An Exam Affair

This is the experience of one of my colleagues as narrated to us on one unusual day when the office Internet went off for 2 hours. Rakesh is a roly-poly guy with the face of some likeable comic character I don't remember right now, mostly seen munching pan masala and often stuck with glue to his computer, regularly burdened with work and responsibility. Hailing from the moffusil town of Burdwan he has an absolutely delightful accent typical of the natives of the place. We treaded into the cafeteria to have a chat and some good laughs.

I cannot recollect how, but the topic of discussion hit upon examinations and Rakesh caught up instantly to deliver an amazingly hilarious, anxious, breathtaking incident that he had gone through in his late college. He missed his chemistry practical exams in Part II Graduation. He simply forgot it on the D-Day. It will be more convenient if I could describe it in the words of Rakesh emulating his awesome narrative skill, having all eyes and ears glued to the tale for the entire span of storytelling episode:

I called up a friend of mine to know when was the exam scheduled and was welcomed with the devastating news that the exam was programmed on the day before and that I had MISSED my Chemistry practicals. To my utter woe and disappointment I was on the threshold of being a 'failed candidate', lost a year in his academic career. Gasping for breath which I was almost losing, I soon found myself, strangely enough, equipped with greater strength and zeal to turn things around.

Walking up straight to my college principal, I conveyed the incident to him and most naturally was asked to leave his room and appear for next year's time without wasting his much precious time. After a lot of persuasion he casually shooed me off saying that I needed to meet the controller of exams, Burdwan University. Next thing, I was on my way to the University.

Standing eagerly in front of the controller's room, I was purely struggling to even lay a foot in the room. Every time I tried to ask permission to come in, I was elbowed away by somebody or the other, who would simply walk in without a 'May I come in?' Better late than never, I picked up the trick and sneaked in through the door right under the nose of the person in concern.

Once more I needed to narrate my shameful accomplishment of 'forgetting my exams' and he demanded an approval letter from my principal as an identity proof. Whoosh I was back to my college and requested for the letter from the head of the college. As usual, denied, deprived and derided, I sighed. Egging him on to at least sign the letter I had scribbled down on the spot, I got it.

Back to the controller's door, sneaking into the room and walking up to him as close as closeness could get, I learnt that he could not remember me nor the letter I had submitted the day before. Gosh!!! Audaciously but politely, I pointed him towards the blue file which I confidently remembered, stored my letter. Well, at the end of it, I was told that it was the close of the day and that I would be heeded to only the next day.

So far I had managed to conceal all of this disgrace, including my exam skipping part, from my parents; but now that things were ballooning out bigger than it could get, I thought of conveying it to them. Shocked and gasped at the ignominy of their child's latest academic goof up, my father wanted to accompany me to the University the next day. I tried my heart and soul to keep him from doing so but the next thing I knew on the next day while at the University, was that he was right there with me. Helpless as ever, I almost dragged him along with me into the room, (or else entering would be impossible - as you too are aware of by now) and I found the different persona of the same person on the other side of the table. He politely asked my father to sit down, offered tea and asked about his well being and profession.

Now, I don't know whether the fact that my father was a pension official and that the controller was on the verge of his retirement worked on his mind and my luck or not but he seemed a completely changed person. I was suggested to appear for the Chemistry practicals from any of the three colleges which were yet to conduct their exams. I opted for the Birbhum College.

Thanks to the examiner there and my luck again, I was helped with questions as well as answers (J) on the exam day (this time I managed to remember the date) and ultimately came out with flying colors, beating my friends by miles.

So, forget your exams, do a bit of a roller coaster, a dash of a Ferris Wheeling, a spin here and a whirl there, and trust your luck to add a little spice to your life. Any green eyes? turn off!

After a hilarious session of 1 long hour, we smilingly treaded back to our seats at our workstation as I sat forth with the Microsoft Word document to scribble this incident give you a laugh of a few minutes.