OH la!!!! - I Cleared my Supplementary Exam …

I was waiting in the exam hall for the question paper it was my supplementary exam for CFI (Corporate finance). I could feel the hot July weather inside the exam hall (converted into class rooms when needed) though the AC’s were running at full blast. It was 10’ clock and the invigilator started distributing the question paper, he had a sinister smile on his face when he gave the question to me. I realised the reason for the sinister smile when I started reading the question paper, I knew none of the questions and obviously not the answers also. I thought “oh my god” I have lost another 300 rupees i.e. for the fees for the taking the supplementary exam later. I thought I will give my best at the exam and started writing something on the paper and I could realise that my phone was buzzing and I was searching for the phone inside my pockets and everybody was looking at me inside the exam hall, when I finally found the phone and tried to switch it off, I saw the faces of my friends in the exam hall vanishing and also face of the sinister invigilator. I was confused and then it struck me that it was a dream (or to put it aptly a nightmare) and phone buzzing was the alarm in the phone. I got of from the bed and it took me a minute to get my bearings back. I scrubbed my eyes and realised that I was sweating and there was no current in my hostel (thanks to the 4 hours power vacation announced by the Tamilnadu Government), I scanned my room for any life and I found a lifeless form lying in the bed next to my bed. It stuck me then that it was NG blissfully sleeping, unaware of the things happening around him with his mouth open.

Let me introduce my friend Anand NG fondly called by everybody as NG. He is one of our very good friends in college, a good person at heart and a very nice human being. He hails from Erode in TamilNadu and very good volleyball player (though beware he sleeps in the volleyball court when the match is on). Back to what happened that morning…

I stood from the bed and put my slippers and looked at NG with a smile on my face. He was not my roommate and slept in my roommate’s bed after am exhausting session of CF I supplementary exam preparation the previous night. Our preparation was simple just going through our staff slides for the nth time and two movies till late in the night and we call it night out preparation. It was 6.30 in the morning and we had more than 3.30 hours left before we had to take our exam. There were 4 of us myself, Anand, Sollu (Naveen sollu), Chottu (Gowdhaman) taking the exam with other people. I went to washbasin with the thoughts lingering on my mind how did I end up here after having 5 years of experience in 3 companies and completing my metallurgical engg. In REC (Trichy) now called as NIT. I washed my face and completed my morning chores and when I came back to my room it was 7 am. I thought I will wake my friend NG but he was still asleep with his mouth open. I checked my mails and went to the mess to have Tea and I could see some juniors already in campus, some with anxiety some at disbelief about the campus that we had. All were having an animated conversation in BIM street that the hostel road I live in, I walked with my 3/4^th pant and a round neck teashirt upto the mess looking at these people. I went to the mess had my tea and came back to the room still to find NG sleeping. I just started to wake him when I found that the floor was shaking and I heard a familiar sound calling me “Bava” I turned to look at the familiar face it was Sollu another of my friend from Vijaywada. He would torcher us by speaking in Tamil and an excellent sportsman ( as complimented by Nilaa’s father though we disagree) . His favourite statement in the ground is “SAMA WHITE(WEIGHT) MACHI”. He was dressed up in the customary blue jeans and teashirt. “NG hasn’t woken up?” he asked me with a frown in his face. I got irritated and said “Cant to see that yourself”. I went to my chair leaving the Herculean task of waking up NG to sollu. After a lot of struggle he managed to stir NG and after some more coaxing NG woke up, he had a familiar expression in his face “Where am I?” He stood from his bed and went to his room to dress up for the exam. Then a realization stuck me I had to spend the next 1 and half an hour with sollu in my room alone. While these thoughts were running in my mind a voice interrupted me “BAVA what to read for the exam? Have you finished reading? Will the exam be easy? Will we pass?” So many questions aimed at me, it took a second for me to grasp it and I got irritated since it was the nth time he was asking these questions to me. I told him “You will pass if you write something and if you keep pestering me then you will get year back.” Sollu was shocked at my rudeness and I felt sorry for him since he was a nice person. I went to get dressed and got back to see sollu using my laptop for revising and in came Chottu (Gowdhman). Chottu hails from the international city of Atyamppati near Salem we still haven’t seen that place though we have scoured thousands of google images and maps of Tamilnadu in the internet. Chottu said to sollu “Dai why did you leave me and come?” sollu replied “Sorry machi you were sleeping when I came to you room.” I left the two love birds to figure out about their small love fight. Then started the same old task of looking at the PPT’s for last minute preparation. It was 9:30 and I was shouting to sollu “Yenga da andha nadhari NG?” ( Where is anand) as to answer my question in came NG with stupid smile on his face and vibuthi (ash) on his forehead. “Nee vibuthi yellam vachialum unaku suppli thaan da naadri” I told him. NG replied “Don’t worry I have kept a safety stock of 300 rupees for the suppli fees”.

It was 9:45, I took my enticer bike and went to college with NG hugging my back. We entered the college and found my people with beads of sweat on their face waiting outside the exam hall. When we enquired we found that the revaluation results were out and everybody was anxiously waiting for it. Out came the examination controller from his cozy AC room. He faced up and took out a sheet of paper from his pocket, it looked like a tissue paper and he held it close to his face. We thought he was going to sneeze and we stepped back in reflex. To our surprise he started reading names from the tissue paper and then only we realized that it was not a tissue paper but “THE” paper which had a names of those who passed and those who failed. I thought “Hmmm we pay 5 lakhs as fees and our fate is being decided by a bit of crumpled paper”, the crumpled paper broke my heart. The first name which came out of the persons mouth was “Yarru pa Anand NG” NG stepped up to face him and the examination controller (EC) said “Nee clear” I could sense joy erupting out of my NG face. I was waiting anxiously for the next name and out came the name “Arunkumar S” I took a minute for me to realise that my name is being called and I could see NG, sollu, chottu thrusting their hands towards me to congratulate me. OMG – I Cleared CF I !!!!!!!!!!!!!! the feeling was I had won a million dollar lottery (Eventually we then got to know that revaluation was really a lottery system. Though sollu chottu didn’t clear it they wrote the exam and cleared it in that attempt, as for me since I had 5 D’s I had to take up that exam and eventually I cleared it in that attempt).