Examinations

  Episode 15 – Dark Clouds of Examination

It was the last day of the penultimate month of the year and with cold November winds coming directly from Himalayas, Shimla had become really chilly.  All of a sudden there was an intense rise in traffic towards the one and only small temple located inside university Campus. Although, there was no religious occasion but the TRP of “Mr. G” ( i.e. God) could have easily overtaken that of any India-Pakistan Cricket match. The continuous resonance of bells was an evidence enough to press the panic button for the dark clouds of examination. Moreover the drop dead silence at all the happening places was reminding me of the lull before a major storm. It had NOW started thundering on our innocent souls.

The war finally broke out next day and some regiments (departments) were already on the front. Date sheet was out and we had to be there in 5 days. Unfamiliar things had started happening, 90% of the crowd shifted its abode from dhaba’s (and Café’s) to Library and amazingly it had become the hottest point for all dating activities. Late night study in the 24/7 study section of the library seemed to be the latest fad.  For the very first time I could see all Books and Photostat shops doing more business in comparison to wine shops in the vicinity. Wikipedia became the most visited website, facebook slipped to no. 2 position. Sharing of notes, books etc was more prominent compared to movies and music. Previous year toppers alias studious seniors were in as much demand as Katrina Kaif in Bollywood or Angelina Jolie in Hollywood. Even the never-ending political agendas of political parties in the campus were kept on hold. Our very dear Sarkari had started showing a lot of behavioral changes. It was not his honeymoon but still he had locked himself in his room and secluded himself from rest of the world including Abhilasha. He had all the notes but sharing them for him was like sharing his family wealth. One could see the lights in his room until dawn. He gave up bathing and eating in the mess, he was surviving only on maggi, pasta, soups and endless supply of tea. Sometimes he even forgot brushing his teeth. He had lost all his contact with human beings and was constantly surrounded by Books, Books and some more books. His time proven strategy for examination was to mug up every topic just like a nicely trained Parrot. His roommates Nick and Vivek were having a very bad time so for fighting the battle of exams, they too shifted to my room and now our small hostel room is home to 6 guys.

Some categories of people like most of our female counterparts and of-course sarkari were revising for the 2^nd or 3^rd time. Whereas people like Hemant , Nick, Vivek and I, were trying to figure out the easiest way to survive the furious battle with help of Xeroxed notes that have been circulated amongst disaster managers like us from eternity. To our dismay they are not of much use because university had recently updated its syllabus (although it takes them a decade to do so.) For every topic we need to at least consult two or three books, which we never bought! All of the Funds allocated by our parents for Books and stuff were already invested on alcohol, movies and coffees. 

To win this war we had to survive six furious battles. Man, they were terrible and stressful, especially knowing that you don’t even have the slightest idea of questions you are going to face and according of my experience of last 20 years, 80% of the final exams were always based on the lectures you had missed and the topics you had left.

Undoubtedly we were totally screwed up, but can’t complain about it as in the last 5 months we had the most rocking time of our life. We caught every new movie, visited every nook and corner of the beautiful city, tasted all types of alcohol and much much more. We glanced over the syllabus for the first time to discover that we were as innocent as a 1 day old baby is to this managerial world and its jargons. 

Finally out of blue Vivek called everybody to the Hostel Canteen for some planning and strategy for our exams. For the first time we were discussing our subjects and we all shared a common target i.e.  40% marks. Everyone was delegated a subject of his choice for which he would be managing all notes and be responsible to teach others. A proper timesheet was created and was texted to all. Facebook was now officially banned. The only problem left was Accounts, unfortunately every one of us was emotional in accounts and Prof Dewakar Nath had publically announced that managing passing marks would not be an easy task for people like “Rahul”. Can’t complain, you see, he is one of those teachers who will teach you cooking "PLAIN RICE" in class and will expect you to cook "BIRYANI" in exams...!! So for cooking this biryani, we decided to search for a Voluntary tutor. We were badly short of time the only question pounding our mind was – “Will we be able to execute this plan of survival or will we be packing our stuff back home?”

EPISODES -:

Episode - 1    Life Outside University Gates

Episode - 2    Once Upon A Time In Shimla

Episode- 3   Save General Class

Episode-4  Fun And Frustrations Of A Hostel Life 

Episode 5 -  Fun-Sutra Of An Amusing Hostel Life  

Episode 6 - Room No. S8, Buddha Hostel Hsv

Episode 7 - Room No. S9, Buddha Hostel Hsv

Episode 8-First Set Of Love Birds Flew On An Old Maruti 800…

Episode 9 - Angel Lands Up In Accounts Class

Episode-10 - The 14 Sacred Rituals

Episode-11 - In Search Of Other-Worldly Creatures

Episode 12 - Why was his mobile switched off ?

EPISODE 13 - 55 m.i.n.u.t.e.s Late…

EPISODES HOME Copyright © 2010 Sudhanshu Kapoor, Preeti Arora