From The Topper's Desk

So the 2nd yr University results are out. AND I HAVE TOPPED MY COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!! By a whole 8 marks!!! I got a 74% (407/550), with distinction in two subjects :-) I remember having written that I simply love Microbiology and my aim is to get a distinction in that subject. Well, I achieved my aim and more - I got a distinction in Micro and in Patho. Hurray!!
The D-Day had long been prolonged and fought over. The usual rumours were in full swing every single day from last week. If any of those had been true, we'd have had 10 different results by now. The official date till yesterday afternoon was 24th February ( i.e. yesterday :-p), 5pm. Yesterday afternoon it was changed to 25th February (i.e. today), 6 pm. I was more involved in wanting to watch the ICC Cricket World Cup than being nervous about a result I had lost all excitement for!! And, in the middle of watching it, I get a phone call from a friend, " Congratulations!!! You've topped!!!", and he sounded SO happy!! I was confused, I was a little shocked, and yeah, basically CONFUSED. I said I'd go back and check it up on the net. When I did, there it was: 407/550. And the distinctions. It was really scary to start with. I mean, ME??!! Topper!! Impossible! If I've got 407, there has to be someone else who has got 408 or more. I'm just not of the kind that comes first. I come second. I come third, but never first. That 'first' is this ungettable, faraway, dreamy place that one can only fantasise about. Honestly, through  my entire second year, I never ventured to fantasise about it. It was too costly a dream.
So, you have to believe, when I heard there was a chance that I had topped, I didn't want to believe it. It was just like those morning dreams. Somebody was going to pinch me hard and burst my balloon of happiness (i'm still feeling like that. Guess, this what the unheralded Oscar Winner or that shocked Wimbledon Champion feels...and then people wonder why you don't sound as happy as they expect you to be!).
There's always a first time for everything, and this is my time. I want a few days to pass. A few days after which it will become a 100% fact : Pranjali Sharma, Topper, 2nd yr, BJMC, Pune.
I am still praying to God: Just let this be. I deserve this. Don't take it away from me, not after having given it to me, let me have a feel of it and given me a chance to feel what those people feel; those toppers feel...
So, what's it like to become a topper? Dammit, scary!!! Those Gold Medallists in the Olympics will probably have an idea about this. So you get to wear the medal, hold the bouquet, take the pictures, have the National Anthem sung.....and then you wait....for those dope test results...knowing you haven't done anything wrong, but still praying, hoping, wishing it all comes clean...yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now. I know I have done all the hard work, haven't anything wrong, but till somebody (in authority) can tell me for sure that there's no change in my results or anyone else's results, I am going to be scared and nervous about this.
Ok, so that is it. No more thinking about the bad stuff. I turn to my ultimate love : Cricket. I am going to have a lot of fun, watch the entire WC with as much dedication as last time, and have an immensely delightful and exciting time :-) :-) :-)
p.s. my next posts could well end up being a recap of the World Cup. So non-cricket-fan-readers, beware!!!