The Price of Admission

A few days later, I went to a cyber cafe and checked Shabhawari’s exam results. By God, she had passed the Joint Engineering Entrance Exam! I tore up the paper in excitement. She had been accepted into a government college for a B.Tech degree right here in Jaipur. But there was a catch – it required a fee of two lakh rupees. It was true that Shabhawari would eventually receive a scholarship, but that wouldn’t come until later. Right now, we needed to find the money.

When faced with this challenge, I turned to our relatives for help. But each one had an excuse – domestic problems, financial constraints, you name it. They all refused to lend us the money. We only had a month to raise the funds, and the deadline was fast approaching.

I asked my friends for help, but they could only offer small amounts, not enough to make a difference. Shabhawari and I were both consumed by anxiety. Then one day, my friend Piyush sat down with me.

“Man! It looks like Shabhawari’s B.Tech dreams are going to be crushed!” I said to Piyush, feeling utterly defeated. “I’ve exhausted all options, but the money just isn’t there.”