Coming to Institute of Chemical Technology (UDCT), Mumbai

Dear readers,

This is a small but a wonderful story about how I came to Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), formerly known as UDCT.

Like many of us I decided to give GRE and TOEFL in my Final Year B.Pharm and apply to the US for post graduate education. My GRE score was not that great. It was average. The TOEFL score was good. But I had more confidence (and a bit of overconfidence as I see it in retrospect) about my academics till that point of time. Therefore I was convinced that even though my GRE score is not that good I may get admit based on my Statement of Purpose (SOP) and acads.  So keeping this in mind I applied for 10 universities cross’ USA.

But reality struck in the form of 10 rejects. I did not take into consideration that the US was going through a phase of recession and cost cutting. So there was some want of funding at that time. Another reason could have been my average GRE score…..I can think of so many things which I might have done correctly at that time. Anyways I was really disheartened. I had put in my sincere efforts in studying for GRE and too much time and energy in the entire application process. Not to forget the pre-application costs. Someone could say that I wasted an entire year on fruitless quest, with mad hope. I had not considered the option of M.Pharm before all this. But now I had to make some serious decisions. I had no backup plan. Therefore after getting 6^th or 7^th reject I filled the application form for Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) which is the entrance examination for securing admission for M.Pharm with stipend. Now the problem was studying for GPAT. As our Final Year B.Pharm exam was approaching fast it was getting really difficult to study for GPAT with its huge syllabus covering subjects from First year to Final year of the B.Pharm course. I studied with my best friend Nishad who went through same ordeal of 10 rejects with no backup plan. We studied only for 3-4 days. I am not joking or being modest or anything. But we had absolutely no time to study from GPAT point of view. I was sure that I was not going to qualify given the quantum of study required and seeing what we managed.

I believe (which may be entirely wrong) that when something bad happens to you there is always compensation. Homeostasis is the nature’s way of balancing things out. Similar thing happened to me and Nishad. We qualified GPAT (most surprisingly) and that too with respectable ranks. Now the question arose about admission to M.Pharm. Everyone in India has probably heard about UDCT in one way or another. So even I knew that it was impossible for me to enter UDCT with my rank I applied and waited. When the list was displayed my rank was 72^nd on the list and there were only 30 seats for M.Pharm. So I gave up the hope of getting into a good institute and took admission in AISSMS College of Pharmacy, where I completed my B.Pharm.

Slowly the routine in Pune began. College reopened on 1^st September 2010 and initially there was not much work to do. Nishad took admission in Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Poona College of Pharmacy. So we had plenty of time to hang out. It was 5^th September 2010. We were playing badminton in the morning when my phone rang. It was one of our seniors, Avinash, who was doing M.Pharm while we were in Final Year. He told me that my name is 3^rd in the waiting list of UDCT in 4^th round of admission. Until that moment I had completely forgotten about my application to UDCT and I had not even checked the website for updates since there was no need (That’s what I thought at least). Had he not called I would have been a part of very small world called AISSMS. Elated with joy I called Aai-Baba to inform them about this development and they were happy too. Subsequently we went to UDCT and on 8^th September I took admission in M.Pharm in Medicinal Chemistry course at UDCT.

Some would say it was destiny. Others would consider it as luck. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why Avinash called me. What I did to deserve such a wonderful entry into a new world. As Brahmavidya teaches, all I can do is to be grateful and that’s what I am. Even when I take a dive in my mind’s pensive all I can think is that feeling of happiness and gratefulness. And that gives me hope and inspiration to do something good with the chance that I was given and I am trying to do that ever since.  

Mihir