198.75,192.25,187.75 And Other Meaningless Numbers!

Today is a big day for 3 lakh-odd students all over Tamilnadu.A day when their parents' prayers and their early morning tuitions get a answer.For the next few weeks,numbers like 198.25 or 197.75 will assume stratospheric importance as Bradman's batting average.The results of the higher secondary examinations will be out in a few hours.I can easily visualise sweets being exchanged and suicides being committed.Students getting their 15 minutes of fame.TV cameras zooming in.Reporters posting some bland questions.Some typical boring answers from the toppers.

"Whom do you attribute this success to?"

"My parents' support was always there.They kept encouraging me.School teachers always were ready to clear my doubts.God's blessings also played a vital part"(Yawn!this question is purposeless.Don't we know all this already?)

"How did you prepare yourself for the exam?"

"I studied for atleast 8 hours a day.I got up at 4 AM.I put a separate timetable for my study sessions and worked it out completely".All this is unnecessary.He/She(It's mostly a She.Girls somehow find these colourless textbooks interesting in the name of dedication)  could easily have said "I became a machine".

"What is your ambition?"Now this question has become an "Either/Or" one.Doctor or Engineer?Kalam's dreams of 2020 get shattered with this answer.No topper wants to be radical.

The topper says "Doctor.Cardiologist.I want to serve people".Reporters congratulate him/her:"Wow"!Shame on the society that toppers are made to play safe!

I am throwing stones from a glasshouse alright.I too was one of my school's toppers and I too opted engineering.Sometimes,making your mother smile sounds bigger than chasing your dreams.How many dreams are shattered just to make mothers smile!

For those who fail in subjects or get low cut-offs,there is nothing to worry.Our education system is in a funny state of decay.Exams have ceased to be analytical(In Mathematics,they do not even change the order of options in MCQs!).Simple mantra to succeed is:Memorise 300 pages of equations,diagrams,theory and reproduce them in a neat format(in shades of black,violet and even pink!).So,nothing drastic has happened if you fail in it.These silly exams are no yardsticks for one's ability.

State toppers need not be on cloud nine.Failed outcasts need not bury themselves underground.The real tests begin very late in life.