Those who study in India, know how glamorous IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) are as engineering schools. Since the early 80s IITians have been establishing themselves in various parts of the world, thus building the brand The IIT. There is always a huge rush of students to crack JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) which is an exam for admission to IITs. To write the JEE, many alternate educational centres opened in the 80s – 90s for which Kota city, Rajasthan became the hub. Many good teachers specializing in Maths, Chemistry, and Physics flocked to Kota to teach while earning big bucks. It was the prime time for anyone aspiring to get admission to the IITs by studying at Kota from the best of the best teachers. There were various educational hubs such as Bansal Classes, Resonance, Allen, Career Point, etc. with high competition to attract the best of the best students from all over India.
Kota got major attention early on as one of the education centers, Bansal Classes, led students to score top 10 AIR (All India Rank) in JEE. This happened sometime in the 90s and since then the clock never turned back. Bansal Classes was founded after a few employees started teaching, as the company in which they were earlier working was shut down. After an initial success, they started attracting more and more students from various parts of India. During this time, the protagonist-teacher met with an accident that paralyzed his body partially. As I recall, someone who studied under him, passed JEE, went to IIT, and settled in the US, gifted an advanced robotic chair to assist him in teaching.
Fortunately, in the late 90s we moved to Talwandi, an education locality in Kota getting a chance to regularly meet students (older than me) who would travel from various parts of India to prepare for engineering and medical exams. I would regularly meet them, almost everyday, observing their journeys as a neighbour. While many went on to achieve great things, others in spite of studying very hard, just couldn’t make it. It was not easy to crack these exams considering the huge Indian population and many wanting to appear just because of the prestige associated with these exams.
So, when my turn came in 2001-02, I was in 10th grade, I joined an education center to appear for advanced learning. My mother approached someone senior and helped me join the educational center mid-way when they initially refused to admit me, all because I was late and the exam was tough. In spite of this, I passed Level 1 of NTSE (National Talent Search Examination) in 2002. The same year, I decided to prepare for JEE and wrote for Bansal Classes which resulted in me joining the 4th batch (P4) based on my performance. Needless to say for the next two years I joined a school that allowed me to focus entirely on JEE without attending its classes.
I was more confident in Maths and Chemistry than Physics, and so through hard work, luck, and perseverance I jumped to the 1st batch (P1) after a few months. In the very first exam, I scored more than 70/100 in Maths and the teacher praised me saying that many in the first batch (P1) couldn’t get such a score. Out of 100 students in the P1 batch, there were maybe 6 – 8 female candidates. Our exams at Bansal classes used to be theoretical and so we had to solve all the problems by hand. I remember buying many different books including but not limited to Irodov, S L Loney, Resnik Haleday, HC Verma, etc.
Being in P1 was a different experience as all bright students from India were part of it. My journey in 2002-03 was only confined to studies with some cricket on weekends. So, by the time my first year at Bansal classes ended, I scored badly in the final exam and was demoted to the second batch (A2). I remember many students climbing up the ladder while me going down with each passing test. But I was hopeful, determined, and self-confident. Throughout my time I didn’t let the stress and negativity influence me. Another advantage I had over other students was that I was staying in my hometown while most of the other students were outsiders so mostly relied on themselves for their time in Kota. Some asked their mothers to stay with them throughout their study time here. Preparing for JEE was intellectually challenging.
Further in the final year, 2003-04, things changed as I had new neighbours who had also joined Bansal classes. It was great as they had a year extra experience than me, as they were attempting JEE for the second time. If one guy was brilliant in Maths, the other was in Physics while the third guy was an allrounder.
My time around them increased as we used to solve different problems together and play lots of cricket. Yes, the time I spent on cricket also increased that year. But, the problems had also become tougher in the final year, nevertheless, it was fun. I remember getting Malaria once and attending classes with a needle poked in my arm.
In early 2004, I appeared for the preliminary screening exam and came out of the examination hall with confidence. I was expecting a rank within the top 500, being from Bansal Classes, but ended up getting 5000. I remember watching lots of TV the night prior to my exam and I think that distracted me. On the other hand, there were not one but two or three students that year who had scored Rank 1 in the screening exam. The competition was intense.
Later, I sat down quietly and tightly in the final two months between the screening and the main exam trying my best to further clear my concepts. Of course, I was nervous as I knew that this was the only chance I was giving myself. I remember traveling to Jaipur and revising the concepts one day before the exam. I didn’t see any TV, avoided distractions, and wrote JEE the next day.
I was happy after it ended and felt very relaxed as if I had won a hard-fought battle. The results came that summer and I had passed with an AIR of 840. Well, it was time to study at the IITs!
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