13th of May – 2012

This article has been submitted by Tushar Giri for the CLATGyan Blog Post Writing Competition. If you think this article is a good read, ‘Like’ this article on Facebook (the button is at the bottom of this piece) or post a comment using the ‘comments’ section below.

13^th May 2012. I was finished with my boards. Completely idle. I was sitting on facebook like any other day and I remember reading one of my friend’s status about CLAT. All I knew about CLAT was that it was a law entrance exam and that the top colleges were NLSIU and NALSAR. Period. The field of law did excite me, but I never gave it a serious thought. Anyway, I did not take the exam last year. You might be wondering why? Well, this HOTSHOT here, had been selected to join the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. All set to be commissioned in the Indian Army after 4 years of training. It was a big thing! Make no doubts about it. I was set to be the third generation of my family to be in the army. So that’s why I didn’t take CLAT.* so wise of me*.

24^th may 2012. I joined the academy in very high spirits. Everything was perfect. Everyone was happy. My dad was posted in a very secluded part of the country and my mother and my brother accompanied him. So there I was, in the academy. As per the routine 1^st day procedure, I was to be interviewed by an officer. He asked me a lot of things but one question which I remember the most is “Son, what would you have done if you wouldn’t have made it here?” “Study law, sir”, I replied crisply.

This was probably one of the routine questions .When I came out of the room I laughed and wondered why he would ask me such a thing. Little that I knew, fate had something else in store for me.

15^th October 2012. I was standing outside the academy gates with two bags and a suitcase trolley in my hand. I was out. Whilst the training I had met with an accident and had broken my shoulder. This accident gave me a permamanent injury which made it very difficult for me to continue. So I was out, in mid college term, completely clueless about my career. I remember my dad asking me “beta ab kya karna hai?”, “papa soch raha hun CLAT de dun”  I couldn’t help but notice the strain in his voice.

So now, every coaching centre was telling me that they can’t enroll me now as it is too late but I could come back and take the crash course. #sonepesuhaga. So as my dad was in the field, where would I go? To my nani’s place! which is a village which is blessed by  internet connectivity whenever God wishes.

So exactly 6 months ago, I was in Bangalore and now in a “pind” (village).That is NOT an easy transition. I will be true to you; many people now didn’t have faith in me. They thought that I can’t do this. Sometimes even I lost faith in myself, but there was only one thing pushing me. MY FAMILY.  They knew I could do it. My brain was playing games with me. I would remember all the moments I had in the academy and groan about how close I was to being an army officer. I had no friends nearby. I used to sit at a rock besides a pond and wonder about my future.

But I picked myself up and I moved on. It was difficult. BUT POSSIBLE. I was now more on CLATGyan’s website. I gathered all I could from the internet. Legal reasoning. Legal knowledge. GK (I had absolutely lost touch of every current affair of the past 6 months). Legal Maxims. Blah blah. But I kept going because now I had a point to make.

12^th may 2013(5:00 PM). I walked out of my examination hall content and happy. My paper went really well. I don’t know whether I will get admission in the TOP colleges but I am hopeful that I will get a good college. But that doesn’t matter!

In one year, my life took a U-turn unexpectedly, exactly when I thought everything was going great it surprised me. But now, I am glad that it did because it has taught me so many things. One year from then, I am tougher, stronger and single (don’t ask about that : P). I have more faith in myself now. I am ready to face any challenge. COME WHAT MAY.  So stop whining about the fact that you have problems! Everyone does. That’s how Life is. Believe in yourself. Hope for the best. If I could, why won’t you?

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.”- Shawshank redemption.