My early childhood years were spent in the holy city of Allahabad (read Prayagraj). I lived in a joint family with one sibling and four cousins to share my world with. We all had our breakfast together, went to school together, came back together, played together and did pretty much everything else…together. Everything was very blissful, and we all enjoyed each other’s company. Let me also take this opportunity to apprise you that everyone in my family rose from village. We never started living an urban at the first place.
Long story short my father had to move from Allahabad to Kanpur due to his transfer. He works in a private company. The year was 2004 and I was nervously sitting in front of my soon to be principal. I was appearing for my interview at this school to resume my studies. Unfortunately, I failed that interview. Reason? I couldn’t speak proper English. She called in my father and told her that I won’t be able to make it through the school like this. It was a very bad moment for me. See I never received that kind of formal English education at my previous school. Things were, let’s say, very negligent. No one ever stressed on issues like these. Anyway, I made it through the admission process, at least, and boy did I had a hard time. Everything was so complex for me. I was never accustomed to a curriculum like this. Result? I nearly failed every English exam I wrote for next two to three years. I just couldn’t grasp the concept of it. Not just grammar but the literature as whole.
I became fascinated with understanding and speaking English. To improve and refine myself at every stage. I never ever in my life saw Hollywood movies. But I wanted to now. Not only for entertainment but to understand how people in the movies spoke English themselves. Their style, pronunciation and what not. I still remember the time when my English teacher handed out her assessment of my English essay exam and I copied the whole thing again just to preserve it. Because I though it was one of the fine pieces of my literary works. Life moved on and so did I. Next stop was Lucknow, an even better city to live and learn. But this time I was at least prepared.
It all went smoothly, and I could finally ease myself into a conversation of English without embarrassing myself. I had the hesitation though. Unwillingness to speak unless asked to. Still it was satisfying to know that I won’t stumble if the opportunity presents itself. Scoring 96.58 percentile in CAT exam is a testament of the fact that I have indeed come a long way of improving myself.
#TAPMI #ABGLP Woo Me