CHAPTER 1 : HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

The thunder crackled, large drops of rain pattered on the roof, a bright day soon wore a gloomy
face. The birds flew to their safe nest and in a small village in Andhra Pradesh, a panicked mother
resorted to calming her son. The frail boy, gripped by fear had the worst apprehension. His whole year’s
hard work and patience were to bear fruit today, it was the day of his JEE MAINS results. While his
hopeful father hurried back home on his motorcycle, his fingers trembled as he clicked the mouse button
to reveal his results.
In the beautiful hilly state of Meghalaya, the Scotland of the East, however it was bright sunny
day. The little sparrows chirped in unison with a young girl’s laughter who had just cleared her board
examinations with flying colors and looked forward to living her dreams. While her father’s dreams of
admitting her to med school or at least to make her a successful engineer surrounded her little bubble of
happiness, she was weaving her own little dreams. It was her day of MAINS results too, one which she
had appeared without any preparation and had least expectations from.
Meanwhile the boy’s father had reached home and as he parked, he called out “Sai, how was your
result babu?’’. Sai received his dad with a gloomy face reporting that it was not as had expected. He
might not even get admitted to a decent engineering college of his dream. Hearing this, Mr. Seemala
though somewhat depressed, made all attempts to cheer his son up. For Sai, his father was his best friend
more than a fatherly figure. He could share all his ambitions and heartbreaks with him. He stood with him
through thick and thin, and held him up when he fell down on the tracks of life. Such was his relationship
with his dad. On the other hand, Sharmi shared a cold relationship with her father. She always aspired to
be the responsible daughter of her father and to fulfil all the ambitions that he had been collecting for her
since childhood. But this time, she did not reach her father’s expectations. She was denied a seat in
medical school and had managed to get a fair score in her engineering exams. Friends of her father
suggested that it might possibly fetch a decent seat in her state engineering college. This seemed to be a
ray of hope for the old man. However, this possibility cast a shadow of sadness on Sharmi’s face as she
always wished to see the world. Being admitted to NIT Meghalaya meant staying home and
compromising her dreams.
Dreams were also shattered about 5,000 kms away. Sai made a truce with his faith when he was
finally granted a seat in NIT Meghalaya. The young boy was apprehensive of this new beginning which
he had never anticipated. He had heard all bad rumors about the untouched North eastern region of India,
but he still had to pack his bags to embark upon a journey to discover what lies beyond the mere science
textbooks. He had never been away from his mother, both hugged each other and wept incessantly. For
her, it was like cutting a piece of her heart and pushing him away to a far-off land.
Time had finally come, the train whistled and the engine driver signaled to start the engines. The
train was taking young Sai almost 5000 kms away from his village where he grew up to an unknown land
where Sharmi too was ready to shake hands with her future.
To be continued....