Tick, tick.......tick, tick......tick, tick.....the clock was ticking the last few minutes of what seemed to be an eventful hour....”Everyone tie up your papers, its almost time”, said a high pitched voice from the corner of the room, which seemed colder than the Siberian winter . It was Monday,11th of March Yes.... anni was writing 1 of his final exams and this one is in his 2nd grade.
“Hey anni want to join me, im going to the ground to play cricket”, said vikram, a tall boy, with curly hair and girlish voice, who was in his 3rd grade. Most of the schoolkids had finished their exams and were busy hosting cricket tournaments, kabaddi tournaments, running race events and few other stuff. “I love to come but, maneli bidalla , i have 3 more exams left”, i said. Its perhaps the most painful thought that other kids have finished their exams and u have not. Vikram said, “Ask your dad once and tell me, ill be waiting here”, i said, “ but don’t stay here if i don’t come out within 3minutes, else u might get real scoldings for disturbing me”.
It was Saturday 9th march, 10 a.m. and my father was reading the business section in The Indian Express, there was some issue regarding the finance minister gobbling huge amounts of money in a software scandal (ok, i don’t remember properly). “Appa, ill ask u something and u shudnt get angry”, i said. He didn’t seem to be interested in my proposal and i repeatedly said that for 3 times, finally, “OKAY, let me first hear what you have to say, and what on earth are you doing .....roaming around with your exams on Monday????”, my father said. NO, i wasn’t wasting time, i was reading from past half an hour i thought. “ Can i goto play cricket to the ground for just half an hour???please, ill read the entire day after coming back”, i said, with adrenaline pumping so hard that i had almost took my bat and started swinging it. “Shut up and stop being crazy, now go and study for Mondays exam, what do you have on Monday???”, my dad said. “ please, ive been studying from half an hour and i want a break”, i said. “Mucchu baayi, what have you studied in just half an hour, and with those hot wheels cars around you, you will definitely score very low if your attitude is like this”, and i started crying loud enough so that vikram could get the signal. He indeed got the signal. “What exam do you have on Monday, bring your classwork ill ask questions from that”, my father said. I couldn’t imagine why i did all this, and in the end all i got was an invite(not really an invite) from my dad to the questionnaire session. There were these three exams left, kannada, social studies and moral science. The last one was considered to be a cakewalk even by a nursery kid.
I saw the timetable and inferred that i had social studies for Monday. The subject most schoolkids dreaded, and i was no exception. So i took the classwork to my dad and he started asking questions from the first. I really screwed up that session, i couldn’t answer any question properly. Again, i got real hard scoldings from every1 in the house and went back to study. I tried to study as much as i could. Somehow , completed half the portions by 7 o clock in the evening, by the time my brother came back from college. “Annnnniiiiiiii, aayteno odidduuu” , my dad called. "Man, i want to live in a hostel during exam days" , i thought. “ Yes, its almost done, give me 5 more minutes”, i screamed. The 5 more minutes was just for the mental preparation to face the questions. The interview with my dad went fine, and it was around 9:30 p.m. “Saaku anni odiddu, oota maadi malko”, my mom said. I was very happy at this proposal and accepted it with gratitude :D. The next morning and noon were mostly spent on revising the 1st half and preparing for the second half of the subject. It was awful and painful. How much should a kid study???Preparation for social studies got over by 6 p.m. and i was given some free time. I wondered how many matches would my friends play everyday, how many kulfis they eat and such stuff. I thought i would be free for the entire evening, but guess what, “anni, read for the next exam, you have to do well in kannada this time, last time you got through very marginally,remember??”, my brother called me in. I am innocent, i have done nothing wrong.....Okay, kannada it was, i read some 6 chapters like a story book (most of them were stories). Finally, i had food and slept peacefully. The exam beared no pressure on me, it was the preparations and interview sessions with my father that sent chill waves down my spine. The exam was at nine ‘o’ clock in the morning, and i got prepared with all the materials required for the exam including the hall ticket. My brother dropped me to school at 8:30, and when i went in i got the biggest shock of my life. Everyone was preparing for kannada, shit, im doomed, ill fail, oh my GOD save me were the thoughts running in my head. I had prepared for the wrong exam, it appears that i had seen the timetable for the midterm exam when my dad had asked. During such intense moments solitude is your best partner. I tried to cover the tears trickling down my face but couldn’t. Its a big surprise for a 2nd grade kid to handle. I went to the exam hall as quickly as possible without talking with anyone.
Everyone settled down and i was muttering every prayer i could remember. Even then i was half heartedly expecting social studies paper to be distributed. I got my question paper and it was kannada indeed. The exam was for 1 hour. First i wrote everything i could remember from the notes. By the end of half an hour, i had attempted for around 20 marks. “Holy crap, my dad was right, i am going to get awful score and even possibly be detained”, i thought. Again the fear caught on me, and i started answering stupidly to every question. I remembered very hard the stuff that i had read the previous night. I really thanked my brother in my mind then for making me read kannada. For the questions that carried lot of marks, i created my own stories and wrote whatever i could ....atleast to fill the paper. The thought of being detained for 1 year made my sweat glands go bonkers, i was sweating as though playing a 50 over match in Zimbabwe.
Tick, tick.......tick, tick......tick, tick.....the clock was ticking the last few minutes of what seemed to be an eventful hour....”Everyone tie up your papers, its almost time”, said a high pitched, cold voice from the corner of the room, which seemed colder than the Siberian winter . It was the invigilator. I tied up the papers, and was confident that i would make it to 3rd grade. Triiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggggg......it was over finally. I had written an exam without actually preparing for it. Its like winning a gold medal in Olympics for me. I came back home and narrated the whole incident at home and i wanted some appreciation. No , i was called careless, irresponsible, idiot etc etc. It didn’t seem to affect me because, i was on top of the world that day, and moreover my preparations for social studies were over, yipppiiieee. I had a day holiday for social studies. For my heroic effort regarding kannada exam, i was made to read moral science also, in case i was again wrong with the time table. Can u imagine it, i was preparing for an exam which was considered a cakewalk even by the nursery kids with social studies the next day!!!!!!!!
P.S: Anni got through 2nd grade with bare minimum marks in kannada but awesome score in social studies. :D
