Scholarships and the works

"Dont have such high hopes" is all my dad said to me when I broached the subject of me applying for scholarships to study abroad... well to be honest I didnt anyways have any high hopes other than the constant encouragement of friends ... but yet I was determined to try my best for it before I gave up.... which basically angered my parents as in their opinion I was working on something unachievable when I could use that time constructively on choosing a nice christian, mallu boy ........

Never one to listen to my parents I slugged on at the applications.... and to this day I consider it to be one of the most heart wrenching experiences of my life.....I applied for two years..... it is never easy to take rejection in any form... worse when they tell you that "you are a fine candidate but we really dont think you are as great as you think you are"...... one scholarship interview I remember particularly when I was told "you sit in an AC office and you want to change the world?".... gosh those days I think I lived on only hope, watching "friends" and hanging on each words of encouragement from my ever hopeful friends.... at times I did feel like giving up all hope but as always there would be something in me that would make hope float....

and finally when I did get that final decision from the British Council about having been awarded the scholarship I think in some ways it was a celebration of me and my friends... me for not having given up and my friends who actually never let me believe otherwise... and today while giving everyone advice on scholarships and interview I maintain one thing- never believe anything the world tells you about yourself.... ofcourse there will be people who are not encouraging.... one of my friends (yes one of those toxic kinds) actually said "I am not sure you fit the profile of a scholar"... well... did Gandhi look like a freedom fighter??

Finally it is important to also state that I dont approach each task the way I approached the scholarship process... I choose the battles I want to fight for.... so if today some people see me as being a bit of a wanderer it is cos I am pciking the right battles for me to put my heart, soul, mind, analysis, strategy, time into.... I am just made that way....