TPO 2019 (Secondary School English): National Rank 459, Subject Rank 39, Regional Rank 20 (Eastern Region (including participants in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal)), Test City Rank 10 (Kolkata)
TPO 2018 (Secondary School English): National Rank 157, Subject Rank 15, Regional Rank 6 (East Region (includes Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal)), Test City Rank 4 (Kolkata)
TPO 2017 (Middle School English): Regional Rank 17 (West Bengal Region)
I am a teacher-educator, in Senior School for the Cambridge International curriculum at Gems Akademia International School. Also trained in the Indian classical dance form of Odissi, I take a keen interest in the arts and the human condition. Words, people and human stories fascinate me. I enjoy reading widely, travelling, conversing and having a feast with my friends!
The story behind making it to the Test Centre!
CENTA TPO 2019 was conducted on December 14th across India, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. South zone being my preferred location in Test City, Kolkata, I had been allotted Future Institute of Engineering and Management as the Test Centre. Confident of it being accessible via a break journey on the Metro route towards the last station, I did not spend much time on researching the location. Instead, I asked for guidance on the specific stop from a friend, then in USA on-site because he had graduated from FIEM.
The directions were simple- I had to board an auto after getting down at the specific Metro station.
On the D-day, I disembarked 1 hour prior to the starting time of the test, took a rickshaw which confidently took me to another engineering college after a 15 minutes ride. When the name did not match, I panicked. The students informed that I was looking for a different college which was in another direction. A passer-by helped saying the only way was to reach the station of the local train line and travel back to Sonarpur station road.
I had no idea of the local train routes, the directions to be followed or which train to board. Locals helped me purchase a ticket and guided me. The waiting time for the particular train had seemed like an eternity. It was past 8.30 am. When it did arrive, I somehow managed to board. That, I could get down from that crowded compartment filled with vegetable vendors blocking the doorway and negligible stopping time, still amazes me. Another student helped me cross the tracks and board an auto. The next 15 minutes were among the most terrifying I have faced till date before appearing for a competitive examination.
I remember barging through the gates, hunting my roll number on the boards displayed outside and running towards the designated building shown by the security personnel.
A very kind CENTA staff approached me while I searched for my breath. It was 4 minutes to 9 am, other candidates were glued to their screens having already logged in. In a daze, I completed security procedures and entered a different room than originally assigned to my roll number and logged in. Sharp at 9 am.
On 29th January 2020, I was in a taxi returning from a batchmate’s wedding when a very senior educator, a fellow winner’s WhatsApp message congratulated me on my TPO results.
I had achieved the Subject Rank of 15 in Secondary School English, placed 6th in the Eastern Region [West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha], 4th in Test City, Kolkata and ranked 157th among the Top 552 Winners’ List across 47 cities of India and 2 international centres in UAE [Dubai, Abu Dhabi] and all 21 Subject Tracks.
That night my joy knew no bounds. But, looking back, I wonder what if I had given up at 8.30am?
Getting down at ‘Kavi Subhash’ [New Garia] instead of ‘Kavi Nazrul’ [Garia] Metro Station would have made all the difference.
