From Waitlist to Podium: A Cold Morning, a Crowded Train, and A Case Study’s Journey to the Capital, New Delhi for an Award.
When the notification arrived, it was only a few lines long. It said my travel for the second AC fare would be reimbursed so I could receive a prize from Honourable Minister Shri Jitendra Singh in New Delhi. It was short on detail and long on meaning. The third prize for my case study at IIPA was real, and I was going to Delhi to collect it. Getting there was its own small drama. My second sleeper tickets sat on the waitlist, and I watched the status like a stock ticker. One ticket moved to RAC, then to confirmed. The return journey on the Tamil Nadu Express followed the same nervous pattern. I half expected a last-minute cancellation to undo everything, but the thought of standing before the nation’s top public administration leaders, and of attending the 72nd Annual General Body Meeting, kept me going. On a cold Thursday morning, I took the metro to Chennai Egmore and boarded the Thirukkural Express, coming down from Kanyakumari and bound for New Delhi. My RAC berth was tucked into...