Scene 1
At MSB 256. A process calculation course in session. Prof. Basak is distributing quiz 1 papers to the chemical engineering batch of 2007.
Prof : The performance is good. Students have done well. The highest is....
(pause)
Prof : Well, can you guess??
(The paper was out of 15 comprising of a 7 mark question and an 8 mark question)
Prof : The highest is 13. Ok. You know the lowest?
(A deafening silence )
Prof : 3 . 3 is the lowest mark.
(Silence gets louder)
Prof : When I call out your number, you shall come forward. Tell me the mark you estimate to get. Then you shall collect your paper.
The atmosphere is so tense you couldn't breathe without feeling noisy. As for me, I knew I had done miserably and the prospect of "predicting my marks" was choking me.
Suddenly,
Prof : CH 04!! (That's me)
I walk up to face the prof.
Me : Sir.. Sir.. (Sweating) .. I ..I did badly. I..
Prof : 3.
It came to me like a sentence. I had actually come The LAST in a class. As I turned to face the class now, I couldn't see anyone. My eyes were teary. I stumbled as I reached for my desk. I couldn't wait to sit down and just bury my face.
Scene 2
At CRC 205. A thermodynamics course in session. Prof. Srinivasan is distributing quiz 1 papers.
Prof : CH 04!!
I walk up to the front, feeling highly tensed, take my paper. I glance at my marks. 25 on 40!! I hide my marks in flushed embarrassment. I had done decently. I should have gotten more.
After a while, everyone has received their papers.
Someone : Sir, what's the class average?
Prof : I think around 11 or 12.
I sit up!!! Wow.
Someone : What's the highest?
Prof : 25.
My head jerks up for the first time in the whole hour.
Prof : I think Akila got 25. (He looks at me)
I stare back at him and show my teeth.
I didn't know what to think. But you know what really made my day?? When my friends actually clapped. God, I could have sat there and cried. I was so moved.
Now as I look back, both incidents are just memories to remember my first year by. I learnt a lot from both of them
From the former, I learnt how it is possible that your worst nightmares come true. I had always thought that if you come last, it would be horrible. But God was too good to me and put me in a class that didn't care. Hard luck strikes the best of us sometimes. We just have to survive.
The latter was a special moment for me. It was the first quiz in the institute. The big, great institute to which I, a girl from a small town had come, with a notion that everyone is smarter than me. That small incident in a classroom there might sound trivial to one who reads it. But to me, it was significant. It ignited a spark of confidence in me that is to come a long way in my life..
28 comments:
:) great post
Hard luck strikes the best of us sometimes. We just have to survive.
How true indeed,, i can say that from lots of personal experiences ;)
It ignited a spark of confidence in me that is to come a long way in my life..
Wish u luck and hope that spark ignites a big forest fire :)
(coming from somebody who doesnt attach too much meaning to marks... [:P] )
i hope the spark "light"ens your heart and brightens your life... [:)]
hmm..nice post
I remember vividly the time i failed my math course in the first sem..
But success or failure neva seems t have any effect on me..i dont take anything out of either.
Very nice post tho :)
Lots more 25/40 s comin ur way after this eh ? ;-)
Nice post :) Could not help recollect your vivid description of the incidents. :)
If it does turn into a forest fire, I could do with a little of that fire.. :P
You rock! :)
nice post... :)
but i dont think it was crc 205 whr our me110 class was held.. :P
@ Priya ;) i know it was crc 203 and 205 that we had thermo and math. I forgot which was which.. :P
nice one da!
that makes me remember the PH101 second quiz + PH102 end sem v/s cy101 first quiz.
its necessary to know how to take success and failure with equal balance. not to get too depressed by a bad performance and not to be too proud about a good one.
keep blogging :P
zgbbi :P
a simple one this time
err... correction!!!
cy102 first quiz :P
uicbj.... again simple one :)
a "comes-once-in-a-while" post that despite of being so simple triggers the longest of thought-chains...the gr8est-dream-turned nightmare cs110 for me or the cy102 cupper-3-in-quiztwo to a decent A story (I'll be indebted to IPS Sir for that) ...hajaar such incidents thruout our academic lives..and ur reflections on how they affect us r so excellent..
though I have a small problem with the "girl from a small town " phrase... please excuse me if I sound rude, but isnt that invalid psychology in an age where oppurtunities and possibilities present themselves regardless of any geographical,social or financial constraints when u look at the bigger picture ?
@ Kirtika
I agree with you. But what I really meant was the question you posed to ceaser the first day at IC SR about "the divide" if you recall.
Hey that blog was quite moving... i wouldn't say that was one heck of a blog..but then honestly it could turn out to be inspirational to someone in the same scenario... Keep it up.
P.S:And never mind Kannu..She blabbers all the time.
Felt as if I got the LEAST mark in some exam...nice post Akila..n i think tats the only time u cupped i suppose n since then u have been rockin the insti...:P..go Akila..:D
uh!..really inspirational...[:D]
seriously? no other memories!!..cmmon..acads shudnt be the only ones occupying u all the time!
:D
Topping the class and all.....
Put treat... :D
hey...nice post...[:)]
keep at it gal!!!
and i agree with samadhi...[;][:P]
bumps to Akhila!!
just kiddin
This thing happens to me all the time.
I screw up the first quiz.
I cry alone.
2nd one I do decently and get back lost hope.
and in the endsems woohoo!!!
:) make sure you blog a lot for the next three years... you might just want to remember incidents like these when you pass out :)
hey i suggest u that u blog daily.Then i sud say i will leave all my novels n stick to ur blog only.........he he
well visit my blog if u plz.....
www.blogbyniharika.blogspot.com
hell!!
are u nuts??? :P
i wud have put and got hazaar treats in case1 and dirty looks in case2..
:D
ps: u put top marks and dint put treat!! unfair! :O
I agree with Samaadhi... put treat. :)
Topping ME110!
As for your other fiasco,
"failure is the stepping stone to success... but make sure that the stone is not slippery!" :-D
Keep blogging :-)
P.S : Forgive me for commenting so early to this post. There was some problem with my RSS reader and hence I didnt get an update on your posts. I didn't notice that till now. :P
nice one
i am a rookie in english so dont get hesitant to answer this question
in the case 1(basak's);
you wrote"silence gets louder"
does it mean "more silence " or "gettin louder"???
anyway that clearly shows the night and dawn of life.
p.s: did u really cry?????
amazin post !!! :)
p.s- am a FRESHIE at IITM!!!
pp.s-ur blog's awesome !!!
Awesome !! I dont usually read blogs ; came across this accidentally, and this is amazing :) and truly inspirational.
I appreciate you for sharing such nice moments in your life with others (unlike others who usually put arbit fart in their blogs :P )
Keep blogging , all the best !!
@all I'm not putting treats :P
@ Naveen I can bank on you [:D]
@Goutam Yes, I did cry. Though I laugh to think about it now. It is the trick memories play on lives. You laugh to think of the times you cried and cry when you think of the times you laughed.
@ AJ Have a wonderful freshie year :) You'll look back to it all your life as one of the best times you've had.
@Iqbal Thanks da.. :)
A good experience I guess. Everything happens for Good. That's how I think about life.
Akila
http://akilakalum.blogspot.com/
nice post:)
i can say
scene one: a routine for most of engg students.
scene two: another day in routine when somedays r better than others...:)
gud luck ahead.
nice one..i really liked it.. even i screwed up my first year..not completely though...this reminds me of the early days in IITM when my mind used to mingle with everything unrelated to acads...
@ Akila
Thanks! Like names think alike. I specifically like the way your name is spelt. :P
@ Abhishek
Thanks. I'll need all the luck I can get. Good luck to you too!
@ Surya
Who doesn't? ;)
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