And, then in 9th standard, programming came into my life. Computer Science was an elective subject for ICSE board examinations. My parents elected it for me, as they thought computers was the upcoming future subject. Initially my school was not eager to allow me to study select it as I was average, but my parents convinced me. And they bought me a computer. It was a PC, keyboard, mouse, CPU and CRT monitor. My parents also got me a home tutor to teach me programming. And then magic happened. The blue screen of Turbo C++ and Windows BASIC came into my life. And, video games like Allan Border Cricket, Dave, and Aladdin. Programming came to me naturally. My tutor realized this and rather than just focus on the syllabus he guided in developing my interest. Thankfully, my computers exam was 80% programming. And I also was able to buy myself an encyclopedia CD, World Book. My time was now majorly being spent in reading Reader Digest articles, going through history and astronomy articles in World Book, playing football, and playing with programs revolving around strings and numbers. I have been always been naïve. And this point, I had no realization that programs can build the games I played. There was no internet, and before I could reach to that point my home tutor went abroad. Also, my parents were more concerned with my board exam. I got an average result, but did score 90% in both history and computers.
And then computers were lost for some time. It was time to prepare for the competitive exams for college as is with Indian education system. My PC was sold off, and I was returned to the averageness again. I still played football, read Readers Digest, and interestingly studied Black Holes. But I did not fair enough in the competitive exams.
From the memoir I am writing, one chapter at a time.