Déjà Vu

Oh, don’t worry I am sure I am going to fail.....the exams are 2 days away....and I don’t remember ANYTHING! ....thank god, I won’t need to show my face to those people again....

Alter Ego??? No no I have not read that topic yet....now the conversation turned technical...oh well yes I have checked the definition of leadership......rest all...I guess they are co-workers....oh god....you have studied so much....I am sure I wont remember anything.....at least you used to take notes in class....I have not done anything.......you have memorised definitions of all 16 types!!! I cannot even remember the names of the types of behaviours!!!

Journal? What journal? Oh god...i have not written the journal down too....god only knows what’s gonna happen.....

And thus continued the conversation......

Just another teenager on the phone talking to his/her friend on the phone on the night before the exam? Probably such conversations take place across the world every time an exam is round the corner .

But, what made this conversation unique was the fact that it was between two ladies in their fifties and sixties!!!

Ok...I hate to admit it...but one half of the conversation was contributed by none other than Know-all’s Mom!

Taking into consideration the fact that my mom will never see sixty in this life again, you can imagine my amusement! It was as if the years of agony over school and college exams were floating in front of my eyes!

Déjà vu indeed.

To enlighten the readers, Know-All's mom, after her retirement had started taking some courses in training. This was the day before her exam in her institute.

The fact that, I had very reliable sources telling me that she was one of the best students in her class, and the fact that her teachers thought very highly of her analytical and presentation skills, did not matter....

After all, it was exam time!

So, is it really such a terror? Why is it that the very thought of any form of evaluation or examination strikes terror in the heart of most people...whether six or sixty-two!

I still remember the effect my tenth standard exams had on my family. As any Indian will confirm, for every literate and educated (I consider the two words to convey different meanings) Indian, the tenth standard exams are the first big ticket examination of her or his life. Partly because, it’s the first exam, in which the question papers are set by people who are not your school’s teachers, whom you know personally. Moreover, the people in charge of the education board in their sadistic wisdom decided to make it even more terrifying by having external centres for the exams. This meant, all students had to travel to another school for the first time in their life. At least, for my friends it was the first time.

And to add the proverbial twist in the tale, we had the cricket world cup bang in the middle of my tenth exams. And to add insult to injury, India kept on doing well in the tournament, and they set up the mother of all battles against Pakistan in Bangalore for a place in the semi finals. Of course, we had the science exam they day after. And of course, all our discussions were on formulating strategies to be able to watch the day-night match. The exams were the last of our worries!

I still remember, Mrs. Kutty, our English teacher, telling us, “Don’t worry, and watch the match. You will do well in your exams.”

I could not resist replying, “I agree madam. After all, even if we fail in the science exam, we will get another chance to take test, but there will be no second chance to watch the match”. This was in an era when Tata Sky and TV recordings were still 15 years away...

Of course, Jadeja took Waqar to the cleaners by hitting 40 runs in 22 balls, and India had a great win. For the record, I did pass my exam the next day and did not do too badly.

Then there were the side-acts which made this blog possible. I remember reaching the examination centre and finding my friends huddled together and going through last minute notes. However, one of my friends, Hrushikesh seemed unusually quiet and glum. On some probing, out came the truth. He had got the schedule mixed up, and come to take the science exam, prepared for the mathematics exam!  Of course, he came out with flying colours in the exam in spite of the mix-up.

The twelfth standard exams were much more serious for me. I was specifically petrified of physics and could not stop fretting before the practical exams. Finally, my friend, Sudip snapped,”Will you please stop this nonsense. Now, you are freaking ME out!”

Getting that from the best student in physics was no mean achievement!

Of course, i did not stop my antics there. During the viva the teacher asked, “Is LED a diode? “

“Huh?? LED? Ummmm..let me see...I guess....”

The teacher snapped, “What’s the full form of LED?”                              

“I know that. It’s...ummm....light emitting diode”

“So, is it a diode?”

“Yes yes...it’s a diode”

Looking back, I laugh at my antics...but believe me, in the hall, I was sweating...and not just because of the humidity.

Let’s fast forward to the present generation. Take the example of my next door neighbours. Their son is in the 9^th standard. Often I meet the son at the apartment gate on my way to office while he waits for his car pool alone.

But, couple of days back I find that both his parents are waiting with him at the gate to see him off. Why? Because his exams had started...

Getting back to my mom’s exam. The day of the exam came and I was of course having the critical task of driving her down to the centre, and ensure that she reached ON TIME. And I know better than to mess up my mom’s schedule!

All through the drive, she kept glued to her notes, and kept flipping the pages, and kept repeating periodically...”I cannot remember anything. I will surely fail.” I could not help but thinking that she was behaving just like any other college going student before an exam. But, another part was admiring the fact that she was facing an exam after probably more than 4 decades!

But, that brings me to the question which is today a BIG debating point. Do these high pressure exams make sense? Do they really prepare today’s kids for tomorrow’s battles? Or is it that the fatigue of exams takes a severe psychological toll, from which many can never recover?

I don’t really have answers. But, let me give some food for thought.

Every professional will agree that that every time you enter a review meet with your boss; it is nothing short of an exam. And in this exam, the answers are not always very easy to find or provide. And in many cases, the right answers may not be provided!

Or, as any one working in a bank will agree, every time there is an audit, it’s nothing short of an exam paper on integral calculus, mistakenly given to a student of Arts!

So, it’s a scenario which is far more challenging and pressure cooker like, than any school-leaving or college exam. And similar situations may occur in your personal life too, with your wife, your kids and your parents.

Maybe the years of examinations day in and day out are meant to prepare us better, to face the daily examination called LIFE.