The Maths exam

Our 1^st year exams were going on (graduation – Ness Wadia). It was our last paper i guess. I remember reaching college at around 8:30 in the morning (it started at 9 everyday). That day, we had Maths paper.

 

I don’t think I need to tell you that there are people who absolutely hate Maths (and most of them were in my group). The moment I entered, I saw Prashant and kishore running towards me. I could see that they were tensed (though something told me they were not dying as i expected them to). They had a paper in hand which they told me was the question paper for today’s Math exam (they claimed they got it a day before through some source).

 

Just to give you the background, there maths was limited only to calculate how much the tea costs at Maduban and how will they manage their cup of tea without paying themselves (they did that by refusing to acknowledge that fact that they’ve had Tea). I also remember how they once picked up the money left by another customer at the next table with the bill – and they took less then 10 seconds to calculate that they both get Rs 25 each from that Rs 50 note.

 

Anyways, coming back to the Maths paper. They told me that they got the question paper last evening the they have been trying to solve the paper since then. There were around 15 questions in the paper.

 

I told them not to believe in such things and concentrate on the exams but they wanted me to solve as many question as possible so that they can write them on their hands. I solved 4-5 questions for them. They wrote one each in their hands and tried learning the others as if they were some history lessons.

 

Well, when i got the actual question paper inside the examination hall, I was surprised to see the same questions. At the same time, I was happy for my friends as i knew they would otherwise will never be able to get through this subject.

 

When I met these guys after the paper, I could see the relief on their faces. They were infact having a discussion with Rasna and Niyati on one question (a rare sight – i promise something like has happened only once this century – prash and Kishore discussing maths with the girls). When they saw me, they hugged and thanked me. And honestly, I was happy for them.

 

Now you will ask me why am I telling you this story. The idea is not to start a debate on how the question paper was leaked. It is also not to discuss how to stop such practices.

 

I told you this story because I’m still surprised at what happened. And its nothing to do with the question paper leak or cheating in an examination. After so many years, I’m still amazed at my friends. I still can’t figure out how they manged this (and I’m again not talking about the question paper leakage). I’m talking about their marks. when the results were announced, I was sure both of them would do well in Maths (though their initial aim was to get the minimum 30 marks required to pass the paper). I knew they would do well after getting the whole paper 12 hours before the exam and then after solving the paper the whole night.

 

But my dear friends Prashant and Kishore never fail to surprise me. They did – when the results were announced. Even after getting the whole question paper a night before the exam, Prashant managed 31 marks and kishore did slightly better by getting 32 marks out of 100.

 

I can only imagine what would have happened if they had appeared without getting the question paper a night before. I have very strong feeling they would have managed to get atleast 1 mark. But with these two, you never know. something inside me tells me that they would have got “0”.

 

But I dont think it would have mattered. Because they knew that if everyone in the group pay Re1 extra, they would not have to pay for their tea at Madhuban. They knew “their” Maths.

 

Pratyush

 

Wadia Days – introduction

 I’m not a movie buff. But at times you come across images which stay forever in your memory. One such image is from the movie Dil chhahta hai (one of the very few Hindi movies worth watching). This is one of the last scenes of the movie when Amir khan in driving his Merc and when he stops at a signal, he looks at a college campus and thinks about Sameer, Sid and Akash together in the college.

 

Now, why am I talking about a movie (the last thing that I’m expected to do) is because yesterday I went to a place in bandra with one of my best friends. Its a very nice place full of positive energy. The first thing you will notice (even before the menu) is the young and beautiful crowd. Its full of these young boys and girls all dressed up and flashing their million dollar smiles for each other (now don’t ask me what was I doing there – I’m not too old either).

 

Though my friend assured me (as usual) that even we are (still) young, I must admit that I was feeling out of place. And at the same time, I was nice to see them all – happy and full of energy. It reminded me of my wadia’s days. Good old graduation days!!!

 

I still remember the first time when we (the whole group – we were around 20 people then) walked to Madhuban after classes. and this went on for next 3 years. Though the number of people reduced to few (and I’m glad it did). And trust me, we used to do absolutely “nothing” at madhuban. Just sit there for hours and talk and gossip and pull each others’ leg and look at women (most of the time the girls in our group helped us in identifying “hot” women).

 

Though we had a huge group, let me introduce the core members of the group to you guys. I’ll start with the ladies (in no particular order) –

 

Gayatri – one of the first women I noticed in college. Beautiful young girl from kashmir (at times I wonder if I would have dated her if I didn’t already had someone (we will talk about this special someone some other time).

 

Atiya – The sweet little girl from Qatar – you could always count on her. From marking our proxies to making our projects to substituting as an alarm clock to wake up in the morning so that we could attend the practicals – she did almost everything for her friends

 

Rasna – I have never seen or met a Sindhi like her ( and trust me I’m an expert with Sindhis – men and women). She paid for our coffees at time (specially when Kishore & prashant refused to acknowledge the fact that they had coffee or tea and hence they wouldn’t pay for it). One of the matured ones of the lot (though I never understood how she managed to hit somebody or fall right in the middle of some busy road).

 

Niyati – In very few words, she was a “rockstar”. And I’ve always been an admirer.

 

Shilpa – Shilpa bindi (as prashant would have said) was this hard working girl who used to come all the way from Lonavla. She even tried fixing me up with a couple of ladies (but I was a very loyal man)

 

Sehnaz – She gets a special mention for entertaining us even now. The “KS” babe of our group. Something happened to her when she went to japan (thats all you get to know)

 

Kevin – This “Hero from Mauritius” taught all of us “Faalumama boostoliki da pilo da cukuut”. Though he’s disappeared, but a little bird told me he is married and has a little baby called Rosy.

 

Manoj – The handsome dude is a proud father now (and I hope he stops now – he already has 2 children). He always liked gayatri and this other girl (I don’t remember her name – some model).

 

Prashant   – God bless India

 

Kishore – God bless Dubai & now Spain

 

They need no introduction. But I still remember how I met Prashant. “Kaushik” came to me and said his friend is interested in my friend gayatri (what an irony – kaushik fixing somebody with gayatri). And then I saw this guy, wearing a brown waist coat in July, over a red shirt (and I thought Biharis had no dressing sense).

 

Kishore was this huge (trust me – huge) guy withfully gelled hair and a french cut beard. He was selling Pardeshi’s book to me (another irony – kishore selling books).

 

Prashant fell in love with every other girl in the town and Kishore thought every other girl in the town was hitting on him (I’ll never forget the famous line – Babu..dekh naa..dekh rahi hai).

 

I have a lot to share with you guys. Funny little stories, but some other time. Got to go now. But these are the guys who made my college worth living. I’ll never forget sitting at madhuban till late evening without any work. I’ll never forget parking our bikes and then run to attend the classes only to be thrown out for being late. I’ll never forget those trips on our bikes to all possible places in and around Pune.

 

Someday, I’ll tell you more stories. But as of now, I just want to say that miss these guys. I love them all and thank god for giving me friends like them.