STARTING THE JOURNEY..

It is the summer of 2024. Piyush Gosh, a third-year student of English Honors at Calcutta University, is heading towards the National Library of Calcutta. It is his daily routine to go to the library, read a few fiction books, and return to his room in New Alipore. It was Friday, and Piyush was delighted as he had completed his 499th book. The new book he would take would be his 500th, so he wanted it to be special.

With excitement, he reached the library and started searching, but he was unable to find a book that intrigued him. This was because he had read so many books that, just by looking at the title, he could guess the storyline. Now he was in the mood to return to his PG, but his inner self motivated him to try searching at least once more. After half an hour, he came across a book with no color or printing on the cover page. Even the author's name or publisher was not mentioned. The only thing written on it was "PART 1."

This made Piyush a little curious. He turned the cover page and found that the book contained only four chapters with no titles. As he turned a few more pages, he read names like Raghav and Vinita, and words like "friends" and "sad." Further on, he saw mentions of countries like the USA and Nepal, but he could not decipher any story from it. He decided to issue the book and, at the issuing desk, asked how many people had issued it before him. The answer was "no one." This made him wonder if he was making a wrong choice by selecting this book as his 500th, especially since he had promised himself that he would never leave a book unfinished. He didn’t want his milestone book to be an ill-suited one. Gathering courage, he issued the book and, with many thoughts in his mind, began moving towards his PG.

He reached there in 20 minutes and, without a second thought, jumped onto the bed and started reading the book.

Chapter 1 began:

I am Raghav Pandey, a proud pass-out of Rashtriya Military School, Ajmer. I passed out from school on the 21st of March, 2003. Our batch consisted of 63 students, out of which 38 cleared the prestigious NDA written exam, which I couldn’t. Yes, I am not that good at studying. Out of those 38, 12 made their way to NDA. At that time, I was very sad because I always wanted to join the Indian Armed Forces.

On the result day of the written exam, I somehow gathered the courage to speak to my father through a landline. My father is a teacher, and like all teachers, he is very concerned about my studies. He is also very strict. My voice staggered as I said, "Papa, I couldn’t clear the exam." I expected him to shout, but that didn’t happen. Instead, a softer voice came from his side, saying, "Koi baat nahi. You will surely clear it in the next attempt." Then he said, "Bye." I was happy and sad at the same time. In the words of our English ma’am, Ms. Vinita, I was feeling melancholic. I felt sad because I had disappointed my father, but at the same time, I was motivated because he gave me another chance.

Nevertheless, I was determined, and from that day, I started preparing for my board exams as well as the NDA written exam. I was so focused on my preparation that I even skipped movie days held in our school on Saturdays. I vividly remember a movie called "16th December" was screened, and our principal himself told everyone to watch it. I was not very interested, but under peer pressure, I went. However, in the middle of the movie, I left the hall, went to my classroom, and started studying.

After a few months, our board exams began. I did quite well and passed out on the 21st of March, 2003. On our farewell day, the 20th of March, I was very emotional. I can’t express those feelings here, but I will cherish that day throughout my life.

I reached my house in Patna on the 22nd of March. My NDA exam was on the 6th of April, 2003. This time, I was well prepared. On the day of the examination, I went to the exam center, which coincidentally was near my house. My paper went very well, and I was sure that I had qualified.

Results were published in newspapers. It was the second week of June, and results were expected around this time. On the 13th of June, 2003, a press release announced the UPSC NDA 1 2003 results. My heart was pounding as I started searching for my roll number. As expected, it was there. I was overjoyed, and my father was very proud.

After celebrating a little, I realized that the journey was not over yet. Now it was time to prepare for the SSB interview. With full enthusiasm, I started preparing. I knew about the tasks we had to do at SSBs, as they were taught in our school, so I had an edge.

On the 17th of August, I was preparing a lecturette on Indo-Pak relations when I noticed someone standing at the gate of my house. It was none other than the postman with my SSB call letter. I was overjoyed. I opened it, and my SSB center was at Cubbon Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka. The reporting date was the 28th of September. I was even happier as I would get a chance to visit Bengaluru.

I continued my SSB preparation. As the interview date neared, my excitement grew. I collected all necessary documents and packed my bags. My seat was already booked on the Sanghamitra Express on the 24th of September. On the day of departure, I took blessings from my parents and started my journey. My seat number was 04. I settled in.

The train first stopped at Mughalsarai and then at Allahabad. At Allahabad Junction, a very pretty lady entered my coach. To my surprise and luck, her seat number was 01, right in front of me. As a military school cadet, my reaction was obvious—I took out a book and started reading. I wanted to start a conversation but didn’t have the courage. Before I could say anything, she broke the ice.

"Hi, I am Sonal," she said.

Somehow, I replied, "Hi, I am Raghav."

She told me that she is a history graduate from Allahabad University and an officer in indian army..this made me talk more ..  excitedly i  told her that I was going for my NDA SSB interview. Now she was more interested in talking. She shared her preparation journey and gave few tips for my interview, she also wished me luck...Before we knew it, the journey ended.

I called my parents and informed them that I had reached the center. I reported to my SSB board and gave my screening test. I was confident about getting screened in, and I did. I was allotted chest number 1 for Stage 2 tests. I performed my best and also made a very good friend, Keshav.

Now it was the last day—the fifth day. My conference lasted only 30 seconds. Everyone told me I would be selected, and I was confident too. we were sent to a hall ,after 15 minutes an officer entered with a paper in his hand it was our results.. he gave us two choices either to announce the results from top to bottom or randomly everyone went with the second option.

When the results were announced, my heart was racing. The officer began calling the selected candidates, starting from the top. He announced, "Chest number 6."

My eyes filled with tears. Everything went silent. Half-heartedly, I left the hall, gathering the courage to call my parents. Just then, I heard a voice—

"Raghav."

I turned around...

 and  a new journey started...

Piyush, till this chapter, realized that this was a memoir of a person named Raghav. He regretted choosing this book as his 500th, as nothing exciting had happened so far. He kept the book on the table. But due to his promise of never leaving a book unfinished, he turned to Chapter 2.