I will never forget today

"Exceptionally calm" the professor remarked as I handed him my answer script. Imagine a normal classroom setting in a normal evening of a mid semester exam and I'm just done attempting the paper and I decide it is enough and so I submit it. Everything looks normal, and I was indeed having a normal day except it stopped being normal the moment I answered that call from the friend who called to tell me there was a mid semester exam happening today and the exam, apparently, had actually already begun. Of course I knew none of this was happening. 

"Where are you?", he asked me. "Home", I answered while wondering why in the world was this person calling me and asking me where I was. "You know there is an exam happening today right? In fact it has already begun", he told me. The rest of the conversation is me reacting in all possible interpretations of "I can't believe this happened!" I had been 'working' on the internet and delaying this particular Google search I meant to do for a term paper because I was so busy Facebook'ing and tweeting. Now something like that is normal for me. But the content of that phone conversation is not even close. There was hardly any choice I had about what I was going to do next. I mean there was 1 credit at stake here. Actually I did have two clear choices : to go or to bunk the exam. Bunking the exam required me to do nothing at all. It was an easy thing to do. But then I had visions of myself doing some 'running around' later so I could give the exam another time and get that credit. And that would require me to get a fake medical certificate too. Definitely not something I would like to get myself into. Now I'm not implying I'm so moral or anything like that. It would have been just too inconvenient. That's all. So I decided to rush out and study whatever I could manage on the way and just kill it, you know.

Thanks to all the reading and the nice notes I surprisingly made in the past that I could flip through on my way, the exam didn't go that bad after all. Actually I somewhat feel I made quite an impression of some kind with the professor. I think what I'm trying to say is I'm just glad he didn't take my case for being totally unaware of an exam and therefore arriving late for it. All the reaction I got from him was the remark of how exceptionally calm I was with a smirk on his face as if I reminded him of his student days or something. That's the kind of impression I'm talking about. I'm totally not saying I impressed him by turning up late. I mean that would be mental.

Anyway, all this makes me realize that life is so much more than exams you have to write. Life is about living, not getting nervous breakdowns because you have so much to study and have a daunting exam to face. And life is definitely not about the grades I get because grades don't define my life and grades don't define me. Life is so much beyond all of this. And it is good. And that's why I can be exceptionally calm even when things out of the ordinary happen like it did today. I can admit my fault and I can move on. Nothing much to it than that. I suppose the professor would agree with me. All said and done I will never forget today because today has been the day when I've been reminded that I don't have to take it so seriously. And perhaps I haven't got it so wrong. And a little carelessness can actually be quite liberating sometimes, if you know what I mean.

(Picture Courtesy: Google Images)

Comments

  1. Was fun reading this....specially inconvenience of the medical certificate. and I'm sure the prof must be impressed...anyway its how you thought from a wider perspective...they say women have 40000 connecting nerves between the left an right side of the brain compared to 4000 for men,and that's why women can think from various angles....so ain't that great my Friend. There is always a great sense of humor in you, and as I see it,in all situations.....SAIL ON....there will be many shores!!

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  2. Happy to know you enjoyed reading it :). And the whole thing about women having 40000 connecting nerves in the brain while men have only 4000 is such an awesome fact I feel :D! And thanks, can't wait to sail on :).

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