IISER professor's story of making it to his dream institution blows internet away, check post

Twitter users have come across a filmy plot after an inspirational story of a man getting admission to his dream college has gone viral. The person named Samrat Mukhopadhyay who is a professor at the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Mohali, Punjab, took to his Twitter handle and following a sequence of thread he shared his breathtaking experience of almost missing out on an admission interview back in 1997.

25 years ago: June 1997. I was selected for the highly competitive & coveted integrated PhD (MS + PhD) program at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore. My life changed forever. Whatever little I have done, I owe it to IISc. I narrate a fascinating story. Read on (1/n) pic.twitter.com/laYimkZpCQ

— Samrat Mukhopadhyay (@SamratLabMohali) June 7, 2022

Mukhopadhyay, now the head of the biological sciences department at the IISER, had always been a bright student. He pursued his graduation from Kolkata’s Jadavpur University and wanted to get into the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore for an integrated PhD programme. As he had graduated with a decorated result, he could easily take admission for MSc courses at Jadavpur University as well as some IITs.

My performance in BSc (Jadavpur University) was quite well & my MSc admission was guaranteed there (and I already got into some institutions including IITs). But it was a dream to pursue integrated PhD at IISc (that was and is still the top choice for students after BSc) (2/n).

— Samrat Mukhopadhyay (@SamratLabMohali) June 7, 2022

He sat for the entrance examination of IISc and was quite sure of getting a call for the on-campus interview round which was scheduled to be conducted from 16 June to 18 June 1997. He wrote, “My exam went quite well and I was certain of getting shortlisted for the on-campus interview that was scheduled to be held from June 16-18, 1997. I reserved my seats on the trains quite early. There was no direct train from Howrah to Bangalore – Howrah to Madras by Coromandel Express and then Madras-Bangalore Mail.”

But there was a problem. I was waiting for the interview call letter that didn’t arrive even on June 13 when I was supposed to travel. I was very frustrated. My exam had gone so well and I was perplexed, clueless, upset, and disappointed. I canceled the train reservations (5/n).

— Samrat Mukhopadhyay (@SamratLabMohali) June 7, 2022

As he received no letter from the authority till 13 June when he was supposed to leave for Bangalore, he got disappointed and cancelled the railway booking. Mukhopadhyay explained, “My exam had gone so well and I was perplexed, clueless, upset, and disappointed. I cancelled the train reservations.” Interestingly when he thought that his dream had shattered, fate was writing a different story for him. Finally, he received the call letter on 16 June in the morning and as per the previous information, his interview was to be held on that day. He stated, “I was even more disappointed to receive the letter.”

The aspiring student still opened the envelope and the first thing that grabbed his eyes was the date of the interview. The date suggested that the interview would take place on 18 June and he only had 45 hours left to reach the campus. He followed, “I had got just 2 hours to catch the train (Coromandel Express) from Howrah Station. I immediately decided to make the best of this opportunity.”

He rushed to the station and succeeded to catch the train which was three-hour late. Though he had cancelled the reservation earlier, he had a railway pass and managed to arrange a seat by showing his IISc call letter to the railway authority. But more adventure was waiting for him. As his train was running late, it led him to miss the connecting train in Chennai.

I was out of my home within half an hour & headed to the station – my sister telephoned my parents. I reached Howrah Station; my parents arrived from their offices. The problem was I had canceled my train reservations. I had a railway pass but no reservation (10/n).

— Samrat Mukhopadhyay (@SamratLabMohali) June 7, 2022

Chennai was hit by a severe storm and was suffering from a power cut. In such a situation, Mukhopadhyay did anything and everything to find a transport to Bangalore. Then, he boarded onto Guwahati-Bangalore Express but it was also late due to the weather condition. When the tension was increasing, the train left Chennai at around 1 am the previous night. He added, “Every stop made me worried about whether I’d be able to make it to IISc before 9 AM. It was going down to the wire.”

The interview panel was highly impressed with my performance and I was asked to appear for the final round of interviews on the 18th afternoon. The final interview went very well and I was offered integrated PhD admission at IISc – I was ecstatic and triumphant! (22/n)

— Samrat Mukhopadhyay (@SamratLabMohali) June 7, 2022

However, he managed to arrive at the IISc campus 5 minutes before the interview was about to start. He reported to the interview panel and the process went 40-minute long. Mukhopadhyay was quite happy as the interview went well for him. Tagging the occurrence as ‘ecstatic’ and ‘triumphant’ he concluded, “I was asked to appear for the final round of interviews on the 18th afternoon. The final interview went very well and I was offered integrated PhD admission at IISc.”

Mukhopadhyay’s Twitter thread has caught eyeballs on the internet and left the users stunned. They thought that this story would give the young minds a huge motivation and make them learn to fight for their dreams.