Osman is my childhood friend. He is 3 years younger to me and was my brother’s classmate. He doesn’t have any siblings and always considered me as an elder brother and calls me Bayya. During his graduation in Bangalore he was living with me & my colleagues. After completing the graduation school he flew to Dubai, the land of opportunities to join his family business.
We were not in touch for quite a long time. One fine day he phoned me and informed that he has got a back paper(failed exam/ supplementary exam) in the final year. He was very sad as he has to leave his business & travel to Bangalore for the sake of writing exam. When he came here he lived with me for one month and cleared the examination. He apologized for not paying attention to my advice and it reminded me about the heap of advises I used to give.
He completed more than a year in the business and off late he was not very happy about the work culture. He was not in a position to make drastic changes also. One day I heard from his mother that he is going to Pune for doing MBA. I felt happy to hear this decision. As the CAT(exam conducted by IIM) for that year was over he decided to join a new B-school in Pune where he was offered a management quota seat.
Two weeks later I got a phone call from Osman and he said he is flying to Bangalore in 2 days and enquired whether I can arrange for accommodation. This surprised me as the MBA classes usually start in June and it was 5 months far. He said he changed his decision and he plans to go for one year entrance coaching and then join a better B-school. In India, more than 250 thousand people attempt CAT exam every year and the exam has literally become a lottery system as the number of seats is very low. He said he will talk to me once he reaches Bangalore.I couldn’t agree to his decision of spending one entire year just for preparing for an exam whose pattern is completely unpredictable. I waited at the airport and I couldn’t resist asking him the reason the moment he came out of the airport.
He said, ‘Life is full of surprises!! Onlywhen I was filling the application for Pune BSchool, I realized that I have one more back paper in the second year of graduation.’
