When you ask a kid about “High school board exam” in India. He/She would tell you the
importance and the fear about "board exam". Every country has High School in the school
system. In my home state high school is two years of school education after completing middle school and then after,
you have to complete two more years of school education and that is called
Intermediate. So before you go to university or college or any higher education,
you have to pass two very important exams. First one being High School(two
years of education) and second one is Intermediate(two more years of
education). I think most of the countries might have a similar system. High
School in India is the first serious exam and important exam especially if you want to pursue higher education.
Till late 90s it was socialist government system era in India. Almost
everything is controlled and run by the government. I am not going to judge if socialist system is good or bad. But in my opinion it was not working well for India. Country
which has more than 50-60 percent population as youth. Govt run systems were not working
well for people. If pursuit of education was a big struggle so finding
employment was much bigger struggle. I remember Unemployment was a very big issue. There were so many people unemployed in the neighbourhood and in my town. To survive most people were involved with their family occupations. If
you are from farmer's family then you become a farmer. If your family was into
skill trade such as smiths and car painter etc.. you would join your family
trade. Those who had businesses such running shops or restaurants, their
children would join them with their business.
Except for a few rich business people or those who were working for the
government; everyone else seems to be struggling for basic amenities.
My father's family was into farming but my father went to
University, studied law and became a lawyer. I have done a fair share of
farming while helping my grandmother all my life till I lived in my hometown.
As a new young person, I didn't know what I want to be. But being a
farmer was not my dream job. Those days being a farmer was not seen as an
attractive profession. Maybe this was one of the reasons I don't want to be a
farmer. However later in my life I would realise that being farmer should be
the most respected profession. It is the farmer who feeds everyone. No matter
how rich or how poor you are, at the end of the day we all need food to live.
It's a shame that the farmers don't get the recognition and respect what they
deserve.
So to be a lawyer like my father I need to study and go to
university. I was not interested in becoming a lawyer as well and I don't want
to be a farmer. So I had no idea about my dream profession. However I had
the aspiration to be someone who is rich,
recognised and respected. I am sure lots of people have similar
aspirations at that age. Being rich and respected was seen an ultimate goal of
life and I feel not much changed even after a decade.
High school was coming closer, I became serious about the studies.
I must say a few weeks before the exam. I pressed full throttle to my study and
during this time all I could think about is preparation of exam. I did not have
time for anything else. I was not doing even household things. Exam started and
I was doing good in most papers but I remember I didn't do well in Biology and
Mathematics exam. Whole exams lasted for about a month. It was fun waking up
early and riding bike(cycle) to go to examination center. When exam got over
now we have to wait for a month and half the result.
After more than a month and a half, I heard the news about high
school result. Those days there wasn't the internet in my town. You hear
on the radio about the announcement of the result and the next day you see in a
special newspaper which contains the list of all the students who have passed
the test. One evening I heard from Radio news that my state board’s High School
result has been officially declared. It was said to be one of the worst results
ever and actually It was second worst result in the history of state
board. Only 18% boys could pass high school. Girls had performed much better
than boys which usually they always do. More than 54% girls passed in high
school. I was interested in the news because I am waiting for my result. For me
it's not just an ordinary exam result. My dream and my future all depends on
it. It was so important to pass the high school examination in order to
keep my university dream alive. For me this system of having a complicated
system of examination marks and merit did not make sense. Anyway, who am I to
complain about this nonsensical (for me at least) meritocratic class system for
a teenager kid.
After hearing this scary news of only 18 percent passing the high
school. I was not panicked or anything. I was calm not because I was confident
of passing the exam, I just wanted to remain calm. I knew that the result would
decide my future path. I was ready to accept it. Whatever is the outcome,
I decided to leave it on my fate. I slept that night comfortably and slept well
without any sign of anxiety or fear.
I was not any extraordinary student. I would rate myself an average student. But I had a dream to pursue higher education. To keep my dream alive, I had to successfully complete high school. Failure means losing a year and losing confidence. Failing in high school means going back to agriculture farm. I was certainly not fascinated by the idea of farming as an occupation. I am the oldest of my siblings, I also had a moral responsibility to do something good and be an ideal older brother so my younger siblings don’t choose any wrong path. That was my situation, one side hope of going to university other side I am working on a farm. I am not saying farming is not a good occupation. I was already helping my grandmother and my uncle in the farm. But I didn’t want to be in that profession.
Next morning about 7 AM, I heard someone is calling my name. Well
it was my school mate Harish. I woke up. He is standing next to my bed. I asked
him what happened. What are you doing here so early? I still remember what exactly he
said, He said that “Our result is OUT and ONLY 12 students have passed the exam".
After hearing what he said, my brain just stopped. There were more than five
hundred students in whole of high school class. 12 out of 500 means 2.4
percent. I think for a few seconds I was blacked out. I asked him about his
result, he said he failed. I have no courage to go to see the result. I was
like 12 in 500 is very small number. There so many good students and no way I
am one of the twelve. I asked him to run away from this place. He was like
where should we go. I told him that we need to leave the home now, we will
figure out where to go.
We rushed to leave the town. We both started riding out bike
(bicycle). We going in south direction of our town. I have no idea why I choose
going to south direction of my town. I don’t think I was in situation to decide
which direction to go. All I wanted to do is to go out some place, somewhere
quite. We were heading to the south, while going he told that two other kids
Dinesh and Chandra Mauli have passed the exam. they both were my classmates.
After hearing my these two classmates name I saw a ray of hope but i was like
no way 12 is very small number. I still had no courage to go and see the
result.
We were heading to the south of the town. I was still not far from
my house. I noticed from far that one of my school mates Shailendra was coming
with newspaper in his hand. Shalendra was walking with confidence and smile on
his face made me believe that he has definitely passed. I was trying to hide
myself from him I knew if he sees me he will ask my result since we both were
in the same class. Well he saw me. He called my name and asked me whether I
check my result. I told him "no I haven't". He said he got the
newspaper with the list of the successful students. He gave me that paper. I
started searching the name of my school. it wasn't very difficult to find the list
of my school. There were very few roll numbers for my school. Roll number is
student identification number for exam. My heart beat was high and I saw the
first number 10***90. Which was my roll number. I was still not sure. I
verified it again and it was my roll number. You know what I PASSED THE EXAM. I
can't believe it. I could not control myself from the excitement of happiness
and joy. I flew the newspaper up in the air. Paper was floating and I am in a
different world now. I was not thinking anything. I was just into the
moment.
After few seconds when I am back into my awareness and I realised that I am with my friend who
just failed the exam. I apologised for my over burst celebratory expression. I
was sad for him. But I tried to console him and said don't worry you will do
better next year. It was a very bad result for so many kids. One more thing my
friend was mistaken with the total count of students who passed High School.
There were a total of 24 not 12, however 24 out 500 is still very small number.
It was a very bad year for so many kids. They all tried their best. I was lucky
to be in the list of 24. I am sure they all are doing great in their
life.
After this exciting and thrilling moment of seeing my result. I
came back home. My father was sleeping. I touched his feet. Touching feet of
elders is a tradition in many parts of India. It’s a gesture of respect and they bless you with
their good wishes. I went to my aunt's place. She is like our mother. She is
very devoted spiritual lady. I touched her feet. I thanked God for being with
me. After sometime when I came outside from the house. Our neighbours were out
congratulating me. They all look so happy for me. That moment I felt like a
star. I was relieved from all the fears and my dream was still alive.
Did I manage to get into university.. You will come to know.. Coming Soon.. Watch this space..
Thank you so much for reading.
सर्वेषां मड्गलं भवतु ॥ May all be
successful.