The pressure of board exams

Shankar Gopalkrishnan

AS the board exams neared, there was so much to do and so little time. I felt like a batter who had taken things easy, while the required run rate had swelled to unmanageable proportions.

There was no respite from the looming crisis. When I took a walk, some acquaintance grabbed me: ‘Board exams coming up, right? No pressure?’ When I went to school, teachers spoke in a monotone: ‘As you embark on this journey of life, the board exams are like a stepping stone!’ At home, sister asked: ‘Have you started doing previous year’s question papers?’

The first thing to do was to prepare a timetable. I did it meticulously: ‘6:30 to 7 am — maths’, ‘7 to 7:30 am — physics’, ‘7:30 to 8 am — chemistry’. The afternoons were for ‘solving questions’. The evening slot was for ‘solving more questions’. Putting everything down on paper took a lot of load off my mind.

Leaving the notebook open had its perils. Sister glanced at it and said: ‘Such a packed timetable! When will you take a bath?’ I snapped back: ‘Why are you poking your nose into my affairs?’ and shut the notebook tight. But she had a point. Now, the entire timetable had to be redrawn to fit in ‘bath time’. One hour seemed indulgent, much like the leisurely routine of the ancient Romans. Maybe, 15 minutes were optimum. But with the bath time introduced, the duration of every other activity had to be tweaked.

The vessels were clanking in the kitchen. The pressure cooker was letting out a burst of steam. Mother was cooking. I was sitting on a makeshift table and writing away frantically. Sister asked: ‘What are you doing sitting here?’ I retorted: ‘They told us to practise mock tests under all conditions! Don’t disturb me!’

Going through the previous year’s question papers was a full-time occupation. Subra, last year’s topper, had sound advice: ‘You cannot solve all of them. Just get your basic concepts right!’ I latched onto that timely advice. However, other doubts racked the mind. Every concept depended on a previous concept, which, in turn, pointed to another concept. I had to start right at the beginning — the alphabet and the multiplication table.

A prayer was the last resort. I pleaded: ‘Dear God, please save me. I promise to study harder in the next board exams. If you help me this time, I will offer two bunches of bananas and one jackfruit!’

Did someone talk about the ‘golden’ days of childhood? I am coming after them — with an upraised slipper.