The Train Journey that Changed Destiny - Part 4

Note: Hail the Master Blaster! Congrats to Sachin for cracking the kiwis around the park. He proves the critics wrong again! He may be old, but he is not hanging up his boots, atleast not yet!

The attendant tapped away at the computer for a minute before looking up and saying "Ishant.., I'm sorry, but there are no more seats left in Bio-Technology. Rank 610 just took the last seat. Would you like to take any other branch?" Ishant looked at his mother, he felt miserable. "Thats not right, I shouldn't be feeling this way. I did not even want KIT in the first place anyway!" he thought to himself. His mother broke the silence "Ishant, would you like to take some other branch?". She looked at the attendant and said "Sir, can we have a couple of minutes to decide? I'm sure you understand our situation". The attendant called for the dean and a young, hefty man walked up to the terminal. The attendant explained the situation and the dean said "Ma'm, we usually give only a minute to each student to make a choice. I hope you realize our need to move this quickly, that said, I understand your particular situation and I can give you another 5 minuted to make a choice."

Ishant's mother looked at him, "Ishant, why don't you take up KIT? This doesn't seem like such a bad place anyway." Ishant could only stare at his mother. "Ishant! Stop staring at me! I am being serious, this is definitely not a bad choice, besides remember that you need not necessarily join KIT. Once you find admission in Delhi, you can always take that up and forget all about KIT." "But mom!....Look at this place, It is like being stuck on a desert, I can't possibly live here." replied Ishant. Oblivious to his response, his mother continued "I hope you realize that your studying here, at Kumbakonam, will be far less expensive compared to an equivalent degree in Delhi. I hope you realize that your parents are not affluent. Besides, any money that we save can be used to pay for your masters' applications."

"Hmmmm..." Ishant sighed, "Taking this opportunity up doesn't seem so bad after all. Any choice, at this point, will only be temporary" he thought to himself. With a lot of hesitation, Ishant finally looked at the attendant and said "Sir, I will take Computer Science Engineering." The attendant replied "Here are your admission confirmation papers. I see you are from Delhi, here are the application forms for the hostel...." The dean comes by and pats Ishant on the back while saying "Ishant, I can assure you that you have made an excellent choice. I am sure you will have a lot of fun over the next four years, we look forward to having you here as well."

Ishant walked out of the room holding the admission papers in his hand. He didn't feel a thing. That surprised him. But then, there was one thing he had not told anyone.....

P.S: I had started writing this post up almost a week ago, but I ran into some work during the week which explains the time between the last 2 posts.