Chapter 1- Daydreams that keep you awake

What is a dream really? Dreams mean a lot to different people. For some, it is like a gold at the end of a rainbow, meant to keep one occupied, without hopes of a tangible result. For some, it is a medium to pass some time, and show the world they are working towards something. And for some, it is the vision that doesn’t let them sleep.

I had never been an ardent football fan, but on one man I admired the most, was Mr. Arsene Wenger. His vision for football percolated to his vision for life itself. The reason most Arsenal fans started following the club, was it’s 2003-04 season, the famous Invincible season. They went a whole season unbeaten in the league, and played some of the best football people had ever seen. Everything started with Mr Wenger giving a public statement, “I believe we can go a whole season unbeaten.” This was in 2002, when they lost the immediate next game, and also surrendered the title to their rivals. Everybody made fun of Arsene Wenger. He didn’t buckle under the mockery, and worked to make his team one of the best in the world.

I was down in the dumps after the result. More than half of my batchmates had taken a PG seat, and I was left behind. Almost half of my friends’ group got a seat, including everyone I used to study with. I had decided to take a drop, but would I succeed? There was no way to tell. This was a completely novel experience for someone who hadn’t tasted enough failure in life, to know what to do next. In front of me, lay a mountain of a syllabus, including nineteen subjects, innumerable MCQs, mock tests, coaching class material and my notes. All this, for a statistically, less than 1% chance of success. LESS THAN ONE PERCENT. Ninety thousand-odd people gave the exam in the previous year, and the good seats ended at around 5000th rank. The good colleges? 2000. The best ones? 1000 and below. These are the odds facing everyone who gives the NEET PG exam, and those were the odds I was facing. I had to do something I had never done before, in order to cope with a situation I had never been in before. I came up with a statement, inspired by my favourite footballing icon, Le Professeur a.k.a Mr Arsene Wenger.

“I believe I can crack top 1000 this year,” I told my dad, while sitting on a dinner table. Mom and dad stopped eating and looked at me. Was I serious? I do not know, to this date. But, the act of speaking those words gave me a vision. Dad asked, “Are you sure?”

“Dad, every year a thousand people achieve what I said. I just have to believe that I could be one of those. It is a fresh start, a clean slate,” I replied.

The mission statement was made. The destination was clear. There is something great about aiming for the moon, I read somewhere, that even if you fail to land there, you will still end up at the Everest.