Ordered Cheese, Delivered Chalk: My Kota Safari (General Press)

We all have heard and read about the adventures that unfold in an IITian's life, but seldom have we come across a student's pre-IIT days. With all the focus diverted to life on the campus at India's most prestigious engineering institute, the fight and perseverance that goes into making the ranks is somehow never given due attention.
Armed with a suitcase and a hand bag, sixteen-year-old Sameer Mittal from Siliguri lands in Bansal Classes, Kota, looking to fulfil his dream of gaining entry into the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Sameer is your stereotype teenager – confused, raw and bewildered, but with high hopes and aspirations of making it big.
Fast forward to the time he leaves Kota – Sameer has transformed into this clear-headed, fearless young adult, who couldn't care less about making it to the IIT, or for that matter, any other premier engineering college in the country.
What is it that brings about such a drastic change in his mindset?
The scenario was simple, right? Enrol yourself into the most prominent coaching institute in Kota, slog for fifteen to sixteen hours a day like a robot, become alien to terms like 'merriment', 'fun' and 'joy' and have textbooks as your only confidants.
But in all his calculations, Sameer forgot to take into account a few 'minor' factors like love at first sight, depression, joys of counter-strike and long-distance relationship biting the dust, an overtly-friendly Kuldeep's nextdoor neighbour, a re-introduced schoolmate and the highs of teenage love.
Ordered Cheese, Delivered Chalk narrates the story of Sameer and his (mis)adventures during his stay at Kota. It takes you through the journey of a teenager who makes the transition into a young adult.