I was brought up in a place called Almora, which is a hill-station in Uttarakhand. It’s one the most beautiful place that I have witnessed. People of hills primarily lead a very simple life if compared to life in a metro city. Since it’s a small town, there was not that good education, so my parents decided to send me to hostel. There are various convent schools present in Nainital for which I gave my entrance exams. I was among the toppers in my school so my parents thought that those entrance exams will be a cake walk for me, but alas! It didn’t happen. I failed in them miserably. It was because those were ICSE schools and I was studying in CBSE pattern and because of those results, I became scared of myself.
What if it was just that I could perform well in my school and nowhere else? There were a lot of questions in my mind though I was quite young that time to understand anything. After sometime I gave one more entrance exam of Birla Balika Vidyapeeth, a boarding school situation in BITS, Pilani. My mom made me read everything from the basics and I passed it with flying colors.
But the problem was not limited to that. From a small town going to Rajasthan, a boarding school at a very young age of 11-12, was scary. I was not ready for that. After I went there, there were various challenges that I faced but somehow I knew that my parents have sent it so far for some reason. I would cry daily at the beginning but over time started performing well in studies and made good friends. I took part in horse riding, Bharatanatyam, swimming and other extra-curriculur activities. I actually ended up becoming the Dormitory Head and was listed among the best student academically.
