From the very beginning of this year I have tried hard and tried continuously to evade all kinds of academic pressure about which I am not too sure if I have managed to do or not. But one thing I just couldn’t resist and had to finally give in to was writing this article/diary.
This whole exam stress thing has been so cheapened by overuse that if discussions and debates on it were food I’d be over nourished and obese right now. But just as one always kowtows to the truthfulness of clichés, I have to acknowledge the existence of this issue too. And no, not in the sense of how burdensome our course is or how hide bound and short sighted CBSE schemes are but a larger and more pressing issue of how conventional and inflexible is the mentality of most regarding something as basic as education.
Class ten boards are a phenomenon. They have always been. The high school pass Indian still demands respect because he possesses the all important certificate which could show down a hundred others in their face for their lack of that one piece of paper which says “hey, I passed class 10”
Let’s get started about those who are still in this grade. We started off as nonchalant tenth graders who had decided to ignore the significance of this exam because didn’t one of those channels themselves say it just unnecessary hype and didn’t we ALL hear. If people offered condolences and advice because we were going to witness this event we just shrugged and said “I could give exams every month and call them boards. Big deal?”
Sadly, this was months back. It’s no more the same. It’s quite the contrary in fact. Phrases such as ‘mental stress’, ‘examination pressure’, ‘rigorous revision’ et al which were earlier too fancy to use or even pay heed to found their way into our daily telephonic conversations. I remember discussing the struggle of the Vietnamese people furiously at pizza hut once.
We could really deal with all this you know. But obviously, others just couldn’t miss out on this opportunity. "What class are you in?" "10th” "oh! Board year." Now that happens all the time, like we don’t know we have boards, they just have to rub it in, and then they say”oh! last batch for boards" “yaa thank you very much, you're inspiring me”
Boards are like the highlight of this one year. I know. But can I please remember it for my victory at the debate or the way we thrashed all other basketball teams or how I stood outside class for cracking a joke in math class or this really amazing new friend I made. I really don’t know who to blame or if there is anybody to be blamed at all. People look at me accusingly if I am on the phone, go berserk if they spot me one metre square away from the house.
Parents suddenly start taking interest in your studies, people from all over the world asking you about your preparations, listening to loads of people give you advice on how to study and how not to (like we even need that) and the funniest is how common cold is treated like the deadliest epidemic ever. It’s just cold, it happens all the time. It’s so common I could prescribe you medicine for it and you’d be fit as a fiddle in a day. But because its boards time, lets complicate it. “you cut your finger?” “how will you write your board papers?” “oh my goodness, you’ve got a cold? You’re so failing!”
I knew I would be subjected to all this but you can never be prepared enough can you? It’s another thing to know how typical such reactions are and laugh them off when it happens to others but it is just not the same when you are really the focus where all the concern converges. And I hate that I am writing on this issue because I hate that there is such a problem at all.
I am a class ten student. I will give my board exams next month. I DON’T study 12 hours a day. Its 12:20 am and I am awake but not to study but to listen to this Hot Chocolate song. I haven’t given up talking on the phone or watching television. All your concern does affect me but I study when I have to and not when you are looking. You have unrealistic expectations but I know of more important things. Don’t stare at me like that, I don’t have green hair, I just choose to have a life. And no, I am not going to fail.
Just to make another point. Everybody know humanities is no more the last resort for those who don’t manage to score well but believe you me, I had to deal with raised eyebrows and dropped jaws and skeptical responses when I announced I wanted to take ‘arts’. Yes, I chose to study the humanities over the sciences. I decided for myself and that’s way more important. I never thought I could still meet people who would look down upon me because of my choice of subjects but I meet somebody like that every day.
Hold it, there's more...........
