This is the last stop in the series. By the time Indore came around, I had already been on the road on and off for a month. More than one person suggested I just take this exam online instead of traveling again. I actually agreed to that once because I was tired and it made sense on paper. But it did not sit right. I knew the Indore students had been serious through the whole course, and Pawan sir, who runs the institute there, had put in just as much work on his end. Taking the exam online felt like the wrong way to close that out. So at the last moment, I changed my mind and booked a ticket instead.
I booked my ticket on the evening of the 27th and left the same night. Between the late booking and the rush to actually get to the bus, I nearly missed it entirely. I managed to convince the operators to hold it a few extra minutes, which is its own kind of small and stressful adventure, but I made it on. The rest of the journey was uneventful after that. I had not been to Indore before, and I had heard it called the cleanest city in India often enough that I was genuinely curious to see if it looked the part.
Getting There
I reached a day ahead of the exam. Everything was already arranged on the institute’s end, so after resting a bit, I went out to see some of the city at the Kamla Nehru Zoo. I saw a white tiger for the first time in my life and got to hold my favorite pet, a parrot! I absolutely love them. Interestingly, the zoo perfectly reflected the city’s famous reputation, as the pathways and enclosures were remarkably spotless. On a deeper level, seeing the white tiger up close was a quiet reminder of how important dedicated conservation efforts are right in the middle of a rapidly expanding urban space.
The Exam and Second Chances
The exam was scheduled on 29th March 2026 and it started like most of the others. Pawan sir came to pick me up from the hotel personally since the institute was not far. When we got there, a handful of students were already waiting a full hour before the exam was even scheduled to start.
We went ahead with the exam, and for the students who missed passing by just a few marks, I gave them a second shot with a one on one oral exam on the spot. Not many students ended up qualifying in the end, mostly because a good number of them had not taken the course as seriously as they could have. But watching the students who had studied regularly walk away with certificates seemed to really land with the rest of them. I invited the ones who did not pass to join the next batch, and every one of them agreed. They seemed determined to actually show up for it this time.
Results and Certificates
We checked the answer sheets and moved straight into the certificate ceremony without much of a gap. I handed each certificate over myself to the students who had cleared the exam. Here are some glimpse of the certificate ceremony.
You can view the official Indore batch statistics on the Shree Satyanarayan Foundation Trust’s website
Sarafa Bazaar After Dark
I went back to the hotel to rest that evening. Later that night, on a colleague’s suggestion, I headed out to Sarafa Bazaar. It was almost unrecognizable from the quiet market it usually is during the day. By around 8 PM, the same jewelry shops I had seen shuttered close up for the night, and in their place, food stalls take over the entire street. There are sizzling pans, lit up carts, and a crowd that keeps growing well past midnight.
It has been happening like this for roughly a hundred years by most accounts. Local jewelers started letting food vendors set up outside their locked shops overnight, partly for the business and partly just to keep some activity and a few extra eyes on the street after dark. It has stayed that way ever since. It is one street with two completely different identities depending on what time you show up. I am very health conscious so I did not eat much, but I tried a few things and it was a wonderful experience.
Conclusion of Batch 2 of Digital Marketing
I headed back to Delhi the next day, and that was the end of it. It was the last exam, the last certificate ceremony, and the last new city after a month that had taken me from Ranchi to Varanasi to Dharamshala and finally to Indore. I went back and forth more times than I can easily count. It was four states, five classrooms, and a lot of students I only ever expected to know as names on a screen.
