Our 1st 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