In prelims, the GS paper was terrifically good for me because I had prepared for the RBI Mains exam which I finally couldn't take because it clashed with XAT. If I cleared sociology, it is only because of the method in which Jeevan sir, my sociolgy teacher took the classes, made me take the tests and encouraged me in spite of me being the laziest bug of all. Till I joined the Mains class, the only textbook I had with me was Haralamboss's book on sociology. I thought it wise not to buy any other book because it was CSAT in 2011 anyway and so there was a lot of time to buy textbooks.
Once I joined the Academy, I religiously attended the Mains classes. By now, I was reformed, though I found it difficult to study such vast amounts of data. I had to choose a second optional. I was going to go for Physics, but my course co-ordinator (wisely, in hindsight) asked me to try Public Administration. I bought Laxmikanth's book and tried reading it. Well, I hated it from the time I read the first word. I tried attending the class at Academy, but was so disinterested that it was pointless to even try. Still, I kept going. However, I didn't buy any other book for Pub Ad till the prelims result came out.
Midway through my Mains class, my sister's engineering entrance results were published. She had a rank in the 2700s, so we calculated that she would most probably end up in CompSci branch at TKM. Mom got herself transferred to Kollam and I ended up in Bethany Hostel.
Staying in a hostel was always a dream for me ever since my mother refused to buy me a Navodaya school entrance application form. She had stayed in hostels almost throughout her life and she didn't want me to suffer the same fate. But now, I was in a hostel room with four other inmates - two MBA students, Linu and Shilpa and two entrance aspirants, Sona and Pamaela. Three students from the Academy too were in the hostel - Dhanya, Meera and Lakshmi. There were many other CS aspirants too, but I knew very few. I kept to my floor and seldom ventured out. Kalamol, Priya, Asha from nearby rooms became my friends. I was the laziest of all as I was quite sure I wouldn't pass the prelims. We had fun those days - I had almost nothing to study. We watched movies, told stories and talked, bunked evening prayers and in general, lived a very carefree life. All these, while my parents thought I would be studying like hell. Jeevan sir would regularly advise me on the importance of studying. In spite of ignoring his words for a long time, I finally became tired and bought two more textbooks for Sociology. Meanwhile, Shilpa and Linu left the hostel. Aiswarya and Arathi made way into my room. I became the seniormost member in my room. Yet, the person the hostel warden trusted most in my room was Pamaela.
That was before the results came.
Result was at first, a pleasant shock for me. I was not able to access the UPSC site in my mobile phone. So I called up DJ to check the result. Finally, I came to know that I had cleared the prelims. But the biggest thing in my mind then was that I would get the ten thousand rupees fees back from the Academy. That meant enough pocket money for the next few months. The idea that I'll be taking the mains in a couple of months refused to bother me that day.
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