This Day That Age – My XII Results!!!

Today’s the day many have been eagerly waiting for – and many would’ve wished this day never came. The day of the results of CBSE class XII!!! This reminds me of my own results two years back…..

Expectations Soaring High!!!
I always thought I’d get used to carrying everyone’s expectations and hopes on my back in school – but I never did. Yet I never buckled under them. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was fate – but I always made it to the top in school (now, of course, is a totally different story!).

So there I was, school topper in X with 96.4%. And I decided to take biology instead of informatics practices in XI. That was a change from the scenario as usually the toppers end up taking the alternative. Hence my biology teacher Latha mam had pinned all her hopes on me. She was a great teacher, so I felt I had to do it – at least for her, if not for me!

The Pre-board Nightmares!!!
The pre-board exams of XII were the opposite of that in X. I was always below par in maths, chemistry and biology. I still managed to top but neither my teachers nor my parents were satisfied. English is a standard debacle so I never worried about it. But the other subjects – yuk!!!I still remember never getting more than 62 on 70 in my biology papers. “Hell! If I end up getting 62 in the boards, I couldn’t face my teacher….”

And my chemistry mam - no need to ask. She told me she’d make me drop a year just coz I got 39 on 50 in a class test (mind, it was the highest!). And the way she said it, yeeks! But I couldn’t help giggling – no way she can do that! And then her scream rouses me from my thoughts,”Are you listening boy?” Of course, she was good at heart no matter how atrocious she might seem.

But keeping your cool with all these thought clogging your mind – it wasn’t easy!

The Examination Hall!!!
The vision that comes into one’s mind is one of students surrounded by their parents, looking so nervous as though they are the ones writing the exam. Never in my case – my parents never came with me. Of course, dad had to go to office and he would leave with a “Do your best” in the morning. Mom would’ve liked coming with me, but I was used to cycling my way around and she never came in my way.

Then the exams, each paper a different story. And I’ve no intentions of blabbering on and on and on about them. But I guess except a little disastrous question in physics, I did decently well. Expectations? I never had any in English, but I was sure of at least 95+ in the others. So overall, I felt I should cross 95% somehow and said so to my parents. I kept thinking, “Ain’t I overestimating myself???”

Finally…….. It’s Time!!!
Mom kept waiting for the results. I was too pre-occupied with my entrance exams to really care much about it. Well, the day came as it had to.

Mom kept wringing her hands right from the morning. And the confidence which I had right after finishing the exams had slowly melted away over the months. “What if I go below 95???” As a practice, I never wait for the time the results are scheduled for. I’ll be online an hour early, waiting for them (What if they somehow decide to release them a little earlier?) And that one hour – a nervous mom and I, trying to pretend to be uninterested (I’ll get 95 anyways, mom!) – the world used to be at a standstill for the two of us. Only the clock kept ticking…….

Well, the time did come at last……And I didn’t fare that badly – except English that is (86!? That was sickening). But I managed a 98 in biology and a 97 in chemistry. “Phew, now I can face my teachers!” I rather believe I studied, not for myself, but for my parents and teacher and of course, my reputation! 96 in physics was disappointing, but never mind. I clocked 95.2% - All’s well that ends well….


And the 5 grands cash prize – icing on the cake!!!