Jaunpur, Kurukshetra, Dehradun

the joy of the provincial kid

I have been interviewing candidates for admissions to one of the top management schools.

Apart from the fact that it's been a joy to deal with young people from all over India, the unexpected bonus was that I could talk to several from provincial towns.

Jaunpur, Kurukshetra, Dehradun are some of the towns I remember from where these young people came from. They all had CAT scores ranging from 96 to 98, and fantastic UG marks.

They invariably sat erect and alert, more wary than confident, and spoke, if not immaculate, then at least good English. But more importantly, they were unfazed with the questions that we as the panellists threw at them.

I asked the boy from Kurukshetra about the challenges he faced in his town. He said how he used to face problems when studying for his college during COVID days as he used to stay in the suburbs of Kurukshetra. He said light used to go off frequently and for hours. And every day he had to walk miles to the city. And he used to sit down wherever he could find light, on a bench, on the ground, under a lamppost, outside a lighted shop, on the porch of a house, to complete his studies.

He had cracked one of the best undergrad colleges of Delhi and we asked him how he did it. He said "The only advantage I had was that I had nothing to lose as nobody had any expectations from me. And that I had everything to lose because I had told myself I had no option but to crack this exam." He sighed and then said "You know sir - I stopped sleeping."

I asked him how it felt to be sitting for an interview to one of the top management institutes of the country. I could visibly see his spine get straighter, as he said "Sir, I am extremely proud of myself."

Yes, my friend, indeed, indeed.

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