Free Life Is What You Make It A Story Of Love, Hope And How Determination Can Overcome Even Destiny by Preeti Shenoy Page A

authorities did not care. Agnes had already won almost every cultural competition that there was to win that year. Agnes was also the overall champion in the Mahatma Gandhi University festival that year.
    But it was the first time that nobody talked about it or rejoiced.

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    Ready to fly
    T he elections arrived like monsoons the next year. It was the final year of our graduation and we would soon be completing our Bachelor's degrees. There was no way I was contesting. I had made up my mind about that even though many had urged me to contest again. The entire thing had left a sour taste in my mouth.
    There were only a few more months for our final year to end. My agenda was now to get into any of the top institutes in the country offering an MBA. Like many of the others, I had dutifully filled in the application forms, taken out the demand drafts and mailed them well before the last dates. My parents were very happy about my decision. I hoped I would not disappoint them. I desperately wanted to get admission into an MBA course.
    Vaibhav and I were still in touch but not with the intensity as earlier. I think it was more out of a sense of duty that he called rather than anything else. I had not even noticed that his calls had trickled as I was so absorbed in Abhi and the other things that were going on in my life. I think the love I had for him was replaced by a kind of fond affection. Honestly it did not matter to me anymore whether he called or not. It seemed as though Abhi and I had been through so much together and somewhere along the way, Vaibhav had been left far behind.
    Charu had decided that she would pursue Chartered Accountancy and join her father's firm. The rest of us had no such options and the entrance tests were what we had to concentrate on. The MBA bug had bitten all of us. Most of us had opted for postal coaching. There were only two reputed institutes that sent you the practice papers and the study material. We pooled in our resources. We had formed a study group which consisted of Dhiren, Abhi and Christy from Mahaveers and Suvi and I from our college. We met twice a week at Mahaveers, in their auditorium which we had access to, as Abhi and Dhiren were office bearers again that year.
    Christy and I were the ones who were most serious about it. We competed with each other like crazy, solving questions, seeing who would crack it first. I was far ahead of him in verbal ability and he would be dazzled by my reading speed and data interpretation. But he made up for it in quantitative ability. He beat me hollow in that, as I grappled with figures. I knew how to solve most of it, but my speed wasn't very good. I took too much time. On some days, we had seniors over, from our college and from Mahaveers, who were now doing an MBA at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).They joined us and they gave us tips. They held mock-interviews and group discussions as well. I kept telling Abhi that he would have to work harder. I felt that the college activities were taking a toll on his preparations. I sensed that he did not like my saying so and could also see that he was getting annoyed at the way I competed with Christy. But my goal was clear and I was not wavering from it. I was determined to make it.
    I think entrance exams are mostly about how one performs on that particular day. Of course, it needs hard work and talent, but largely it also needs luck.
    Whatever it was, I was delighted beyond measure when I got an interview call from not one, but four institutes one of which was a well known one in Bombay! I had also been selected for CUSAT . I had never expected to be this lucky. I cleared the group discussion and interviews too. My parents' joy knew no bounds, as they boasted to all relatives about my achievement.
    Abhi had got an interview call only from CUSAT .
    My dad had another surprise for me. He announced that he had got a promotion in his company and had been posted to Bombay. We would soon be