Kedar Joshi

AIR 159, IIT

JEE - 2013


I come from a quiet
city called Hubli in
Karnataka, and
growing up in this
rather subdued
environment, I did
not witness the mad
flurry of IIT JEE
activity that
consumes so many children in bigger cities. I did, however, spend a couple
of years at a foundation academy that laid the first layer of solidity in my
understanding of concepts.
The academic peak of my school life was coming first in the state of
Karnataka in the RIMC (Dehradun) selection exam, but since I did not want
a career in the armed services, I decided to stay on in Hubli instead.

I had decided to aim for the IIT JEE at the beginning of my 10th std, and
when my boards results came out, the 94% on my scorecard gave me the
confidence to pursue this dream with conviction and a positive outlook.
Fully aware that Hubli isnt the most conducive place for JEE preparation in
India, I took a call (that would change the trajectory of my life) to shift my
base to Pune and started working towards a good rank at the IIT JEE. One
thing I worked particularly hard to imbibe were the 3 Ds that Lalit sir drilled
into us - determination, dedication and discipline. I was truly blessed to
have very approachable mentors in the form of the Prime Academy faculty
who are IITians themselves and could guide me with firsthand experience.

At Prime, I used to spend long days at my desk, going after every segment
of the JEE syllabus with gusto. One flaw with my approach was that I used
really long, laborious methods to solve any problem. However, over the
years, I had developed a very effective habit of pursuing every problem till
the very end, and not leave it once the tough part was over, which gave me
an enviable speed of calculation.
One day at Prime, when the entire batch was struggling with a particularly
tricky problem, Lalit sir happened to glance into my notebook. He noticed
that while everyone else was using a shortcut method, I was lost in my own
long battle with the problem. At this juncture, Lalit sir suggested a shortcut
trick I could use, and even after starting from way behind, I remember
solving it before anybody else.
Over the next few weeks, I spent a lot of time in close quarters with the
faculty at Prime Academy, learning more such tricks, shortcuts and
workaround solutions to many types of problems. If Lalit sir hadnt spotted
me then and taught me quicker, more efficient ways to solve problems, Id
have never been able to get through so many questions in the JEE
Advanced.

Just as important as having the right study group is practice tests, and I
had the best of both at Prime. They were just right in number, enough to
give me a lot of practice but not so many as to take away my self-study
time. Also, we had a great group with Prithvi, Jainam and Abhay
continuously pushing me to give my best.

I remember the result day. I received a call from Lalit sir while on the bus
from Mumbai to Pune; I had an All India Rank of 159 in an exam that
leaves so many listless. Funnily, being in a packed bus, my only
celebration was an awkward, silent fist pump that vented but a fraction of
the enormous emotion welling inside me.



My natural field of choice was Mechanical Engineering, and what better
place to do it from than IIT Bombay. Given my rank, I got in easily and
happily settled into the next phase of my life.
A year into IIT, I have tried my best to benefit from the multitudes of
opportunities IIT offers. Im now a part of the IIT Bombay swimming team,
and won a bronze medal in IIT Guwahati last year swimming backstroke in
medley relay at the inter IIT sports meet.
With a CPI of 9.23 and the responsibility of being the convener, robotics
club, I am juggling both academics and extra curries, and it is a greatly
satisfying experience.
Next year, I will join the IITB team for the Mahindra Rise driverless car
competition and hopefully, many such challenges will follow.


To all those preparing for IIT, I wish to convey this. With the right
motivation, adequate resources and most importantly, mentors who will
guide you every step of the way, preparing for this exam should not only be
fun, but also a very rewarding experience.
I want to thank the faculty at Prime Academy for all their support, I will
always be grateful for your sincerest and involved efforts in helping me get
into IIT.