The wait before the beginning

 

The Wait Before the Beginning

After returning from Jamshedpur, I began preparing for the Jharkhand Combined Entrance Exam, which was scheduled for May 19, 2010. Once the exam was over, the long wait for results began — the kind of waiting that stretches time, where hope and anxiety quietly trade places every few hours.

During those days, Shyamal Da’s café in Shyamnagar became my daily refuge. It was a newly opened café-cum-photo studio, the kind of small-town establishment that smelled of freshly brewed tea, printer ink, and quiet ambition.
Shyamal Da ran it with discipline — strict about who could open what on the computer, yet kind to every anxious student who came to check their fate. The café wasn’t just a shop; it was a shared waiting room for dreams.

When results began to roll out, one after another, I found my name among the successful candidates of four different entrance exams. My best performance came in the Odisha Joint Entrance Exam (OJEE) — I had secured an All India Rank of 552.
It was a proud moment, not just for me but for my family as well. For us, it wasn’t just a number — it was a door opening.

Being an Other State Candidate, I could only apply to private colleges in Odisha. So I spent days researching, talking to seniors, and making lists. Finally, I shortlisted my top five: CVRCE, Silicon, NIST, GITA, and GIET.

When it came to choosing a branch, my heart naturally gravitated toward the core engineering disciplines, and among them, Chemical Engineering stood out — maybe because of my long-standing love for Chemistry.
Out of all these colleges, only CVRCE and GIET offered Chemical Engineering. Some of the bright seniors from our township were already studying at CVRCE, which helped me make my decision. It became my first choice.

Most of my school friends, though, were aiming for Mechanical, Electronics, or Computer Science. Hardly anyone seemed interested in Chemical Engineering. But I remembered someone who had once inspired me — the son of our school principal, Mr. U.S. Pandey, who was pursuing Chemical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur.
He had visited us during our Class 12 to guide the students, and his quiet confidence left an impression on me that never really faded. His example made my decision feel firm and right.

When the seat allotment results were declared, I couldn’t contain my happiness — Chemical Engineering at CVRCE flashed beside my name. My first preference. My first victory.

Next came document verification, for which I had to travel to VSSUT, Burla (Sambalpur).
We hadn’t managed to get a reserved ticket, so my father and I boarded the Allepey Express on a waitlisted ticket. Around 10 p.m., we arrived at Sambalpur Road Station and were lucky enough to find two beds in the AC dormitory for the night.

The next morning, we went to the university for the verification process. By evening, with documents approved and hope renewed, we boarded the same train back home to Dhanbad.
A few weeks later, we traveled again — this time to the college itself for admission formalities. We stayed at Krishna Lodge and Dormitory and took the Purushottam Express to Bhubaneswar.

I still remember that first sight of CVRCE.
The towering gate, the sprawling campus, and the green serenity all around — it felt cinematic, almost unreal. Like a set from a film where I was about to play the lead in my own story.

By the end of that month, all formalities were done. My bags were packed, papers sorted, and dreams carefully folded within them. I was ready to begin.

Little did I know, the next morning I would take the first real step into the world that would change me forever.