the Coaching Years.

‘Heuristics – study of how people use their experiences to find answer to questions and to improve performance.’
The Coaching Years
Summers, post class 12th, year 1997. Results were still awaited, of the Board exams. The year had been kind to me so far. After a down phase of about 2 years continuously, I had started becoming little conscious of my position. Failures had marred away my report card in a spate. But for the current year when I had put in myself some amount to cover up the loss. Consciousness now called for better recourse to engg entrances. IIT paper leak had given fresh zeal to take up solid preparation! But then I knew, there never was enough time...one could just bear some zeal. The new dates were barely a month hence; preparation was zero. MNR prelims were cleared in reserved quota, but hopes for finals were nil. Roorkee –forget it! I have been doing ‘n’ number of coaching, apparently, desperately. But the bitter truth was intimately known. Now I thought to give a fresh start with all the new zing and mindset.
May’97, board results out. New plans were to leave for delhi for further education. Dad on the other hand was thinking to send me to Allahabad for CS preparations. Humm, dad and his outdated thoughts. God saved me! But the delhi plans were also foiled in the blaze. Bhanu and Amit soon left for delhi. Rahul sinha was left but far away to give a company. Moreover I had realized the role of intense friendship in life as to how it ruined future.
I think friendship, like any other virtue, also need to be ‘bracketed’ into some limits.
I have been doing HC Joshi coaching, Bhootnath coaching, and what not. I realized they hardly had any substance. But with the IIT paper leak scandal TRIVAG’s name had sky-rocketed. People around were still keeping faith in them all the more for their knowledge and skills. So now I also decided to go to them even when they had got scandalous. Later one friend, Ankur, suggested me to go to Mr Ashok Gutpa for mathematics. I was alone in my close friend circle. Then I thought to utilize this loneliness to carve out new pals…people more suited to aid in such hours of hard concentration and wonting to be aloof. I don’t know how, but Aukur came into picture. Though I must state that he is not aloof at all. He is quite warm and outgoing person. I guess it’s because he also had same set of coaching classes and that my house laid enroute his way to coaching that we two came together. Four years together in our school and incidentally in the same section, but we hardly had known each other. Now suddenly there was an emergence of a new friendship.
Ankur, aka Taaight, would pick me up every day in the morning driving down his scooter. We would alternate between his scooter and mine everyday, further from my place. Trivag classroom were over-crowded and stuffy. Humid, after-rain cloudy day would just be unbearable. Power cut would make the matter worse. Similar was the situation with Ashok Gupta classes. Daily early morning schedule would mean bathing only by evening. As is our wont, a couple of days from start we agreed to decide play truant purportedly to breathe in some fresh air. Streets of older Lucknow soon threw open it’s mysteries to us to begin amazing and unravel the town. Together we explored Buddha park, Imambara, dilapidated talkies of historical Lucknow. In our search, we both even acquired membership of the British Counsel Library to be in air-conditioned place. Going to cinema was another good attraction. ‘Tomorrow never dies’, ‘Foxy Lady’ are a few from the list I can remember. Eating-out would mostly be at the Rovers, with ‘Makke di rotti, sarson da sag’ with a Pepsi our most savoured dish. The tree canopied joint was a big hit with the collegesters. Every penny had to be miserly saved from our petrol-expenses to make this.
By November, the onset of winters, we shifted base to more glowing open-sky terrains of silted Gomti-side by Ambedkar Park. Virgin, picturesque, greenish yellow with mustard crop, the place was really a paradise of sorts. Winters, I think are the best time for scholastic works in my part of the country. Weather is neither too hot nor uncontrollably cold to distract one’s mind. Studies began to peak higher in life. In my house I would keep myself confined just to studies. Conversations had become less. Gomti-side skiving was a few mood refreshers. Other times both of would visit other friends also, tanu, suneet, rahul and all, frequently.
Lucknow in those times had become a very lawless wild city. The prevailing atmosphere of terror and crime is best revealed in one of the recent Bollywood flicks “Sehar”. I don’t know about the common people, but I can closely relate myself to its storyline. OP Shukla the real life villain of the movie was grossly ruling the city. Infact one of his hideouts was found near to my house also, as hinted in the movie also. University students fights, political clouts, nefarious Amberkar Projects etc had all become the theme of civilian’s talks. CD Kainth’s ,DIG police, suicide, the SP-BSP fight at Hazarat Ganj square, the Sahi murder case, the PWD engineer’s murder at Aravali Marg are a few sudorific incidences I remember.
Coaching as it was, was an expensive affair. A sort of gamble in which one would invest heavily but with great risk of not making it. Me and Ankur then decided to forgo it by printing out our own Coaching I-cards! A coloured photocopy was a lesser known technology, which attracted our mind instantly. A slight handiwork of Taaight and two new cards were forged. So success was our plan that Taaight even got to commercialize it by taking a few more orders! The first order incidentally came from our own classmate who would be slight ‘Anti’-pathetic to us. Good chance to dupe him out of money. I don’t know how Ankur seiged the opportunity later.
In the fullness of time, the Entrance Forms began to appear in the market. Taaight chalked out a plan for a delhi sightseeing by filling one Shipping Corporation form. He persuaded me also to join him in that. The SCI he informed me was a lucrative career in terms of money also. We already were under impression that the alternate Entrance, that of TS Chanakya, being through IIT JEE, merchant navy was a high class intellect job.
09th December, 1997. Ankur’s birthday. By evening me, ankur, vikram and rishi met up in Mini Mahal for a small celebration. Winter had started to culminate but amazingly enough it still rained that day. My 76 yr old distant grandpa told me that he had never seen a winter rain in his entire life. Probably the changing ecology of earth had first manifested its effect distinctly. The party ended at midnight—rare occasions when I was allowed to stay out of house for so long. The delhi exam-writing plan and a new year picnic plan at Indira canal were set. By 12th dec Ankur informed me about his withdrawal from the delhi trip due to family pressure. He is the only child around in his house. Merchant Navy, he told, never suited such people. Contrarily my father forced me to write on the exams as the rail booking, guest house allotting, and Rs 300-money investments were already done! He personally accompanied me to delhi on 14th dec for that now. I was more of reluctant though due to Taaight’s withdrawal. NDA exam was already written up in September month. On 31st December we went on our picnic, right to the plan. It was a wonderful trip on a foggy cold winter day by the riverside. We did boat-ride, played absorbing Cricket, and had heart full lunch. Mummy had agreed to pack one for me taking it that this was one of the lasts.
On 19th January,1998 the SCI telegram arrived announcing my passing in the writtens. The NDA results also came a few days later with same prospects. Mind by now had begun to divert from the books again. I decided to go to Mumbai for interview of SCI planned on 09th Feb. The maiden Mumbai trip with dad was extremely pleasing, eventually distracting me from books to a greater effect.
Slowly I began to distance away from the coaching for self-preparation and I myself don’t remember how it all ended up without any notice. In April I visited Dehradoon for SSB interview and by the same month’s end, 27rd April precisely, I reported to MTI for my pre-sea training. On 4th and 5th May, I did appear in the IIT JEE again from IIT-Mumbai but with weaker preparations and the ordained results.
All the labour, toiling and concentration seemed to have gone all washed-out. Music of the times, Lucky Ali’s Sifar, Purani Jeans, songs of Pardes, Yess Boss- job hi chaaho who mein paaon, title track Close-up Reason To Smile and Alka yagnik –Javed Akhtar’s Tum Yaad Aaye and many more still echo in my ears.