Board Exam Result

10.0, 9.8, 9.6……….   I am less than 24 hours away from receiving my Class X Board Examination results. The countdown has begun.

If I was of the spiritual kind, I would tell you that God will take care of everything; if I were one of the ‘cool’ types, I would tell you that my result makes no difference to me; if I had a calculating bend of mind, I would accurately be able to tell you where I have lost marks and predict my result even before it’s posted. But being just another 15-year-old, all I can tell you is that, the same time tomorrow, I will be a happier person irrespective of my result.

It is probably true that the result of this examination will not have a significant bearing on any student’s life. There are several more exams to be written and numerous hurdles to be crossed. However, the GPA I receive tomorrow shall serve to be my identity and be branded on my forehead, at least till the time I go to University.

While preparing for the exams, I had told my mother that these results would not affect my life in any way, and had jokingly added that the Board had even stopped failing students from this year. The Dairy Milk punch line “Pappu pass ho gaya” immediately coming to mind. My mother was obviously shocked at the off-hand manner in which I was speaking, as any concerned parent would have been. She then told me that during her school days, such questions never took form in her mind. The fact that an exam was being conducted and she was writing it meant that she must perform well irrespective of what the consequences were.

Parents often associate a great deal of meaning to the Board exam result.

It is considered a culmination to one’s high school years and performing well is like finishing on a high. Obviously, all’s well that end’s well. In fact some may even say that doing well in the Board Exams shall absolve you of your poor academic results in the past. All the poor results shall occupy a small, dark, insignificant corner of your closet; a certificate of excellence in Class X will be framed and given a position of importance.

If one’s result is not as good as expected, parents may say that this should serve as a lesson to perform better in the future and make the necessary changes required.

So it would be wrong to say that these exams are unimportant, one way or the other they will have certain repercussions on a student’s life, however insignificant they might be.

The feeling of euphoria on finishing the last exam is something I wish I could have bottled up and used at a time like this. The past month has been spent in meeting friends and mindlessly enjoying a shallow reprieve till we are forcefully brought back to reality.

I would be lying if I told you I’m not nervous. I would also be lying if I told you I’m curled up in my bed, scared and terrified of tomorrow. I shall take whatever I get tomorrow with a smile, grateful for an end to the uncertainty, thankful for the conclusion of an ordeal.

But one thing is certain, Pappu toh pass hi ho jayega!