The 6 PM Story - Part 1

“Experience life in all possible ways -- good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don't be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become.” ― Osho

It was a warm and dry summer evening, and I was just scrolling through LinkedIn when a message popped up on my Telegram. I frequently check it and saw that it was from my university regarding an updated new semester sections. When I checked for my section, I was shocked. But why? What was there that shocked me? Before I tell you about that, let me walk you through my daily routine.

My day starts at 4:45 AM. Actually, I wake up at 5:00 AM, but I set my alarm for 4:45 AM so that I have some time to freshen up. After a cold shower, I go for my breakfast. I'm actually a very good cook as well. And for those who think I live alone, no, I live with my two younger brothers, my mom, and my dad. So, why do I make my breakfast and lunch myself? The answer is as simple as the question: I love cooking. It's my hobby, and I don't want to disturb my mom. Another reason is that I am quite a foodie, so I make what I like for myself. After preparing my breakfast and lunch, I pack my tiffin box and get dressed for college. I leave around 6:20 or 6:25 AM for my college bus, which arrives sharp at 6:30 AM just outside my home. My university is nearly 50 km from my town, so my bus usually takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. My classes don't have any fixed time, but my timings are from 8 AM to 12 PM, and sometimes it goes up to 3 or 4 PM. Now, let me tell you about the bus timings for the journey back home. As my route is quite far, only one bus is available for my route, which is fixed for 4 PM. For other nearby buses, there are multiple timings like 12 PM, 4 PM, and 6 PM, but not for my route. It's only at 4 PM. So, that's all about my buses and timings.

I am very friendly and open to talk, which is why I have many friends. There, at the university, I found some really amazing people, including my best friends Gaurav, Mayank, Deepanshu, and Ayush. We all have lunch together, and in our free time, we go to the library to work on projects and solve some DSA problems. These people are very goal-oriented and don't waste any time. Sometimes, we take free time and decide to go and have some fun. Basically, there are only two places we usually go to. One is Deem University, the other campus of my university, which is just 800 m from Hill University where I am studying. If you want to know more, you can check online. The second place is the Buddha Temple, which is an amazing holy place where we find a lot of peace. We usually talk about what we are doing in our life like wise people, trying to be more human than machines. I really love the company of these people, and I learn a lot from them. So, I think now you have a good context about what you need to know to read about that incident I told you about at the beginning. Have you forgotten about the bomb that dropped on me on that beautiful evening?

So, I saw the list of new sections based on the 10th, 12th, and 1st semester marks. Ayush Garg got A1 section, Gaurav Rathore got C1, Mayank Chandel got D1, Deepanshu Rathore got F1, and I got E2. I felt really down because of this. Not only me, but all of us felt that our friendship would probably end. I was really down, but it was just the beginning. The next day, the new timetable was updated, and only my classes were until 6 PM. All my friends' classes ended at 4 PM. As I told you about the buses, it felt like both Little Boy and Fat Man dropped on me one by one. If you don't know, Little Boy and Fat Man were the names of atomic bombs. I could imagine the problems and struggles ahead of me. Classes until 6 PM meant I had to take very crowded private buses in the evening, which would take more than 2 hours. I entered the schedule of 5 AM to 9 PM, which was going to be very hectic for me. I just feared that. Actually, I was quite dependent on my friends for assignments, and they also helped me with coding. I was in depression and didn't know what to do. I went to the HOD sir and told them my problem. They directly refused, which I realized now was good for me. But before this, let me tell you about that time. It took nearly 3 or 4 days to heal from all those mental troubles. After healing, I had two options. One was to go to college in the afternoon and be comfortable, and the second was to go to college at the same 5 AM time and come back at 9 AM, utilizing that time for some productivity. I chose the second option because success is all about the choices we make, which directly define where we would be tomorrow.

Hustle time... I wake up at 5 AM, prepare my lunch, dress up, and go to college. I ordered some books which I read in the bus to utilize that time, and it was really a game-changer. I read more than 15 books in the last semester, which completely transformed me. Some of my favorite works were "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari," "The 5 AM Club" by Robin Sharma, "Power of Subconscious Mind," "How to Influence People and Make Friends," "Who will Cry when you Die," "The Mastery," "Power Thinking," "Man Enough," "It End's With Us," and its second part "It Start's With Us," "Unshakable", "A man Called Ove", "Sambogh se Samadhi tak" and many others.

I arrive at college sharp at 8 AM and sit in the library. Without wasting a single minute, I start working on my coding and development. I usually do Leetcode questions, DSA from Love Babbar Bhaiya and Striver Bhaiya. I also do web development projects like recently i have devloped an social media web application using MERN Stack, an ecommerce online store and some more you can check on my linkedin profile and also do some research work with my professors.

In those six months, I have literally done the work I think I couldn't do even in 2 years if I was not alone. Believe me, being alone is the most powerful thing, but at the same time, you should have some people to whom you can talk when you feel down because no one is perfect; everybody has ups and downs in their life. So in those six months, if I talk in terms of technical skills, I became a MERN Stack or Full Stack developer. Although I knew HTML, CSS, and Javascript beforehand, it's a great achievement for me. Also, I have completed all the data structures including Graphs and Trees. A few algorithms are still left, but I'll also do them in this semester. I have solved more than 300 questions on Leetcode and GFG. I have published one research paper on Potato Disease Recognition using ML under one of my professors and senior with whom I made a good connection as well. And that's not all; the best part is, the man that I transformed into during this time is phenomenal. I became quiet sharp and smart. I know what to do and when to do. I have gained very good social skills, speaking skills, presentation skills, and many more. In this 6-month period, I have won multiple technical and non technical events in Web Development, Daksham management fest and more.

During that time also, whenever we friends could, we gathered for lunch, still visited the Buddha Temple, and savored Thupka and Safle together, if you dont know Safle and Thupka these are chinese dishes. We remained united whenever we found time. Even amidst this, my bond with these people strengthened, and I became completely independent. In last semester, I achieved excellent marks. In this fourth semester, I still have the same timetable, but this time, I am very content about it. I truly cherish the serene and solitary atmosphere of the library where I work peacefully. I appreciate the crowded ride on the private bus from 6 to 8 PM which gave me an opportunity to become street intelligent. This semester, I plan to read even more books, engage in more coding, and rememberd that I am not just a robot devoid of emotions. It's crucial to nurture emotions, have friends, take some class bunks, and relish life for greater productivity. Also, this semester, all five of us have classes until 6 PM, and we thoroughly enjoy those two hours after a day of hard work and hustle.

See you in the next part , till then Stay Healthy keep exploring life and remember the Joy lies in journey not in the destination.

Stay tuned :)

-- Robin Rathore