Jo Barse Sapne Boond Boond.....

Prologue

Nainon Ko Moond Moond Kaise Main Chaloon? Dekh Na Sakoon, Anjaane Raastein, Harini finished her rendition to receive a standing ovation from the judges in the finals of Indian Idol. “Before you head back to your seat, tell us what those drops of dreams are, covering your eyes?” the anchor asked Harini. “I am preparing for CAT, I would like to crack it and get in to IIM-B” Harini replied.

“Vidya come down and eat your dinner” her mother was shouting standing just on the third step of the staircase that led to Vidya’s room in the first floor. “Srividya if you don’t come now, I am going to bed now” Vidya’s mother was almost yelling in the middle of the night. “Mum, it’s just 1 o’clock I will come in some time, you go and sleep” came Vidya’s voice from the floor above. At around 2.45 Vidya came down to take her dinner and the thought that she was eating a little too early than her routine crossed her mind. She had been preparing for CAT for the past two years; her mother had insisted her that she take the exam in 2022 immediately after completing her Bachelor’s from IIT Powai however Vidya did not want to take any chance and prepared for two years after IIT. She was vaguely stuffing the food in to her mouth, she ate any food just for nutrition, her taste buds had parted ways with taste seven years back when she was preparing for IIT JEE.

This year CAT was taking a different Avatar, potential Top Notch Business Gurus would touch their answers on the Exams & Evaluation tablet from apple, the iAnswer and no more online exams on some old computer systems with intel I9 processor and LC displays. Vidya started late in her regular academia. But she never worried about the time which she lost before she joined the normal school. She delivered nothing less than excellence throughout her schooling and IIT days. Her mother was so confident that Vidya would make it to IIM the first time she took the CAT and when Vidya said she finally decided to take the big bad exam her mother had already tweeted “My daughter is on her way to IIM – B”.

“Mom I topped the English and Math sections in all the four mock tests that I took” Vidya said restlessly while unwrapping a big energy bar. “I know you would do well in English and math, tell me about cognitive thinking section.” Her mother said. “Yeah I topped it twice, other two times Nishant scored the highest in that section” Vidya replied not really worrying about that. “By the way D day is just two weeks away so rest up and take care of your health, you need to be in good health to take the exam” her mother advised. “B The W, did you know I will be taking the exams in iAnswer? We will just touch the answers” Vidya said. Her mother came close to her and placed both her hands on Vidya’s disappearing cheeks and said, “I know how good you are, you could close your eyes and still mark the answers to perfection” and tears started to roll down from their eyes and the deafening emotional silence was disturbed by the call on Vidya’s mobile. “Hey dad, what’s up”? Vidya answered the call. “How is my daughter getting ready for IIM? Have you completed your shopping and all that to go to Bengaluru? When should I look for an apartment in Bangalore for my sweetheart?” Vidya’s dad asked her and she responded with blush and with irritation all at the same time “Dad, thanks for your confidence. But I am yet to take the exam”. “I know how good my daughter is, she has a vision which is not just hers and how she has been toiling day and night to get through the exam, by the way I have already bought the gift for the future CEO of some top notch company.” He said. “Really? What is that? Also when are you coming to India?” she asked her father. “I will be there just one day before your exam to drop you in the exam hall and the gift is Apple iSee, the brand new eye ball motion sensing mobile” he said with an uncontrollable excitement.

On the day of exam like promised Vidya’s father was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car waiting for Vidya to come, who was still eating breakfast. Couple of minutes later Vidya and her mother both came out and popped in to the car. “Vidya can you please close that laptop and focus for some time” Vidya’s mother said, obviously she was worried that her daughter had not slept for three straight days. “Yes Vidya, give some chance to others..” Vidya’s father couldn’t wait for Vidya to come out of the exam hall so that he could hand her down with heriSee. After some wading through the traffic they arrived in the centre. “Vidya, I am sure you are gonna bell the CAT, so come back ASAP” her father said with a huge smile.

After what looked like a decade of wait, Vidya came out from the exam hall with tears in her eyes. “Vidya what happened?” her mother asked. “Vidya, congrats on making it to IIM” her father said with his hand stretched out holding iSee gift wrapped. She did not talk to both of them and went straight back to the car, her parents did not question her and went back to car and drove back to home. She did not speak any word and she knew her silence would be broken exactly three hours from then thanks to iAnswer which starts the evaluation as and when the candidates start answering the questions.

She was watching some old episode of Indian Idol on you tube and there was another minimised browser window connected to IIM home page which she kept refreshing every now and then. At around 5 PM she clicked on a bookmarked link that connected her to Indian Idol Finals of some old season. One of the two participants started to sing the all time hit Jo Barse Sapne Boond Boond from Wake Up Sid. Vidya minimised the youtube window while listening to the singer singing her song to victory. A refresh on the IIM page took too long to revert back and after some seconds the results link appeared out of nowhere and she instinctively clicked on the link still listening to the song from the minimised youtube window, after a couple of seconds Harini’s eyes found the register number they were looking for on the screen and after an alt+tab Harini’s eyes were wet as they were looking on the screen and the anchor was asking “Before you head back to your seat, tell us what those drops of dreams are, covering your eyes?” Vidya closed her eyes and heard “I am preparing for CAT, I would like to crack it and get in to IIM-B”.

Epilogue

Jo Barse Sapne Boond Boond Nainon Ko Moond Moond Kaise Main Chaloon? Dekh Na Sakoon.Vidya was sobbing those lines again and again in her mother’s arms “Mom, I have lot of vision but I do not have a sight. Every girl my age types on computer but I am on Braille.” Her crying was interrupted by telephone ring which her father answered. There was a girl Harini who passed away few hours ago and the call was from Shankar Nethralaya