Exams and the associated Nautanki

:-D

Well....well, I am not giving any exams currently nor do I have any coming up in the near future. Is this exam season? Not for schools definitely, I don't know about non-semester courses. Bi-semester ones-hmmmm, nah not for engineering folks too.

Was just recalling those times when during the last few days - books are handled with great fervor. The time when we dust out our syllabus book that was delivered to us when the semester/year began. Time to browse through the book and figure out what were the electives chosen. New friends are made with the purpose of having combined studies. Days of late night oil burning, mommy dearest bringing a glass of warm milk at the middle of a ghostly night. TVs packed off and disposed off to attic...err I am exaggerating, well at least satellite TV connections cut off and day and night spent hidden among hoards of confusing literature which would seem Greek and Latin.

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Days when utmost respect is given to the lecturers, so much that they tend to get insecure and wonder whats wrong! Days when one starts inquiring about the directions to the library and when the campus playground and cafeteria is empty with only flies swarming. Days when hours are spent roaming around for notes and waiting at the photocopy shops to get a copy of the ready made notes. Nights when hostels are in full swing studying and a fog of smoke engulfing every one's den due to fags.

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There used to be limited copies of some text books in the library. A couple of them that I can recall are Barry B Brey's 8085 microprocessor and Richard Steven's Unix Network Programming. These books used to be off the shelf like hot cakes during exams and internals, that is when we used to study.
I was my librarian's favorite. He would hide one copy of these for me so that I can have them. Excuse me!! I didn't bribe him or do anything unethical!!

Talking about new friends made, those were the times of combined study and projects. Each one wanted to hang on with the brightest in the class or in our cases, with people who managed to got to do projects from few of the top companies in the industry. Most of them would end up with those kinda folks who didn't know what preprocessor directive in C was!! But they did bag a nice project in some nice company because their brothers, uncles or some relatives worked in those companies.

Those are the times when the staff rooms are full with students hovering around lecturers and professors, not for learning things but begging them to adjust their internal marks and to adjust their attendance percentages. Oh my!!! These are the times when you feel "Ah, how easy it would now be if I had tried a bit in the beginning to create an impression and build a nice rapport."

Ahhh, days when each one's face was hidden behind a mask called textbooks, days when the fingers do all the talking when lips murmuring something and eyes shut tight trying to push few things into that poor organ called brain.

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Then the D day...Exam days

Last minute cramming, preparations, drawing 2-stroke and 4 stroke engines in the air, writing programs on the mud, getting confused between C and C++ syntax, unethically preparing chits to cheat on while writing Business and Professional Ethics.

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A girl would be busily cramming and putting up an intellectual expression. Go ask her a simple doubt, she will say "Oh! this. Very easy!" Ask her to explain and she will blah blah some nonsense and escape!!

Someone coming by and asking "What book is this?" When you say this is Part 2 of the subject and the person exclaims "Oh!!! Were there part 1 and 2?"

Unbelievable!!!

Bell rings and people walk into the exam hall still trying to cram in how much ever possible. Question papers are passed along, curiosity and fear turns into confusion. Which subject is this?? Did I study for the same kinda doubts. Look around and see the same expression on every one's face and be relived that you are not alone!!

A guy sitting beside you nudges to pass on your answer sheet while writing, in the exam hall. Why doesn't he understand revealing the answer sheet while concentrating and writing the answers is far more difficult than copying!!!!

You ignore and he nudges, stare and him and he stares back and nudges again, you look around with fear to see if the supervisor is watching you and pass on your sheet. When you want it back, he ignores you.

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Look in awe when you see someone bursting with confidence and finishing off promptly and getting out of the hall. Finally, plead with the supervisor to let you write those last 2 words as if it would fetch you gold medal when the time's out.

Come out of the hall and discuss answers and sweat when you figure out you wrote about 2 stroke engine when asked about 4 stroke, or when you wrote algorithm of bubble sort when asked for quick sort, or when you answered for mutex instead of answering for a semaphore and count your probable marks!!

Wonderful moments isn't it? Please share if you have any such exam nautanki moments