin Room around 8.30 am. She came only by 9 am. Relief! We took a bench for ourselves & started preparing. She first wrote the whole thing down for herself. I did Admin duty till then. Nobody showed any signs of tension – results were tomorrow! Still I kept asking people how they felt a day before the results. Akanksha finished copying & we left the Admin room obviously having taken Himani’s permission. WE moved upstairs to ‘my’ class – S5. Took the last seats and started memorising. Some people had walked in & walked out. We hadn’t even switched on the lights. There was no need. We had bigger worries than fighting darkness. We sat lost in ourselves, individually memorising the lines of our respective speeches. After some silent monuments, we felt we were ready for dual practise. We began! After a few rounds of re-scripting our dialogues & then delivering them, I felt that was enough. We left, to meet our ‘destiny holder’. He was busy having Snacks (Poha) in the staff canteen. I told him we would wait in one of the T-floor rooms. He agreed. W left. On our way, other fellow-warriors were seen, some joined us. Others were late!

Slowly the remaining warriors gathered. I as usual was waiting at the door, waiting for the ‘opponent’. Hrishikseh & Kunal joined me on the watch. With his usual self-glorifying insults, Sammit stood tall on the platform, his short frame fighting a losing battle with itself. Then I got THE call. The call which changed the sullen morning, increasing my heart-rate, diverting my focused attention from the looming war to the nearer. More future-defining battle. A battle already fought twice. The first one ending in an obnoxious truce. The second, awaiting its fate!

PART II - The day CPT results were announced! – Results a day in advance!

Nishant asks me ‘kitna mila’? I mean come on, I say, isn’t the result due tomorrow? This line enlivens all those standing around me. They ask which result am I blabbering about. Some fake fright, others try to hide surprise. He still repeats the question. I say, I really have no clue about the results. I am more worried about my BC-Tuts! I ask him his score. He very reluctantly divulged – 178! I am scared. Isn’t 178 too good? Still, I am scared. The hysteria, though, now had to be dealt with. I couldn't. Control myself. No one could actually, though Sammit initially wanted to see his result personally. Kunal turned out to be the quickest. His ‘fairy-godmother’like sister was sitting in front of our fortune-teller. But he was very sad. He had scored 177. I expected him to be one of the merit-grabbers. Expectations shattered sans remorse! Akanksha sat beside me pacifying my uneasiness like water on a hot stove. She didn’t know what was going within me. Nor did I bother to tell. It was an insane thought about to turn les saner.
Suddenly, hands are being shaken, smiles being spread. I catch one; it increased my worries. Behind me was sitting the 3rd ranker from all over India. I am sad. Not because Hrishikesh got 187 – certainly not – but because he got the 3rd rank! (I am not against him getting the 1st rank either but that time anyone getting the 3rd rank was like hell for me.) I expected to get above 187 & if he has got the 3rd rank, that leaves only 2 ranks above him, meaning just 2 different scores left above him. I expected more than 187, but then not the first 2 ranks, or did i? I was sad, dejected, tensed, nervous and morose! I was wishing that that damn tutorial got over in a jiffy. Everyone slowly contributed to my wishes. I was being asked my seat number. I couldn’t recollect. Meanwhile ‘I’ had spread the news. It was burning through the college. Burning aspirations, lighting faces.
Dhawal was informed and told my number. WRO 0274445 I said. He was warned to not blurt out my score to me. Farheen & Sanjana were also alerted. The battle had announced its fortune showcasing the sheer inability of the divinitioneers- for loss of a better word! Akanksha continued to be supportive! Sweet!

PART III - The day CPT results were announced! – In search of my number!

Shit! It was my turn. I and Akanksha got up, moved to the dais and took our pre-decide places. Sammit had created an aura of sympathy and compassion with his sermons. Impressive. We carried out our 3-4 minute miniscule skit. Sir didn’t comment. He should have I felt. Why build up unrequired suspense. We consoled each other. Again not required. Strength remains unspoken.
Sammit wasn’t capable of harnessing his inquisitiveness. He allowed Kunal to do his bidding. Tension surrounded him. And me too. I was eager to try judging the overall report. He scored a serene 182 – 8th All India. I was further scared. Everyone was scoring aces. What if I…?
Feeling-less, uncaring & discretely aloof from worldly cares, people continued with their speeches & more popular dialogues. It was Hrishikesh now. AIR 3! Even I stopped to listen. Sammit was going berserk. Sanjana called to ask how much I had got. She withheld her marks in anticipation of mine. I ended the call. My bag was only what separated me from my Professor’s vision.
Dhawal called back saying we needed seat numbers and not registration numbers to download the results.
I asked him whether he remembered mine. Tough Chance. He said he got 178! Jaie shouted behind him that he had missed the merit list by mere two marks. Congratulations! The call ended. I was more than eager to get out of this class. But the line of people giving speeches didn’t seem to end. They seemed to like giving speeches.
I was being constantly asked my seat number. I said I needed to go home to get it. I didn’t even know my pin code. Later I was told that the pin code was unnecessary. Salomi was 2-3 seats behind me during the CPT. I messaged her to ask her her number. Stupid girl! Didn’t even reply useless! The moment the last person finished his speech, we all burst out of the class. Sir was saying something. His own speech. We were not interested. Sammit rushed to the reading room. He wanted to hug Vaidehi. He was overjoyed. He deserved it after all those long days spent studying.
I glided downstairs; towards Salomi. She was near the main gate. Luckily I spotted her instantaneously, tall that I am, tall that she is. I yelled at her, demanding a reason for her not having replied. She showed her cell to show that she was in the middle of replying. I didn’t believe her. Who cares? The other matter was more urgent. She recited her number. 1604… something. My doubt had been cleared. My number had to be 16047. I turned around in one sweep and rushed upstairs. Direct into the AV room. There were more like me in there. But they had opened the wrong site. I sped up the ritual. I first got it clarified from Shantanu whether they showed our names alongside the score. I was not interested in giving myself false hopes or borrowed grief by seeing someone else’s score. He and Gaurang said yes. Thank goodness.

PART IV - The day CPT results were announced! – AIR 1 !!!

“The remaining reminiscence can hardly be put into words. Please forgive my (in)ability to recreate memories, if at all, by a faulty choice of words.”

I entered my number 1-6-0-4-7… and pressed enter and first checked the name. It said SATSHEEL DEEPAK REDKAR. A chill, literally passed by, licking my skin tenderly to arouse goose-bumps. The screen blinked a serene figure. The figure of the day. My figure. 190! I hastened to click on the ‘Check Merit’ tab. 190 hadn’t even seeped in yet, cheers would have to wait till the bigger story was revealed.

I still couldn’t believe what I next witnessed. 1^st! ALL INDIA FIRST! I mean come on dude, you came first? I wanted to cry. I really wanted to. I rushed out. Literally ran as if the wind had entered my soul. I ran the length of the library. Anupama asked me while sitting in the library. I raised my Index finger while still running; and shouted ‘first’. I reached the exit door. There I met ‘god’. I told him that I had come first. He patted me. God patted my back. There were two more people there, although they didn’t enter my senses then. I flew down the stairs. Zooming past figures, not registering any of them.

On my flight downstairs, I placed a call to my mom, careful to avoid the ever-watchful gaze of our professors prying on mobiles or was I even bothered? Faces swam past by ever so familiar. Participantrs from various colleges went about finding classes where their events were being conducted. I rushed past them. My mom’s initial reaction was one of caution. She asked for my seat number and the site where the results were being displayed so that she could check out for herself and confirm lest I might have been mistaken in haste. I stepped out of the college building. My next call was to dad. I informed him. Although he did congratulate me but he too asked me to confirm once again.

I headed to G4, the place where I had begun my day. Himani was simply ecstatic! I can still feel her happiness as it was genuine. The entire Admin was intimated. I remember the quizzing faces of the students who had come to participate in enigma. Himani allowed me to take a few hours off from Admin duty – she said it was my Day today!!!

I rushed out of college onto the lawns just to meet the guy who had thrown the serene, dull morning into a tizzy. Nishant was saddled on to a bench along with Polka dots. He once again asked me the question that was going to become the phrase of the day - ‘Kitna mila’? And the confession of the year – 190! He swore, struggling to get off the bench (he didn’t go to the gym then!). Obviously it was too much for a rational person to believe it at the first instance.

PART V - The day CPT results were announced!– Thanks!

To confirm my seat number so as to confirm my score herself, my mom called me again. 1-6-0-4-7 and the site is www.caresults.nic.in. I went over to the right half of the lawns to meet the security team. Ayushi, Nisha, Pooja, etc. Salomi joined in too. Now I apologise that I really don’t remember anyone else’s marks, and that’s a fist in my life. I told them to Ripley’s Believe it or not scenario. I halted their celebrations before they even began and told them the importance of confirming it first. Everyone brought out their phones with swift movements and asked me my seat number. All of them including me messaged this to the ICAI sponsored result service. The network was for obvious reasons, Busy! I believe it flashed first on Salomi’s cell. Not sure though. What mattered the most was what the message contained.

All of us began the victory dance. I was too relieved with the confirmation to indulge in momentary fits of dancing. I got Sanjana’s call in between the handshakes. We both didn’t accede to the other’s request of informing the marks first. The next instance, I felt my feet rising into the air. Obviously, I was being lifted. With bewilderment I looked downstairs only to see Pranav. My! I mean it hurt near my ribs. The news had begun spreading though. Not a surprise as I had just told ‘the’ girls.

From there I moved towards the Admin again. On my way, near the college entrance, Sammit touched my feet? What? Feet? Mine? Why? I was too taken aback. But I could see that genuine happiness for a third person emanating from within Sammit which is rare as a 4 legged crow or a crater-less moon. I moved in. Himani allowed me to take the day off at least for a few hours. I told her I had to meet my Professors. She agreed to let me off till after lunch.

Calls had started pouring in. Hrishikesh, I and Sammit made our way out of college, hired a cab and straightaway got down at Manish Sir’s Office. I guess w bought some sweets from somewhere or didn’t we? Anyways. We met Amit sir just after entering the office. All of us touched his feet. He congratulated us and left. Manish Sir was inside the office-cum-articles section. We were lauded with good wishes and cries of good luck. Manish Sir spoke at length with all of us and we did a quick analysis of all the things that had culminated into the most pleasant surprise for him. Thereafter we moved onto our causa prima, our chief mentor, our Maths professors- Sudhir Sir!!!

PART VI - The day CPT results were announced! – What a memorable day!

Chris called in between. I informed her that I had cleared and she too was happy as she had cleared too. As Chris now reminds me, while on her way to college, Pranav met her at Matunga Station and informed her that I had secured the first rank. In her words they screamed very peculiarly. She then reached college and met Ayushi. They exchanged their scores and then were like – Satsheel came first! Both were like ‘Yay I know’!! It seemed they were happier than me.
We entered from the back door as Sir was teaching people from my batch FyBcom Maths. His face split into the biggest 1000W grin I was to ever see. We touched his feet. He announced to the entire class. He always used to say, “Maths will make the difference! It will decide your rank!” He was so true! Anik Sir also was immensely pleased.
I went to Bullet. The place which had played a very basic role in providing me a place t study. I met Prajakta and gang there on the stairs. A few people had not got marks which they expected to. I felt guilty of telling my marks so once again I simply declared I passed. But Prajakta didn’t rest till I told her my marks and obviously she knew that those marks were sure to have fetched me a rank, but the first rank? Wow! They were awestruck! I met a few other study-buddies and left.
I guess we came back to college thereafter. Admin duty was ever beckoning. The moment entered G4, everyone started clapping and shouting. They had got me a cake too to cut. It was a black forest, the cream of which I can still smell on my face. I stunk of cream the entire day. But the amazing gesture of bringing a cake (brought by Veena and Jui) and also gifting a small Ganesha Idol touched my heart in more ways than one. Thank you everyone and especially Yashshri and Himani!
Calls had begun pouring in the dozens, many people called including Vishi’s Mom. It felt nice! Really nice! Congratulatory messages also began trickling in.
The day ended in all the hustle bustle. I couldn’t stop but smile the whole day, beaming at everyone. I was really stunned myself. The gravity of the situation had begun gripping me. I left for home. On my way I stopped by in Mutual. All were busy playing badminton. I didn’t bother to disturb their play. But the calls gave me in. My friends heard me saying thank you to everyone and hence asked me the reason. It must have struck Amruta or Manorath, not sure, that my results would have been out. I finally confessed. These confessions were increasing my the hour.
At home I directly went for a hot water bath. The cream was taking a toll on my nasal highways. My mom had got sweets which we offered duly to God before consuming them. Dinner was hot, piping Waran-Bhaat! I relaxed and was eating when Arun kaka reached home. He was so happy that he instantly on hearing the news took out a crisp Rs. 500 note and offered it to me. That was the first gift I had got for my CPT results!!! My parents’ happiness knew no bounds. It was and is and will always be their blessings in kind and otherwise and the goodwill of well-wishers to which I dedicate this day to!