Know this: Asad is one of the cleverer people I know. If he wants something done, he ‘makhan maro’es you, telling you about how you’re brilliant and how the world doesn’t produce too many people like you. And you bathe yourself in the metaphorical makhan, feeling good about yourself and doing his work. He pulled that one on me this morning. Well, here I am.
Everyone knows what is going to happen. In a few days, thousands of you will troop to the nearest National Law University/Random sidey centre. You’ll frantically go through exam strategies in your head while counting the number of pencils you have with you. Then you’ll look at random fellow-aspirants, sub-consciously evaluating their chances of cracking the exam. You will assign the gawky, specky kid a place in your mental top tier college; you will assume that pretty girl with nice shoes is an ignoramus and will not crack it. A tired old man will finally hand you a paper. And then, the bell will ring. And it will all begin.
For two hours, you’ll colour in a bunch of circles based on your guesses, educated or otherwise; each one to be made in an allotted 36 seconds, give or take. At some point, you’ll wonder if that not-too-satisfactory guess will decide the fate of your next five years. But you’ll know that you cannot wait, 36 seconds per guess, remember? And after two hundred such guesses, it’ll all be over.
You’ll ‘discuss’ your guesses with friends and acquaintances, worrying about how every answer confirmed wrong reflects somehow on many others that would have gone so. This worry will infect your mind for an entire month before the results are announced. You’ll attempt to convince yourself that you are free of all work, despite being only too aware of the big anxiety in your head. You’ll roam around the city. You’ll watch a movie. You will scour this very website for articles that will placate and cheer you. In the meanwhile, 14-odd institutions shall eagerly await your scores, convinced that your ability to colour correctly directly corresponds with your brilliance.
On result day, you will continually refresh the irresponsive page meant to inform you of your performance until you finally meet elation or disappointment. Someone will bitch about reservation quotas, someone will lament the one mark that kept them from making NLS/NALSAR/NUJS. And hence the great charade shall play out, determining your competence and deciding your future.
Yes, all of this will happen. It will happen to everyone. You’ll just have to hold on. You’ll just have to stick in there. That is simply the bane of every competitive exam. Everyone on my side of the exam has gone through all of this. The stress, the anxiety, the lack of surety – the complete package. I remember worrying about the results for an entire week preceding the actual day that they were announced. I remember preparing myself for the worst. I remember convincing myself that I’ll have to drop a year, simply to feel better should that happen. I remember fidgeting anxiously for a whole day, victim to the organisers’ lack of planning which ensured that we couldn’t access our results.
But hey, life gave me lemonade and I ended up at NALSAR. Maybe you will too?
Pranav Agarwal,
NALSAR – Batch of 2016.
Hope my luck favours me! 🙂
well written!
CG’s timing for every article is just perfect 🙂
so true!
Thank you.
For an amazingly written article.
For a major increase in my heart rate and tension-amount.
For a bit of hope.
True that man.
seems like we all require that lemonade at some point of our lives.
Maybe.
And Pranav, did you happen to go to Shivajinagar (assuming you are still in Bangalore)
Beef kebab ke liye? 😀
Dude. You eat Beef?
I’m in Bangalore only and my office is at Shivajinagar. Let’s go someday man. Just for the meat!
May I tag along? My previous internship gave me the opportunity to negotiate the bylanes behind the Shivajinagar bus stand. Besides, I want those kebabs too!
Shit I should have stayed back
@Kanak : As if. What about you claiming that you’re a Vegan?
@Varun : Dude. We went there yesterday man. But, I’d love to go back. Awesome food, that is. You tell me when!
Haha. Excellent read, Pranav. 🙂
Pretty much summarized what I was going through exactly an year ago. Even though, I’m now slated to join the second year of a premier law college, the timer at the top right hand corner still gives me nervous heart palpitations – a reminder of the emotional turmoil that I was going through.
Now that I go through the various posts, I can’t help but chuckle at how we all were a year ago – at the comments on every article here. I smile to myself, noting how a year ago these people were random commentators and now I can conjure up their faces as classmates and as fellow friends.
This post was immensely nostalgic. Best of luck to all CLAT aspirants out there. May the Force be with you. 😛
From now on EUPHORIA should be defined as ‘the feeling Srilakshmi Ganti got after reading the last sentence of Pranav Agarwal’s article’. This is awesome! Thanks man.
I love the article and CG all the more 😀
Lemonade or Old Monk?
Kya baat maadu, kya baat!
‘Know this’ is absolutely true. Yea, Asad? 😛
Beautifully written. With advancement of every sentence, each and every scene was being played in my head. 🙂
Damn… that sums up perfectly everything that happens before and after CLAT.
Not a wasted word.
All the very best everyone, may the odds be ever in your favour. 🙂
i think you are right.
i think CLAT GYAN is always right
and again i think that the whole team of C.G is right
thank you for giving us moral support via internet
again i would like to thank mr. ADMIN of this website its realy very helpfull for us. 🙂
thank you sooo much! such a timely article…
Asad, produce another such post soon. Please
Pranav, nice post.
Beautifully worded. 🙂
Btw, the last and final compendium was to be uploaded (as per what one article suggested). When is that going to be done?
WAITING! =D
A very cogent and coherent article. 🙂
while reading this article i could actually visualize the whole clat scene!!!!!thanku cg you guys are awesome every article of yours takes my confidence to another level.
thank you. u guys are a blessing in disguise!!!
the last sentence is clean and innocent . Just like a nursery kid asking with innocence
Ah, sweet nostalgia!
That was awesome!!thanks a ton!! 😀
Chill maadi B)
14-odd institutions shall eagerly await your scores, convinced that your ability to colour correctly directly corresponds with your brilliance – i loved this part 😛
Thanks Pranav Agarwal for your sharing your point of view.
I wish all the best to all the candidates.!
Do well.
You know, today in the the test center, I could relate to EVERY word you said. The pretty girl in the nice shoes, the geek, discussing the GK guesses, everything! And most of all, every answer I didn’t know, I was like , ‘Great, there go 5 whole years of my life’. And now when it is finally over and i can FINALLY breathe and have a life, I feel restless and empty and probably will till May 28th. I just hope that I can relate to the euphoria you must’ve felt when you saw your results too. Thanks so much for this article! 🙂
Very well written. Gone through twice now. UG & PG entrance. Looking forward to read more.
The line “Then you’ll look at random fellow-aspirants, sub-consciously evaluating their chances of cracking the exam” haha actually happened with me 😀
So well written because every feeling is true. anxiety mixed with humor with a tinge of hope. article literally “tastes” great 😉
You know, I read this article the night before my clat exam, and thought, hey! Maybe life will give me a lemonade tooo , and I suddenly felt much better. Now I’m going to NLSIU this year , and I want to thank you with all my heart, because I felt exactly as described above throughout CLAT , but assured myself, it happens to everyone…..and I think that helped me a great deal to do well and get into NLSIU 😀
Since I was too scared to comment here last year, I will make amends now. Great article, Pranav! My all time CG favourite. 🙂
P.S. What sadistic pleasure do you derive out of that timer, Asad? :-/
very true pranav. last sentence is awesome to hear. life gave me too a lemonade and you know i will end up at GNLU. lastly thanks for this motivational article. thank you once again.
How do you already know that you’ll end up at GNLU ?!
Love the last line. Hate the timer.
the first ever article in which mental status of that student is described rather than any funda kind of thing for clat preparation but ANYWAYS it was awesome and not may be i am coming to nlsiu,nalsar,or nujs….:)
CG guys can you plzzzzzzzzz upload compendiums for march & april
thankyou so much for this one, it’s one of the best pieces 🙂
Less than 24 hours left, and this sums it up perfectly well.
This aticle is meticulously synchronous and incredibly apt!
Now that I know my outlook is one like many others, I have renewed hopes that Maybe I will too… :l
One such post tomorrow night or D-Day morning to calm us down, please? I’m sure 99% of us would bring the skies down that morning.
maybe i will too, its stupid to say so but i teared up because i feel it, i feel exactly what the millions before me felt and the thousands around me are currently feeling. i want to thank you for well giving me that last bit of passion before my brain switches off. Merci!
Dear CLATGyan team,
Thanks a lot for this and ton of other articles that you all have posted in ” The Window ” section.
CLATGyan plays a major role in my Law Entrance Prep. I find this article very much ” AWESOME ” and helpful. A little crackle of laughter after such a long time during my Test Prep. Keep up the good work ! Hope to meet you/ join you soon !
Thank you ClatGyan, Thank you.. (please read this with the tone that a soldier has before they enter the battle field!)
thanks 2 d whole team of ClatGyan for being a fantastic support !! 🙂