Dream --> Reality... All in a day...

Well... to be very honest my last post was a tiny bit incomplete... as in I didn't divulge why after so many years I was getting my passport rectified and all. But now I suppose would be the right time to reveal what really has been going on in my life for the last few months, since that fateful day in March when it sorta changed forever...

By now I suppose some eyebrows are raised (kinda reminds me of that msn emoticon.. can just about visualise it), while close friends have started chuckling "Aah.. finally she comes out with it." Sharmistha, yeah yeah.. you can start yelling and telling people about what you've been yearning to broadcast for a long time.

The day : 22nd March, 2006
Time : 0800 hours
Place : My bedroom....

Ok.. more raised eyebrows and flying imaginations... STOP! Don't let your thoughts wander.. I shall explain.

Getting back to the story, it was 8 in the morning, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping outside my window. It was a beautiful Spring morning but my mood was as dark as the nimbus clouds filling the skies on a wet afternoon in the Amazon jungles. I woke up groggily as my alarm clock created a racket. My mom comes in gingerly and waits near the footboard.. trying to gauge how I was doing, given the fact that I was miserable the previous night and had been very very upset... Ok, given the fact that I mentioned "bedroom" and am now talking about a "bad night", I wonder what rubbish people's imaginations are churning out. Lol! Here's what had really happened. I had applied to several universities of USA for a Masters program in Computer Science/Information Security. It was the 3rd week of March and everyday and every night I used to pray fervently for that 1 mail/letter that would change my life but no luck till then. Honestly speaking I was miserable. Suvrat, Amit, Rohan(Shah) and Ameya consoled me that it was gonna come... my ticket to a new life in a fantastic university taking up courses in the area of my interest. But I was impatient and this was magnified by the fact that several friends of mine already had multiple good admits by then. Even people I didn't know personally seemed to be getting admits left, right and centre. I used to dread coming online coz I knew I was gonna meet someone or the other who would say "Btw so-and-so got an admit from so-and-so university.. amazing eh?" Anyways, 21st March was when I got my first reject, from a university where I thought I would get through (Blame people who were cock sure and convinced me that I would). This brought back the terrifying memories of the previous year's application process and the fate I had met back then. I promised myself I wouldn't cry so I didn't but deep inside a river of sorrow had already begun to flow.

Ok.. now that I've built the scene, it's time for the curtains to rise. I sat in front of my computer without even brushing my teeth and turned my computer and modem on, something I had been doing ever since early February when universities start responding. I connected to the internet and then signed into Google Talk. I was sure things would remain as bad as they were. Well I was wrong... so wrong....

Anyways, as soon as I signed into the messenger, I started receiving the mail alerts at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. I had 3 new mails and the 1st one was what changed my life forever. It was a mail from one of my dream universities (and the only one that I had applied to) and I just managed to see as much as I could in that split second. It read something like "We are pleased to inform you". That's it! I knew this was what I had been waiting for all my life... ever since I comprehended the concept of going abroad for higher studies. This was what I had dreamt for for as long as I can remember. Anyways, the look on my face underwent an immediate change as I burst into a broad grin. Mom meanwhile was watching the proceedings and she realised that her prayers had been answered. My hand was shaking while I struggled to click on the Mail icon on the messenger. I had to read the complete mail after all. After about 5 seconds or what then seemed like an eternity, the page loaded and there it was.... I had my first admit and that too from the university where I had been yearning to go. None other than Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US of A!!!

I just managed to tell Ma what happened and then started laughing and crying... all at the same time. My brain stopped working. I didn't know whether to sit down or stand, dance or jump with joy, scream or just laugh. Mom gave me a hug and started crying as well... Guess if someone had caught all the water or tears Mom n I spilt all over our clothes and the floor, we could have probably filled several buckets. After a long time finally managed to regain my composure and started calling people with the news. Relatives and close friends who had always believed in me. Forwarded my admit mail to dear friends as well.

That day.. I couldn't stop smiling. People would've probably thought that I had slept with a hangar in my mouth the previous night. But as my mom rightly said that the reject the previous night added to the joy I experienced the next morning. So within a span of 12 hours I had experienced the nadir and the zenith of emotions. And once again my faith in the saying "Whatever happens, always happens for the best" was restored.

That day was a landmark in my life... The day that would change my life forever.... The day that took me 1 step closer to turning my dream into a reality......