Thursday, May 10, 2007

Exams- for the last time....

The general opinion(read Shashank) floating around about this blog is that i crib a lot about exams :P
when one is a part of a system where exams are basically the be-all and end-all of life, one cannot help but complain about the highly ridiculous values attached to exams.
Today, all that one looks at is ur marks.

This was a conversation with a dad's colleague(AB) and me

AB: Hi! Hows it going ?
Me: Fine. The usual nothing new.

AB: So hows college ? Did u know that my nephew achieved a whopping 94% last year. U know thats no mean feat. Lotta companies are actually queuing up to get his signature. I hear he has an offer for 50k +
Me: Wow.Thats so amazing.

AB: Wow ??? thats an amazing achievement which is unparalleled so far in his college. so how are ur academics shaping up ?
Me: They are alright. I've managed a decent 84% aggregate so far and hope to keep it hovering around that figure.

AB: 84 ???? (hes shocked) thats nothing in today's world. no one is gonna offer u a penny more than what they offer those backlog riddled canditates. U need atleast a 90% if u wanna get into a decent company.

This irked me and i was nearly losing it now. First he makes a saint outta his nephew, who does nothing but mug all day and then he makes a mockery of the marks i so struggled to score.
Thats the way people treat u. ur marks either make u or break u.

But this trend is highly prevalent only in the southern states as it is with a professional degree. Only in the southern part of India will u find a person who scored 95% and gets into a commerce course being ridiculed.
When i gave my class 12 boards, to get into St.Stephens, Delhi for a B.Com(hons) course, one needed an absolutely mindboggling 94%. here in hyderabad, at nizams college for a similar course, a 80% would have sufficed. Thats quite evident of the demand for professional degrees and the lack of it for traditional commerce and arts degrees in the south.

Today if you arent an engineer or doctor or if u arent studying to be one, ur a misfit in the society. Thats the craze and i must admit that even i've been caught up in this mad race for minting greenbacks.
i would have loved to take up history as a major but reasons and circumstances not to be disclosed have ensured that i too have jumped into this pool of to-be engineers.

wow. i've sure come a long way. So as i was saying, i am justified in complaining about my exams cos they serve no purpose atleast in my case. they are just another waste of time which i could have spent a little more constructively.
But life aint a bed of roses and yeah these are some of the thorns u do encounter. I only hope to get rid of them without injuring myself too much.


P.S. i've decided this is the last time i'm talking about exams on this platform. ;)

P.P.S. i'm very bad at making resolutions :D

"I don't love studying. I hate studying. I like learning. Learning is beautiful.”--- Natalie Portman

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

in 2005 chelsea were so strong that they were expected to win all four major titles(fa cup, CL, premiership, carling's cup)
so mourinho used to be called portuguese man of four. by saying i would like to see fergy as english man of four, i meant i wanted man u to win all four titles.
and the footballing concept..
http://thenenya.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
check out june 16 entry.

Anonymous said...

total football is an entirely different thing. its about adaptability. it is only a technique. u can even do without it.
whatever i speak about is 'understanding'.its about the right people being at the right places at the right time. for instance, take man u in a 3-5-1 lineup(with giggs and ronaldo on either flank, wayne rooney as the striker). whenever either winger has the ball, u will find the striker ready at the right place. so either the winger or striker definitely scores. u will hardly find a man u match in which they have gone goal-less. this does not work out in all teams. like with chelsea it would be a disaster. they wouldnt even get one shot on the goal with 3-5-1.
this is not abt total football.
watch a man u match and a chelsea match or rather the fa finals in terms of ball flow and u will know what i mean.

and granted fergy will be scottish man of four. :)

Vibha said...

Hear hear! Well said( you do tend to speak the ABSOLUTE TRUTH when its about exams!) ;)
and btw, Nice quote, I loved it!

Anonymous said...

what assumption?
P.S: please excuse me, if my previous comment on that football technique was confusing. i am ready to explain it in a better manner if u havent got my point.
:-)

Anonymous said...

Alright, Kimi could have won the race if not for the electrical problem! (But, even them he would have looked like he Eeore's grandmother, depressed as ever!)
Yes Forward the Foundation by Asimov. I am a die hard Asimov fan and i am crazy about the Foundation series(especially characters. most fav is Salvor Hardin) except 'Foundation and Earth'(sucks! i never got past beyond half the book).
As for 'post-post-script', i have written a post on it. do check it out.
and i promise u, it is NOT confusing. :-)