Mystory@Sourav Bihani: What I gained from my college years

Mystory@Sourav Bihani

School, especially 11th and 12th grades are the roots to cement your career in the field you are passionate about. But due to lack of my participation in co-curricular activities before that, I chose PCM. I took up Math because I was not interested in Biology and cramming concepts is just not my cup of tea. So from the very beginning, I was clear about what not to do, but didn’t know what I needed to do. This is the basic dilemma faced by many. My father had a dream for his sons to become IITians but my elder brother was not able to crack it. Thus, the responsibility of fulfilling the dreams shifted to my shoulders and I left for Kota in my 11th grade to give shape to this dream.

Kota is full of brilliant people, but then I was away from home for the first time. At home, I studied to escape getting scolded by my mother, but in Kota, I was on my own. I didn’t realise the amount of hard work my parents had invested so that I could study in one of the premium institutes of Kota – Bansal Classes. I was not able to grasp the pace of study in Kota and moreover now I realise that there was also not much effort from my side also. This resulted in my failure in cracking the JEE Mains exam. But yes, in 12th board exams, I was able to score 78% which is decent enough considering my performance in coaching classes. I was preparing for IIT in Kota but filled forms of many engineering colleges. I appeared for COMEDK, an exam for securing admission in colleges in Karnataka and cracked this with 4000 rank. With this score, I got Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology (MVIT) and my stream was Information System.

My college experience

It is the best part of your life because of the experience and learnings you receive. When I entered college, a senior asked me a question, which I would say changed my perspective of life. He asked what my talent is and I was speechless as I didn’t have any. Neither was I brilliant in studies nor was I was good in sports or any other co-curricular activities. That question hit me intellectually and I was ashamed of myself about not possessing any talent.

Then I got a chance to join Gap theatre group of the college and then my real journey began. As part of this group, we used to do annual productions for Bangalore college people and in my first year only, I got to play a scene. I still remember that 2 days before the play, my scene did not appear that impressive and the director decided to omit that scene from the play. It was then that I requested him to give me one chance and that day, I must have practiced the scene at least 100 times and the result was that it turned out to be the best scene out of the entire play. I received immense applause from my friends and seniors and realised one thing – my talent and it was not acting! According to me my talent was the ability to work work, my potential for which, I realised that day. This was my real talent. The senior who had asked me this question requested me to click a photo with him after he saw the play and I will always cherish this memory, experience and learning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imQI6Dn9r6M&t=2s

Apart from Gap, I remember my friends who will be for lifetime. I miss those times with them a lot and these times were always outside the class as we hardly attended any, including hangouts and trips. We supported each other in our lows and highs. I miss them a lot. Studies were never my priority. I always believed in studying 3 days before the exam and yes, I was able to manage the exams. I finally started concentrating on studies in the 7th semester for placements as that seemed to be the final outcome of the degree. But I would say that the overall experience of the 4-year college duration made me very strong and aware and capable of surviving in the real world. And yes, I got placed in 2 reputed companies Accenture and TCS out of which, I joined Accenture. I am now working in Accenture but yes, never left my theatre acting talent and I’m also continuing that. I believe “Acting is life…everything else is rehearsal!”

Author Bio:

I am Sourav Bihani from Banswara, Rajasthan, I have completed my Bachelor of Engineering in Information System. I am a fun loving guy, a team player, a theatre artist and a traveler at heart. I strongly believe that there is no genius without a touch of madness, so be mad about what you love in life!