Final Episode- Love at First Sight: Visiting MICA for GE/PI

 

Read the previous parts in this series here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

 

Sign boards at MICA

 

Green campus

 

And now the moment we all have been waiting for, was finally here. The ‘Moment of  Truth’, as we marketers like to call it. MICA’s approach towards preparing the GE/PI results is also very unique just like its process. Unlike most of other institutes, MICA announces its admission results at the end of every interview day. There are two categories in which the results are announced – Spot Offer and Wait List. Spot Offer is the list of the candidates who have secured the final admission to the institute, about whom the panel is sure that they make the cut. Wait list is a list of candidates who will be considered for a final seat after all of the candidates have been evaluated. Announcing the results on the same day is a great practice in my personal opinion. It helps everyone, especially the candidates, in planning the next course of action rather than keeping them hanging for few months for the results. Kudos to MICA admissions committee for this planning.

For the results announcement we all were called to gather in the Audi. The day so far had been exhilarating and full of new experiences. Of course we all wanted to hear our names in the coveted Spot Offer list but we were certainly going to take back something with us, no matter what the results were. We all assembled in the Audi and were waiting for the announcement with anticipation.

The then director walked in with a list in his hands. He made a small speech, which I don’t recall at all. All we wanted to know was the names in that list. This was the moment we all had been preparing and waiting for so long. We had traveled so far and came here to find ourselves a place in this institute. Now after having lived an amazing day already, we wanted to belong to this place more than ever. And who all will make that final cut, was hidden in that small piece of paper in the director’s hands.

He finally started announcing the names and a huge round of applause, cheer and scream followed. It happened so quickly that I couldn’t even hear the name that was announced. People around me were jumping and clapping. I wanted to ask who the lucky one was. But then something happened. The director was having difficulty in pronouncing the last name of the candidate. So he repeated the name, even though still not pronouncing it correctly (happens all the time). And then it hit me, it was my name. I couldn’t believe what I heard, yet it was there. People were hugging and congratulating and I went a little numb. It felt so much like a dream when finally the dream was coming true. It might not look like that big deal to many people now, but it felt so amazing right at that moment. It’s difficult to put that feeling into words. I just so badly wanted to hug someone tightly and share what I was feeling. Rest of it was a complete blur for me at least for next half an hour or so.

Finally, there were some 11 candidates (I guess) who got a Spot Offer that day. The list of wait-listed candidates was put on the notice board. 4 of us, from the Facebook group, had secured Spot Offers. And while we celebrated our happiness, we were also equally sad for our other friends. It was such a heady cocktail of emotions. Each one of us equally deserved to be there.

 

Our group in audi

 

While walking out of the Audi, a small thing happened, that I must mention. Even though it sounds like a small act of kindness but these are the things which we never forget. During the day, I had cut my finger on a sharp edge of a latch. It started bleeding a bit. Since I had no band-aids and also couldn’t find someone on reception at that time, I just washed it and applied the moisturizer that someone was carrying. That stopped the bleeding for a while. It was a small cut but very much visible due to fresh bleeding. One of the interviewers, the guy with pigtail from Mudra, had noticed it during interview and asked me about it. There was nothing special about the incident. But the guy didn’t forget. When we all began to walk out of the Audi, I saw a man with some band-aids in his hands looking for someone. Some people told me that he was asking for me. He found me and handed over those band-aids saying that he had been looking for me for a while but couldn’t give those band-aids to me earlier due to the results announcement. He gently placed one band-aid over my cut and also checked if the band-aid was enough or if the wound need some first-aid. I was so touched. Even I had forgotten about that small cut. But my interviewer remembered it and instructed for this to be taken care of. Moreover, that man with band-aids made it a point to find me and check on it. Later, when I joined, I found that man making our lives easier all the time during our time at MICA. All MICAns know him as Shantilal Bhai. What a decent and helping man he is. Shantilal Bhai holds a special place for every MICAn, be it the students or the faculty. I hope to write more about these amazing people on campus, some day.

The day was getting better and surprising with every passing moment. The journey back to our hotel went by in a blur. It was quite dark when we reached to the hotel. We had been through a long day but were somehow not tired at all. We were still not ready for the day to end. Probably the day was also in no mood to end either. There was another huge surprise waiting for me at hotel. I was entering the hotel lobby and I screamed of joy at what I saw there. My partner, who is now my fiance`, was waiting for me there in the lobby. He had traveled to surprise me, to be with me there, to share it with me whatever the results would be. He knew how much it mattered to me. He was so sure for me to make it that he was already carrying a box of sweets to celebrate. I couldn’t believe my eyes and now I couldn’t stop myself any longer. Small tears of joy started trickling down my face. Finally, all of it was sinking inside and that too all together. It was too much to handle all at once and the feeling overwhelmed me completely. It was finally happening.

Later in that eventful evening, all of us decided to have a gala dinner before we all go our separate ways. We didn’t know when and where would we all meet again in life and we wanted to seize the moments. We all had been together through many emotions that day. A nice dinner was the perfect way to sum it all up. We had an elaborate dinner at a place near our hotel in old Ahmedabad. The dinner went on till almost midnight. Most of us had early morning trains/flights to catch and hence decided not to sleep. We walked on the roads of old Ahmedabad till the wee hours of morning, chatting, laughing, eating Paans and random toffees from the street shops. It was like the time had stopped for us. I so wish, it really had!

A fantastic day had come to an end. It gave us so many memories to cherish for long times to come. We met so many awesome people. We all made promises to stay in touch with each other. In the early morning it was time to leave towards newer surprises. The celebrations hadn’t ended yet. In fact, the celebrations were just beginning.
This one is to all those lovely people I met that day. You’ll always have a special place and mention in my MICA stories, as it all began with you people.

 

Chatters

 

Post dinner

 

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