TIME FOR SOME REST AND PEACE

Finally…. the trauma is all over. My S5 exams are over (forget the Labs which’re not expected to get underway before June), and I am back at Chennai, busy blogging, Orkutting, Facebooking….. not to forget playing games on the system plus watching the TV. Life’s finally back to normal….

Now this was one of those series of exams where, despite knowing that the University Exams were all important and that they were definitely not going to be a cakewalk, I was not willing to push myself to the limit. I slept late daily, but there weren’t any night-outs or short naps (like the 5-minute nap the night before the MBD exam). And it wasn’t that I had been slogging day and night so that I could sleep soundly. On the contrary, there was little effort on my part indicative of a struggle for a full-pass…..

It all began with my favourite subject for the summer – SOFTWARE ENGINEERING. Frankly, I was never troubled by SE. I had a natural affinity towards the subject. I had learnt most topics well during the study hols and was on course, for a big score in SE. On the previous night, Unni (who was the bigger “puli” amongst us), Jerrypoo (who spends half his life in front of his laptop), Ajmal (the ever-carefree, cool dude with a shrewd mind), Bimzee (the co-sponsor of Copyhouse photostats, with a passion for learning) and myself ( calling me a genius would be an understatement) began our round of studies with a view of finishing all 4 modules that night. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!! The exam went great. Except for Poo, who claims he’ll fail. He’s even recorded a statement in my cell. But am sure he’ll pass…. Check out my posts for more details on that…..

Anyways, SE was considered the easiest subject of the lot. Atleast for me. Next to come, DDC. Not exactly troubling, but could pose problems. Especially since I wasn’t thorough with the topics. Sreeraj (the guy with the “Harley”, who is a puli himself, but doesn’t want to wear the “padipist” tag, so humbly remains parallel to books) helps us out everyday except on the eve of the exam… coz he goes home then. We persuade him to stay. He responds by saying ” I have to go home, coz I have to return tomorrow morning early to MH….. if I stay here, I will not be able to return as I am not going at all…”. Howz that for a chali!!!…..

DDC went ok. For everyone. OS up next. I hate that subject. Particularly, since Bimzee’s photostat copy was not all that clear… and I hadn’t learnt the topics earlier. Altogether, OS would have proved to be a disaster had I not started studying early. I didn’t study…… The D-block guyz (former Devikripites) wanted to test their newly-mastered Tekken skills against us. And being ready for a challenge anyday, with most of us being able to boast of good skills and moves, we accepted the challenge with glee. We beat them easily. Apart from Hariharan and Nagappan, nobody else cud provide a serious challenge (my Jin would have pounded them effortlessly any day). They left soon after the battle. What they left behind was a craze for playing the game. That whole day, we did not study a word. Usually we owe it to carroms. That night it was Tekken.

And as usual, we slogged the last night. Unni taught us the whole of OS…… almost. But frankly, I was never confident. I always felt that I would not be able to write the answers well enough even if the questions came from topics which I was supposed to have mastered. The exam went ok. Not as bad as I had expected. Should pass. Though, in hindsight, I could have done better.

Next up, NAOT. Another of my favourite subjects in this semester. I’ve always loved Math. And I’d learnt almost 3 modules earlier. Nothing to worry. Piece of cake. And everything went as per plan. Particularly since we started learning early. And many guyz came forward asking me to teach them. Heh!!! The paper was simple. I have so many expectations….

PP next. Supposedly simple…. I was planning to learn TC with Unni, the day NAOT got over… But as expected, all our plans went up in smoke…. We plan to study late night… and that never happens…

Ultimately, after almost 2 days of wastage, we decided to begin with PP. We worked hard. And the effort paid off. Simple paper. The last module caused a few hiccups but considering that most of the other questions were simple, and that the last module bore some resemblance to certain topics in OS, the paper went fine.

With one to go, we were all making plans already. Nidhil came up with the CSE Premier Cricket League, featuring the Day-Scholars Team against the Hostelites. Some talked of going on tours, some for movies, others for the Pooram Exhibition….. the exam seriousness had all vanished. Particularly since the next one up was arguably, the most difficult subject in our course… THEORY OF COMPUTATION!!!

I dread that name…. a mere thought of it sends shivers down my spine…. the night after PP, the 5-6 of us were supposed to sit down and tackle 2 modules…. and yet again, we failed in our plans. Unni, Sree, Ajmal, Noufy, Ammavan, myself and Maram rode to Kabab Point and had a sumptuous meal. And slept soundly that night. All coz of Unni’s assurance that he would teach us TC within a day…. I believed him….

The night before TC, we had made it a point to stay night-out. Everyone wanted to pass. And all of us believed we could. And we made Unni restrict his late-night calls. But not one among us was actually worried abt TC. We were taking it easy.. we were not worried about a TC arrear… as if it was expected and that there was no point studying. In the middle of the workout, Sivakumar remarked that the exam would probably be like our TC series exams….. almost 45 students would fail.

That statement will remain etched in my mind until the results come out…. Rarely has been a theory paper been as tough to me as TC…. but in the end I appeared happier than I was at the end of SE or PP…. Coz everyone found it difficult… Only a handful have told me that they hope to pass…. It may sound absurd, but considering the effort the guyz at the hostel have put in, it does not appear surprising…..

All in all, I am happy. I believe I’ve put in a considerably good effort. In spite of my focus having shifted to Carrom and NFS, quite frequently. Apart from Tekken. I owe a lot to all those guyz who stayed late night in an effort to study together with me. I hope sincerely that each one of us gets a good result. Sarath, Fasil, Abhilash and C.K. have all put in commendable efforts and its no surprise if they exceed expectations. Deepak and Tutu will have silently covered the portions and must have soundly slept before each exam. In the midst of all that, there are role models visiting C-4 frequently and remarking “DAIVAME, PADIKKUNNU!!”… the ” ONNUM PADIKKAN THUDANGAATHA” Ammavan and his spy the “FEVICOL” Noufy…. I am certain that they will emerge heroes when the results are out. Jerin, Kadi and Manuel are probably taking it lightly…. but having known both Manu and Faradi for so long, I’d expect a full-pass from each…. Though Jerin may have to ride his luck with the seating arrangement…. But at the end of it all, my bet is on Sreeraj. That guy is not just loitering around at MH, but slogging at home on the eve of the exam…. plus he’s got brains as well (Unni, I dont mean to offend u). In my opinion, he’ll come out as Boys’ topper…. I dont mind that… Not as long as he doesn’t behave like Figgy….. who wouldn’t have studied a word for the exam, if you are approaching him with a doubt. Personally, I cannot wait for the TC result…. A pass is a huge bonus…. And I cant wait to see Jerin’s marks in TC…. He should definitely pass TC as he got hold of one of Noufal’s answer sheet…. Who knows, he might emerge topper…. Poor Noufy’s hand-writing will go against him…..