Surprised.
Surprised at my ability to have studied 18 hours in one day at one go.
Surprised. At the fact that one goof up changed the face of my entire exam.
And utterly dejected that those 18 hours didn’t pay me off the way I deserved.
Preparing 11 long topics for a daddy-of-all history paper like Mughal India is a big feat. Those of you who’re aware of the context here will understand. And achieving the same in a trifle period of 4 days (plus nights) takes the supposed wonder of that feat a grade higher.
I know I make it sound like I’ve flunked my exam. But before we pity my case, I wish to paint the bigger picture.
An average history paper has 12 questions, which the Delhi University twists and presents with a different garnishing every year. Out of these, 4 are to be attempted. So either you prepare a good array of topics in order to keep your choices vast (like I did this year), or you could risk the exam and prepare an average of, lets say, 3-4 topics( which I would do otherwise). Those who play safe are the ones whose noses bear the weight of large spectacles, with their beings immersed neck deep into books on an average of 5 hours each day of the year. And there’re others who rely on their two-nights-before-the-exam strategy, light an agarbatti, and walk into the exam hall with the heavy gust of a “winner” printed on their faces.
I belong to the latter, minus the agarbatti.
But this year was different. Coz I studied. And studied so well that I was rather amazed at my own abilities..! Abilities of controlling sleep, of eating lesser than required, of controlling my want to ‘take a break’ every 2 minutes, and of course, pulling up the preparation wonderfully well in just 96 hours.
However, today’s tale is about an exam and a gut feeling that ditched me.
Sitting in class, I veered around the paper and flashed obvious smirks at the printed sheets, realizing how every question in there was tastefully crafted for my skilled mind and fingers to work upon. Ah, I glanced at my mates with an inflated chest too.
Upon completing 3 wholesome questions in 90 minutes, I smacked my lips in delight and my face shone like white chalk dust!
And then I steered to the last unit, stared at the questions for some instants, drew my face close, let speculation dawn into my eyes, and zeroed in on a rather different question that didn’t fall in the usual league.
From there on it only took me another 40 minutes to hurriedly pen down 10 pages! What I basically filled the sheets with was boring facts, disarrayed opinions, and infinite vagaries. And haunting me was the thought of the answer turning out wrong. But the overdose of confidence that I’d been feeding on past so many days thrust me to trust my infallible preparation and waste some more ink on the paper.
And then at the 11th hour, realization sinks in..
That I’d written the wrong stuff.
That I’d screwed up a whole question assuming that I should experiment with a new topic and see how I fare with my ability of forming spontaneous answers! Talk about abilities. Bah.
Yes, in a history paper of final year bachelors, you are NOT supposed to litter the paper with spontaneity.
Just what on earth!?
And here I’d sat, preparing my answers all day and almost all night, snugly victorious at the fact that my exam preparation was heading an unusual course.
Boy! How I chuckled at the thought of writing a most beautiful exam with every word and fact in place. The assumed success of the exam pictured a triumphant me emerging outta the exam hall, with the head held so high like I was craning it out for the world to see the sparkle in my eyes!
That thoroughly deceptive gut feelin that poked the wrong rib of my frame.
