Liberated

I have been finally liberated after a week long organised torture conducted by my college, which they have given the innocuous name of ‘exams’. My reaction to exams these days made me take a hard look at the way I have evolved as a student, rather as an exam-taker.

Back in 3^rd and 4^th standard…..(I don’t remember many of my classroom stories(which aren’t embarrassing in any way) before that)…..

…. All I wanted were A+ Excellents or at least A+ V.Goods in all my papers. We had the grading system back then (oh! What glorious days they were!) and these were the top two grades which half the class got. Plus, our class-teacher(who taught us all the subjects) was the most adorable Lata Miss!! Everyone loved her and the other sections were green with envy because she was our teacher.Hah!

5^th, 6^th , 7^th………

3 years. 9 terms. One rank. 2^nd. Due to the presence of the almighty V in my class ( his initials were V I and we used to tease him by calling him V=IR(okay, we learnt this in 8^th and that was when we called him that). Actually, if one pronounces the RHS of the equation with a certain accent, it sounds like his surname!). I still remember how he would start reciting entire chapters(yes! Stories et al) on our school picnics. He used to mug EVERYTHING up! And was(is) bloody intelligent! Leo too! Good ole days those were! Our ranks were fixed. He was always 1^st and I was always 2^nd. What was more amusing was that everyone found it strange that one person should always come only 2^nd (they thought a lot of calculation must have been made by the 2^nd ranker in order to get beaten only by one person!). Those were the days when I’d get upset after a paper if I was sure to lose more than 2 marks.

8^th………..

This year there was a little change. There was a lot of change in me, but in my exam-response pattern, there was only a little change. The 2-marks’-loss-amounts-to-paper-being-doomed theory was modified into 3-marks’-loss-amounts-to-paper-being-doomed. So, like I said, not much of a change.

And oh! I used to come first in 8th since V was no longer in my class since we'd got shuffled! Yay!!

9^th……….

There were major changes (including a change of school) which kept me upset for most of the year. I even flunked the hindi paper in the first unit test of my new school. Sheesh. Nevertheless, that was an experience all by itself! I became more liberal in my paper analysis scheme and further lowered my lower limit to 6-7 marks(in the science papers obviously).

10^th……….

This year’s exams are blurred in my memory due the enormous amount of pressure that came with the first hurdle, the first national level examinations- the boards.

Its all pretty hazy now. I don’t even remember studying for the exams. Sheesh.

11^th………..

A year of drastic changes. For the first time I experienced what it is like to sit in a class full of 150 odd students, in a heeeoooge gallery and not have a clue about what the teacher is blabbering. Sms forwards like this one made (still make) much sense---

Top 3 college rules:

1)B quiet in d class coz othrs r sleeping

2)Don’t 4get to carry ur book coz it works as a pillow

3)Keep the campus clean…

So be absent…

I even achieved mastery over the art of sleeping in class, that too while sitting in the first bench *pats herself on the back* ! It wasn’t a very difficult task really, because the teacher was least bothered about what we were upto. Everybody does their own thing in the class and no one really cares!

Being able to attempt 75% of the questions in the exam seemed to be an achievement (except for the IT paper which Abhu and I religiously attend and study for too… *smiling meaningfully* (a lot of things happen in our beloved IT class!!)).

12^th……..

Don’t ask. Actually, now that I was the one who was taking a hard look at my er….. whatever it was that I was taking a hard look at (long posts make me go off-track!), I should rephrase the last sentence as- Iam not telling.

P.S. Apparently there was a lunar eclipse on the 7^th of this month which has apparently changed many people’s lives drastically. Abhu’s life has had special pink, sugar-coated, bespectacled insertions(if you know what I mean)!!! And so has TC’s(she was previously referred to as Teju, but from now she is TC since that sounds cuter and more ticket-checker-ish. :D Anyway, they are her initials!) life. Apparently, after the 7^th she decided that she didn’t have all that huge a crush on Epu and it was Psi who was more interesting. Hmm. Well. Drastic change, I must say. Anyway, she has been trying to get me to spill the ‘drastic’ change in my life which must’ve taken place after the 7^th (according to her). Well, seriously TC, honey, sweety, sweetpea, pumpkin, nothing has changed. Really!