My Expiriences With The Alchemist

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PROLOGUE

It was just another day. But everyone around seemed to be too apprehensive. It was the day when the class XII result was to be declared. The anxiousness which people generally feel when they are expecting things, especially their results, was not there for me. I knew the result the day my exams got over. Finally the result was out, to everyone’s relief. Nothing seemed to have changed. But everyone acted as if they had survived the Armageddon. An air of excitement encompassed the atmosphere. Everyone was too keen to know about how others have performed in the exams, just for the comfort of knowing where exactly they stand, not that as if it really made any difference. I was also subjected to this inquisitiveness. Not that it disturbed me but I was amused to see the eagerness with which the people asked, impatient to pass a judgment on my intellectual ability on the basis of my result. It wasn’t for the first time that I had to go through this exercise, so I answered with patience. For some reasons, the result alone was not sufficient – they wanted an explanation. I had already prepared myself for these questions and decided against explaining myself to anyone except my parents. The questions kept coming and all I could do was face them, like a warrior standing in a battle field with out a shield. Finally, it was all over. Everybody moved ahead with their lives and I was left alone to live in peace with the result. Now was the time to question myself, about what I have to do in life. I had failed in the class XII exams. It was not easy but my parents took it rather bravely. It was the first time that I had failed in any examination and that too in the XII boards. I had thought about it. My parents accepted the fact that I had failed, but it was beyond their limitations of reasoning to figure out why. I tried to make them understand but it was difficult to convey what I actually felt. I told them that I wanted to quit studies and that I did not want to study any further just for the sake of procuring a degree. Besides if I had continued to study, I may have ended up in some random third grade college resulting in disappointment for my parents, apart from the

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colossal waste of time and money and as such I had no intentions of pursuing a career which was even remotely connected to academics. This was all fine, however the fact remained what was it that I intended to do. This was the hardest part. It took every bit of courage within me to speak out that I want to do ‘something’ which guarantees no social security, something in which my future is not certain, in the conventional sense. This is something which I am meant to do, something I am blessed with and something which means a lot to me. I gave every possible argument to convince my parents and justify my stand. But even the likes of Bill Gates and Rabindra Nath Tagore could not help me out. I gave up. May be I was not strong enough to follow my convictions, may be I did not have the guts to dare and stand up for myself. Or may be I was not audacious enough to go after my pursuit of happiness at the cost of my parents’. Whatever it may be, I have to live with it for the rest of my life. I decided to repeat class XII while reading ‘Jonathan Livingstone Seagull’. Ashamed. It was the darkest phase of my life. “You are good for nothing”, the principal at the school said, when I told her, along with others, that the Chemistry teacher does not teach well. “How can you judge whether a teacher is good or bad? You are a failure for God’s sake”, was the reply I got at my insistence. It was just the beginning. I was made to stay back in the school for studies, while my other class mates left for their homes on time. Gradually I was getting used to the fact that I m a failure, after all. Whenever I heard someone laughing around, I presumed it was me they are laughing at. I was becoming cynical as well!! On the other hand, there was a continuous struggle going on within myself. I had to constantly push myself, against my will, to study. I tried hard not to think about what I could have done, but the harder I tried, it struck me with even more intensity. It was getting worse by the day.

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Time passed by, but life for me had come to a standstill. I had started to drown in the abyss of hopelessness but Mayank came to my rescue, just at the right time. I told him everything I had in mind. He listened to me, as if I was stating some obvious fact. He said, “Ok so what is the problem?” For a second I thought I heard him wrong, but the look on his face conveyed the question much too well. I was shocked beyond my wit to reply. “You want something, go get it. Period. But if you want to do it the way some smart ass did it and made a name for him, that just don’t make sense to me. I mean, is it the only way, what you want can be done?” I was listening to him and at the same time contemplated whether I had communicated my difficulty in an appropriate way or not. “Look”, he said, “I have no issues with what you want to do, but try to understand-if you do something, it has to be done at the right time and in a right way. It is possible that if you follow your convictions then you just might achieve your goal. But ask yourself; is it the right time and the right way to do it?” I kept listening to him but a part of me was not willing to agree to what he said. He could see that in my eyes, he was reading my mind. I bet, he was. It was comforting and embarrassing at the same time. Something was going through his mind, he passed a smile. “Consider the top of the mountain as your destination. Now there are two ways to reach there. Either you take the proper way, as understood in the conventional sense i.e. go to college, finish studies and become ‘independent’ and then go for your dream. Or you can skip all this, and take the rough route by starting off now itself. But let me remind you, either ways it is not certain whether you will reach your destination or not.” This was scary, but it made sense. He continued, “If you think colleges are all about studies, then my friend you are wrong. College days are the best days of life. You can ask anyone, it’s beyond words. You have to be there to believe it. There is so much more to it, excitement, fun, dejection, acceptance, love, hatred, success, failure and all sorts of weird experiences which help you grow as a person.

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It’s a roller coaster ride my boy, you can discover life and more over you can discover yourself.” It was not that I had not thought about it at all, but the way he put it across, it made a definite impact. “Listen, at the end of it , it is your life, and you are the one who has to decide for yourself. It is fine to take chances, but do consider the opportunity cost. And remember, no matter what you do or how you end up, I will always be there for you.” I trusted him on that. After all, he is my elder brother. I was a changed person after the incident. For days at end, I kept thinking. I kept looking for that proper way, but I just could not figure it out. “If you are doing something, it’s worth doing well”, I had that thing clear in my mind. After extensive soul searching and introspection, I finally found the answer-Law. Hope is a good thing, may be the best of things, and good things never die. Sometimes I look back and wonder how a little incident or a small conversation can bring change in a person. That conversation with my brother, gave me the courage to face the present and hope for the future. I don’t remember the exact date or the day when it took place, but sometimes days and dates die, moments live. However, it took me several months to realize that the greatest source of inspiration is within and it’s just a matter of time when one decides to look over there. I checked out almost every Law College in the country on the net. I applied for just three colleges where they were still accepting the application form. Due to my stupidity and partly due to the prank played by fate on me, I applied for Faculty of Law, DU apart from Bharati Vidya Peeth, Pune and also NLIU, Bhopal. It was decided then. Chetan Kanungo was all set to become a lawyer. But wait, first there is class XII to be conquered.

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Is hoping for a miracle a good thing?

CHAPTER 1 I did it, finally. I passed class XII. Nobody bothered to ask how much I scored, the fact that I had passed was enough. Many people congratulated me but I could sense the consolation masked underneath the wishes. Some considered it to be my greatest achievement, for me though it was just the first step. If passing class XII was tough, getting admission in a good college was tougher. I wrote the NLIU entrance exam and could not get through. I had missed the opportunity of applying to other law colleges and I was left to choose between Faculty of Law, DU and Bharati Vidya Peeth, Pune. I had to take admission in either of these colleges at any cost. The pressure of dropping another year was too much to bear. It was at this time, that I read ‘The Alchemist’. When I read it for the first time, I realized that it was more than just a fable about following your dream, but I could not understand what exactly it tried to say. “When you aspire for something with passion, all the universe conspires to make it happen...” it was all, the book meant to me at that point of time. The 6th of June was the last date of submission of application forms at DU, and the entrance test of BVP, Pune was scheduled on the 5th. Though I had already sent the demand draft to DU, there was no response from the DU administration till the 31st of May. I won’t let this opportunity slip out of my hand; I made a promise to myself. My parents understood what I was going through, and they allowed me to deal with the situation the way I felt was right. I told my father that since the centre for the BVP entrance test is in Delhi, I will leave for Delhi on the 4th of June, submit the DU application form and then return home on the 5th after the entrance exam. “As you like it son”, was all that my father said.

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Since I had not secured a place in any college, my future depended a great deal upon the outcome of the entrance tests which I thought I would write. My preparation for the entrance exam was not too good. I was scared about the exam, more than that I was afraid of failure. But I had no idea that I was about to face the greatest examination of my life so far.

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CHAPTER 2 “It is not possible today, you should come here on Monday and submit the application form”, the lady on the phone said. “What do you mean, not possible”, I exclaimed reproachfully. It was the first thing I did after reaching Delhi on the 4th i.e. called up DU administration. “Today is Saturday, Sir”, she said trying to regain her composure “so we shut down the office early. I would suggest you to come here on Monday and then submit the form. Thank you.” WOW!! I had cash just enough to sustain myself for one day and I had a return ticket for home next evening. Apart from this I‘d managed to secure a place to live only till Sunday. And the next day, I had to write an exam without preparation. I did the math. The probability of getting admission in a college is infinitesimal if I miss the opportunity to write the DU entrance exam. I had to make a decision and a quick one at that. I went to the place I was staying and talked to the people over there. I got the permission to stay for one more day. After that I visited the railway station and got the reservation to leave on Monday. It was not too difficult to decide, I didn’t have much choice. The scheduled departure of train was 3:00 pm and I told my mom on the phone that I would be coming back to home on Monday evening. Sunday morning I wrote the BVP, Pune entrance exam. I didn’t think too much about how I wrote the paper, I was preoccupied with what I had to do the next day. Only a few more days and everything will be back on track. This thought comforted me but I was well aware of the fact that these few days were not going to be easy. How many more days and how

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difficult it was going to be, I had no idea at that time. But I was optimistic as things had started falling into place for me. I was eager to get back to home. Everything will be alright; I told myself and went to sleep.

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CHAPTER 3 It was Monday, the 6th of June. I left for DU at 9:00 am from the place where I was staying with Rs. 400 in cash, a carry bag and a broken shoe sole in the right foot and the determination to submit the application form. I reached DU metro station at around 10:30 am and directly headed towards the Faculty of Law. I walked through the building in awe of it and imagined myself walking through the corridors as if I belonged to this place. At the registration office, I saw the girl who was distributing the application forms. I went to her and asked for the form. “100 Rs.”, she said in a cold voice. I told her that I had already sent the demand draft and there has been no response from the administration so she should better give the application form to me right now. “Look Sir, today is the last day of submission and we don’t have time to check out the records whether we have received any demand draft from you or not”, she retorted. “So what am I supposed to do?” “Well, if you are too keen then you can give 100 Rs. and fill and submit the application form. Office for submission will close down at 4:30 pm.” I was too determined to give it a second thought. I gave her 100 Rs. and took the application form; there was a prospectus along with it as well. I didn’t bother to read the prospectus and started filling the form. I completed the form jubilantly and went to the girl for its

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submission. Before handing it over I asked, “Do I have to attach any document with it as well?” “Yes, a 400 Rs. demand draft and your photograph on the form must be attested by a gazetted officer”, she answered. I looked around in desperation. I had 250 Rs. in my pocket and a ticket of the train which I had to catch at 3:00 pm. There was no one in Delhi I knew who could help me out of it. I stood in the sun, with the application form in my hand, and having no idea what to do, all alone.

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CHAPTER 4 I stood there for around 15 minutes. My mind was completely blank, I could not think of anything. The images of the past one year crossed my mind in a flash. I have overcome a lot of things, I will overcome this difficulty as well- I thought. “When you aspire for something with passion, all the universe conspires to make it happen”, well if there is any truth in it then I was going to see it for myself. I decided to get rid of the 400 Rs. demand draft problem. I asked a gentleman if there is any bank inside the university campus. There was one, just a mile away. I dragged myself to the bank on a broken shoe sole in the heat. I‘d no clue what to do now. I stood there watching people passing by. Time was running away, I had to do something and do it fast. I saw a man coming out of the ATM and I made my move. “Excuse me, Sir, my name is Chetan Kanungo and I m here to submit the application form for Faculty of Law”, I said softly. “That is very nice, how can I help you?” “Actually Sir, I need to submit a 400 Rs. demand draft along with the form and I m running short of money right now so if you are kind enough to lend me 400 bucks I would be really grateful to you”, I pleaded with my knees trembling. “I m so sorry, I m not carrying that much cash with me. I m getting late for an appointment, anyways it was nice meeting you.” And he went away.

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I cursed that man and then I cursed my luck, but I didn’t have much time to waste on such frivolous things. I saw an old lady coming out of the ATM, it was time for action. I went to her and narrated my story. “I m not going to give anything to you. I don’t trust strangers and as such you look like a thief. Go away right now or I will call the police”, she said in a condescending tone. “Please don’t say like that aunty, why do you think I will cheat you, it is my career at stake. You can keep my bag if you want but please help me out”, I requested. “Do not trouble me any more and get out of my way”, and she was on her way. People watched me as I stood there – helpless. At that moment I wished to drown in my own sweat or melt in the heat, if possible, but all I could do was be a mere spectator and feel pity for myself. I looked around, a bunch of students were standing together at the entrance of the bank. I went up to them with faith and hope. “Sorry friend, we are not in a position to help you, but listen you can go the place where all the student unions campaign for their respective union, during this period, someone over there might help you”, one of them said. That place was a mile away from the bank. I thanked them and rushed to that place. There were stalls of different student unions all over; I didn’t know whom to ask for help. I gazed around as if I was lost. “Looking for someone?” A boy said who appeared out of no where.

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I looked at him for a second then said, “No, actually I m here to submit the form for Faculty of Law and I need 400 Rs. for the demand draft which has to be submitted along with the form, can you help me?” “I can’t, but you look at the guy over there, he can”, he told me pointing towards a particular stall. This chap was 6 ft. 2 in. tall, dark and bulky. The moment I came face to face with him, I realized that I had to be very cautious with my words. I explained my situation with all the sincerity and politeness that I had learned over the years. “How much did you say you want?” he said stolidly. “400 Rs. Sir”, I pleaded. He looked around at one of his friend and nodded. His friend took out 400 Rs. from his pocket and handed it over to me. “Anything else that you need?” it was more of a command than a question. “No Sir, but thank you very much for this gesture. One more thing, can I have your address so that I can pay you the money back?” He gave me his card. I looked at it, on the card it was written in bold letters- Kapil Naagar, Secretary National Students Union of India (NSUI). I thanked him once again and after that ran towards the bank. At the bank, there was this long line of people who were there for the demand draft. I looked at my watch, I didn’t have much time. Finally, I had the demand draft in my hands; it was 1’o clock. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Indeed.

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I headed towards the Faculty of Law administration block to submit the form with confidence and a smile on my face. The man in charge looked at my form then said, “Your photograph on the form is not attested, we can not accept this form.” I smiled back. All through this while the thought of attesting the photograph never crossed my mind. I was shocked, to say the least. I composed myself and told him, “Sir, I have come from far away to submit this form. I have a train to catch at 3:00 pm and I don’t know anyone in Delhi who can help me out. Please have mercy on me and accept this form”, I almost begged. “We can not ignore the rules young man. Sorry, but I can not help you”, he tried to be sympathetic. There I was with the form in my hand, not knowing what to do with it. I looked at my picture on the form, smiling on me.

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CHAPTER 5 I can't remember anything Can’t tell if this is true or dream Deep down inside I feel to scream This terrible silence stops me These words from a song reflect what I felt at that moment. But I had no time to sit and scream. The photograph had to be attested, but how? I asked the man at the registration office what should I do? He told me that the Doctor at the clinic can attest the photograph. Next moment I was on my way towards the clinic. I reached there, but there was no doctor. The receptionist told me that he had gone for lunch. I told her the purpose of my visit. She advised me to go and meet the Professor at the science block. I ran towards the science block, from there to the library then to the arts faculty and everywhere I got the same reply. For a second I thought may be God doesn’t want me to submit this form. I was tired of dragging myself on a broken shoe sole with a hungry stomach. I gave up on my will, determination, strength and hope. I looked at my watch; it was 3:00 pm. I sat down on a bench adjacent to the road. I was so dejected that I was about to tear away the form. I had missed the train and there was no way out through which I could submit the form. 16

Never before in my life, I had aspired for something with so much passion and strived to get it. I was about to accept my defeat and submit myself to the hands of fate, but then the universe conspired.

CHAPTER 6 I was sitting on the bench, holding my head in my hands. I could not believe it was happening to me, after all the things I went through. I had come so close to submitting the form and yet reached nowhere near to it. For the first time in my life, I felt defeated. I felt as if what ever I had read in books is false. As I dwelled in such thoughts, the universe conspired. I heard a voice, “Why are you so sad, boy?” I looked up to see whose voice it was and I saw a police constable standing right in front of me. “What happened? Is anything wrong?” he said in a sweet hariyanvi accent. I tried to remain calm and told him the reason behind my state of mind. “Oh just that, don’t get depressed over such a trivial thing. Let me see, what I can do?” he assured me. He roamed around the street and came back. “I can’t find my senior, he would have done it for you”, he said. “Thank you for your help”, I replied in a dejected tone. He must have been a very nice man, or may be even an angel, for I haven’t met much people who are so concerned to help others. He took my arm and asked me to sit on a rickshaw. “Listen, take this boy to a doctor’s shop and get his photograph attested”, he told the

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rickshaw puller. Then he turned towards me and said, “don’t worry everything will be alright.” The rickshaw puller took me to different clinics within the campus. Every clinic and every hospital said the same thing, “Sorry, we are not authorized to attest documents since we are private practitioners.” Time was of the essence and it was flying by swiftly. I had no clue what to do. The rickshaw puller then took me to the “Shiksha Vibhaag” office which was nearby and told me that some one over here can help me with attesting the photograph as it is a government body. I went inside the building and approached the gentleman sitting nearby and told him the purpose of my visit. He asked me to go to some one else and pretended to be busy. I ran through out the building and everyone kept ignoring me. At that moment, an old man came out of his cabin and said, “Young man what are you doing over here?” I told him the truth. He stared at everyone in anger and asked me to follow him inside his cabin. He took my form in his hands and looked at it. “You are applying for Faculty of Law, good”, and then talked to me about my whereabouts. He attested the photograph and asked if there is anything else he could do. I thanked him and took his leave. I sat on the rickshaw and asked the rickshaw puller to rush towards the faculty of Law building. I reached there at 4:15 pm, submitted the form and took the first breath of relief in ages. They handed over the admit card then and there to me, I took it in my hands. I kept looking at it, it was the most precious thing I had ever taken in my hands. “When you aspire for something with passion, all the universe conspires to make it happen...” it does happen.

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I stood there for another 15 minutes, thinking what I have been through out the day. I could not contain my joy and I started singing. Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you When you think everything's okay and everything's going right And life has a funny way of helping you out when You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face

EPILOGUE I had never been so excited before, not even when I passed class XII. I could not wait to reach home. It had been the most fascinating day of my life, and I yearned to share my experience with someone. Throughout the journey, I was thinking how my parents would react listening to all this. Finally, I reached home. As soon as I entered the house, I started narrating the whole incident. My parents were very pleased to know that their son was not afraid of difficulties and faced tough time with courage and patience. Then, my father asked for the prospectus of the college. I gave it to him. “Did you read this before filling up the form?” he asked. “No, I didn’t care to read it. Why? What happened?” I said nonchalantly. “Have a look at it”, saying this father handed over the prospectus to me. I flipped the pages but my eyes got stuck to one particular page. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I was not able to speak. Mother could not understand what was going on so she asked father. He took the prospectus from my hand and gave it to her. She read out aloud, “Course Offered: 3 years LL.B. after graduation”. And then there was silence. Both my mother and father tried to console me, but I was not really upset after the whole episode. I was rather amused at my luck that how could I be so stupid? Why didn’t I read the prospectus before filling up the form? And more questions, answers to which I will never find out. Few days later, result of the Bharati Vidya Peeth entrance was declared. To every

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one’s surprise, I was selected. My parents advised me to join the college. I declined. I was determined to get into a good college and after that particular incident, I had the faith in myself that I can do it and also that I deserved to be in a better college. My parents didn’t object. I went to Calcutta at my aunt’s place and prepared for law entrance. I worked hard, more than I had ever done in my life. It wasn’t easy as all my friends were admitted in some college or the other and most of them got in good colleges. There were phases of desperation, frustration and at times isolation as well. I overcame all the phases. A year later I managed to secure a place in NLIU, Bhopal. That particular incident changed my outlook towards life, and I haven’t been the same ever since.

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A Lesson Learned Incidents like these do not happen every day. Besides, apart from being just an unusual incident it holds a very important place in my heart for other reasons as well. It reassured my faith in humanity, goodness and truth. The circumstances that I went through in such a short span of time exposed me to some of the brute realities of life. Realities which I had always known, but was unable to realize the depth and true meaning underlying those realities. How often we listen, “when there is will, there is a way”, but these simple words make so much sense and sound so beautiful when one watches them transcend into reality. A special mention about ‘The Alchemist’, it was the source which inspired me to push myself through out the incident. One simple line, “When you aspire for something with passion, all the universe conspires to make it happen...” changed my entire outlook towards life. It taught me the meaning of words like aspiration and passion. I can never define the magnitude of passion which I had that day to submit that form but I know now what amount of passion is needed to force the universe to conspire in one’s favor. And the most beautiful part of life is to witness the universe conspire in your favor. When that constable appeared before me, I could not fathom what brought him to me, but now when I look back at the whole incident, I come up with only one explanation- it was the universe.

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This experience has enriched me, but unlike any other experience, it has made me a better human being.

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