Nakul and Sheetal.....
“Ek Wills ka packet dena” and I hand him a 100 rupee note..
Mentally calculating ”100 minus 25..no its 27 since the budget…it comes to be” and I see 73 rupees looking straight at my face.
I look at the boy, he is probably 15-16 years old on the steps of adolescence with light facial hair and a pitch that’s transforming from girlish to manly..
What if he had all the facilities like a middle class person like me..Would he been topping his class or would he have fallen into wrong company and got addicted to cigarettes, drinks and who knows, even dope??
I took the packet and my change and return home, only my mind is too occupied now with all the thoughts…
Consider a scenario…day 20th november, the D day for all the CAT aspirants.
A guy , named say, Nakul leaves from Thane to his centre in Kandiwali via a local. His bag’s strap is torn so he hugs it tightly under one arm and with other, he holds the over crowded train’s rod. He is sweating profusely, wipes his forehead with his already not-so-clean shirt thus dirtying it more.
A girl, named say Sheetal, gets ready to leave for the Kandiwali centre again from Thane in a chauffer-driven AC car..only this time the chauffeur is replaced by her Daddy dearest..”Beta, its ur important day…I have taken a leave, I ll drive you to the centre”. Her mom says from behind “ I have packed some health drinks, butter toast and your favorite tandoori chicken pizza…you are not going to eat anything from outside”.
After changing his train from Dadar, Nakul enters another even more over crowded train which all of a sudden stops much before Andheri. “It happens!! And I have lots of time in hand..thank god, I left early!! The train will start within 2-3 minutes.” He assures himself thereby dirtying his shirt even more..But no, its 10 minutes now..the train seems to be stuck…Someone tells him there is some problem on Western line, it ll take time..Nakul panicks. He took exactly 100 rupees with him. 15+15 train fare and 70 if there is some “emergency”. But, this is an emergency!! And he knows that with 70 bucks he cannot do anything. Mobile phones, a common feature with even the paanwallas and rickshawwallas was a luxury for him. ATM card is something which rich people use when they dine in expensive places. He rushes out of the train that deceived him to find a local booth. Luckily, he found.. only to realize what is the use of calling his neighbourhood (who will eventually infom his family) at Thane..Then he makes a quick decision and calls his friend from Andheri to come as soon as possible.
And there, Sheetal instructs her Dad, “ Papa please, don’t turn on the music system.. I wanna take a short nap before reaching the centre so that I am all fresh when I face the paper.”
Nakul makes it to the centre at sharp 10, praying that the invigilator doesn’t play a spoilsport and create problems. Luckily, the invigilator doesn’t. He gets his CAT paper, for 2 minutes he cannot concentrate…what if, his Andheri friend would not have been at home at that time…What if, the invigilator had been strict…he muses. But then he realizes the importance of his time and starts solving paper. For Sheetal, it was an easy run. She reaches the venue 10 minutes before the scheduled time, settles down, sharpens her pencils, prays to God and starts solving the paper.
When the final results come, both Nakul and Sheetal have cracked CAT with a very high percentile, both get calls from all the IIMs and both are now eventually batchmates in IIMA….
Well, this was a very optimistic picture…or on second thoughts, was it???
Was I too prejudiced, too biased when I went to Pagalguy poll and despite seeing an option of “there should be reservations for economically backward people”, I voted for “there should be NO reservations”….
Was I all wrong in the first place???
Mentally calculating ”100 minus 25..no its 27 since the budget…it comes to be” and I see 73 rupees looking straight at my face.
I look at the boy, he is probably 15-16 years old on the steps of adolescence with light facial hair and a pitch that’s transforming from girlish to manly..
What if he had all the facilities like a middle class person like me..Would he been topping his class or would he have fallen into wrong company and got addicted to cigarettes, drinks and who knows, even dope??
I took the packet and my change and return home, only my mind is too occupied now with all the thoughts…
Consider a scenario…day 20th november, the D day for all the CAT aspirants.
A guy , named say, Nakul leaves from Thane to his centre in Kandiwali via a local. His bag’s strap is torn so he hugs it tightly under one arm and with other, he holds the over crowded train’s rod. He is sweating profusely, wipes his forehead with his already not-so-clean shirt thus dirtying it more.
A girl, named say Sheetal, gets ready to leave for the Kandiwali centre again from Thane in a chauffer-driven AC car..only this time the chauffeur is replaced by her Daddy dearest..”Beta, its ur important day…I have taken a leave, I ll drive you to the centre”. Her mom says from behind “ I have packed some health drinks, butter toast and your favorite tandoori chicken pizza…you are not going to eat anything from outside”.
After changing his train from Dadar, Nakul enters another even more over crowded train which all of a sudden stops much before Andheri. “It happens!! And I have lots of time in hand..thank god, I left early!! The train will start within 2-3 minutes.” He assures himself thereby dirtying his shirt even more..But no, its 10 minutes now..the train seems to be stuck…Someone tells him there is some problem on Western line, it ll take time..Nakul panicks. He took exactly 100 rupees with him. 15+15 train fare and 70 if there is some “emergency”. But, this is an emergency!! And he knows that with 70 bucks he cannot do anything. Mobile phones, a common feature with even the paanwallas and rickshawwallas was a luxury for him. ATM card is something which rich people use when they dine in expensive places. He rushes out of the train that deceived him to find a local booth. Luckily, he found.. only to realize what is the use of calling his neighbourhood (who will eventually infom his family) at Thane..Then he makes a quick decision and calls his friend from Andheri to come as soon as possible.
And there, Sheetal instructs her Dad, “ Papa please, don’t turn on the music system.. I wanna take a short nap before reaching the centre so that I am all fresh when I face the paper.”
Nakul makes it to the centre at sharp 10, praying that the invigilator doesn’t play a spoilsport and create problems. Luckily, the invigilator doesn’t. He gets his CAT paper, for 2 minutes he cannot concentrate…what if, his Andheri friend would not have been at home at that time…What if, the invigilator had been strict…he muses. But then he realizes the importance of his time and starts solving paper. For Sheetal, it was an easy run. She reaches the venue 10 minutes before the scheduled time, settles down, sharpens her pencils, prays to God and starts solving the paper.
When the final results come, both Nakul and Sheetal have cracked CAT with a very high percentile, both get calls from all the IIMs and both are now eventually batchmates in IIMA….
Well, this was a very optimistic picture…or on second thoughts, was it???
Was I too prejudiced, too biased when I went to Pagalguy poll and despite seeing an option of “there should be reservations for economically backward people”, I voted for “there should be NO reservations”….
Was I all wrong in the first place???
posted by Rachit | 11:26 PM
5 Comments:
yup i also have come across similar situations a lot of times....but that doesnt mean tat we shud give reservation on the basis of caste..it shud be based on income..
hmmm good thot rachit...yes we do ignore the backgrounds these ppl come from and yes there shud be reservation for them...but is it sheetal's fault tht her dad is rich and she wants to get into the iims?think about it...what if ppl like nakul were coeached free of cost for cat by ppl like u & me who have got into good intis as apart of our curriculum...wont sheetal and nakul been at the same level then atleast in terms of coaching!
But what abt life @ IIM.. where analytical skills matter... Background (Finanacial) will not influence the outcome...And when i say outcome I mean.. what happens during the term, the summer placement interviews and the final interviews and obv the career ahead...!!
agreed wit both prince n saumya
n specially for suhas
2 years in IIMA..there s a lot of expenditure apart from the loan..n Nakul as u can see is really really poor..will it not again affect his performance where when he should be studying (like Sheetal) he will be going on foot from college to hostel(suppose hostel n college are far) thus saving say 10 bucks each time...
and there would b innumerable examples n expenditures like this..
i must say this story had got the most amazing realization effect in the end
very good.
I personally believe economic backwardness with comparitive smartness should be given a percentage a small quotas.
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