Episode 1 – Cut-Offs and Callings

by @brewingdusktales

“Rank 4861... Government MBBS mil gaya.”

The words sat in Aritri’s throat like a secret too heavy to hold but too beautiful to keep quiet.

Her phone screen blurred—either from the heat trapped beneath her trembling fingers or from the tears that finally spilled. Her breath caught somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

“Ma... Ma... ho gaya,” she croaked, eyes still stuck on the rank list like it might disappear if she blinked. “MBBS. Mujhe MBBS mil gaya. Aur woh bhi government mein!”

Her mother, seated in the next room, didn’t respond immediately. Maybe the words hadn’t registered. Or maybe she just needed a second to believe them too.

Aritri didn’t wait.

Barefoot, she rushed to the small veranda where her mother was stringing jasmine flowers—something she did every Thursday, a quiet ritual of faith.

“Ma, sun rahi ho? Ho gaya... mera ho gaya!”

A faint whisper slipped from her mother’s lips—“Shotti?” Then louder, louder than Aritri had ever heard her, “Arey bhagwan!”

The string of flowers fell to the floor.

They collapsed into each other’s arms—clumsy, laughing, crying.

Two years of missed birthdays. Ruined festivals. Quiet self-doubt.

Two years of coaching sheets, 5 a.m. alarms, unfinished syllabi, and mock tests that never said she was enough. But now it didn’t matter. Today, the silence broke.

Her phone buzzed.

Study Group Chat

Diya: “So finally… MBBS??”

Rutvi (AIR 5013): “WE DID ITTTT omggg who’s crying rn?”

Aritri: “Me lol.”

Diya: “Same. Group hug. See you all on the other side.”

Aritri smiled. The other side.

A place she hadn’t seen yet, only imagined—

White coats.

Rushing through wards.

Dissection hall horror stories.

Viva nightmares.

Mess food fights.

Library crushes.

Sleepless nights.

A life she’d only dared to picture beyond the NEET wall.

That evening, her father returned home with a chocolate cake and a plastic bag filled with all her favourite food. She had vowed not to touch any of it until her name appeared on that list.

And today was that day.

No relatives were called. No Instagram post. No fireworks.

Just her, her parents, a cake, and the silence of her anxiety finally deflating.

“Ma,” she whispered later that night, “ab life normal ho jaayegi na?”

Her mother didn’t answer. She just smiled, pulled Aritri’s head to her lap, and began running her fingers through her hair.

The next morning, she was already googling hostel vlogs, reading college reviews on Quora, making playlists for the move.

Somewhere far away, 1st years in a government medical college were memorising cranial nerves for their prof exams—unsure whether they’d clear or land in the nightmare called “supplementary.”

But even in that chaos, a new excitement was brewing:

"Bas ek bar pass ho jaayein… fir juniors ko toh aise line pe laayenge."

They were still technically first years. But they had started dreaming in the language of seniors.

And Aritri?

She didn’t know it yet— But her story was about to begin.

To be continued...

Next episode: "Counselling Chaos & First Impressions"