27th July, D-Day. I woke up at 4.30 in the morning wanting to get a glimpse of the History Text Book. I was hoping it would be Physics and Chemistry all the way. We left for Mysore at 4.30 AM. It was too dark at that hour. So I got an excuse to avoid reading in the car. But I must say that the road till Nelamangala was nothing short of amazing and kept me interested for quite some time. I drowsed off in my seat and an hour or so later was woken up by my father who was scolding me for sleeping instead of studying.

We reached Mysore at about 8.30. We had a light breakfast soon after. Then we went to the place were the interview was going to be held. There were many people who had their interviews the following day but had just ditched school to find out the questions going to be asked. I also noticed that among the ones taking the interview, I was the only one without a tie. I thought I was formal enough but the people around me forced me to rethink the ideas I had about the word "formal". I sat down. My father said that he would come back after 1.5 hours to pick me up. I obliged.

My Marks card was scrutinized. Some parents there saw my marks and asked me how I managed to score so much in ICSE. There is one thing common about an Amitabh Bachchan movie and ICSE students- a lot of hype but absolutely no substance. I decided not to tell those people about that and will enjoy my fifteen minutes of fame. Some people asked me how I had studied for the interview. I was tempted to tell the truth but said something like 'a bit of this... a bit of that... and you know there is always a ....."

Finally the first person was called in. He did not look too happy when he came out. Students crowded around him. I guess I was the only one who did not even talk to him. Instead when the crowd cleared, I asked one of the guys what the questions were. After about half an hour of waiting, my name was called. I entered to find four sober men sitting inside.

All my seniors had told me that they would ask me on my interests and there I had to take the cue and go on and on. I stepped in. They confirmed my name and asked me my combination. I was waiting for the standard question to come, but sadly the Physics guy thought there was no need for that and started off. He asked me to write a fission reaction which I did without any difficulty. Surprisingly, the guy did not ask anything else and passed on the baton to the civics guy.

Civics was a total shock for me. The man, wearing all white, asked me, "When you are old enough and you marry, will you beat your wife?"(!!). This question nearly knocked me off my chair. After a second of complete stillness, I said, "Sir, No. That would be wrong legally, morally and ethically and also...", The biology guy cut me in between saying ethically and morally is the same. I offered an explanation but the Civics proff said there would be no need for that. He asked me about Women in Politics and equality for Women. He then asked me if the constitution is biased towards women. I lifted my head high and answered in the affirmative but also added that "It is only so because women in out country have been treated unfairly and this is very important for their empowerment". He did not seem convinced with the cover up.

Biology was next and it was pretty sad that he decided to ask only about Endocrine glands. That thing cost me a lot in the boards and the situation was no different here. I could only answer two questions in Biology. The geography proff first asked me whether I "Like geography or not". I said, I like Civics and Geography the most in Social Studies. He was slightly disgusted by the answer for reasons probably the Lord Himself does not know. He asked me, "But not so much, right?". I just smiled. He asked me questions on Rivers and Glaciers which I knew nothing off. I tried deviating the topic but he always asked a tougher concept each time.

When the proffs said that the interview was over, I was pretty shocked that it was over so soon. I was hoping It would have been longer but then the fact was it was over. I just silently walked back.