Who said its OK?

The months of January and February were perhaps the toughest time of my life till now- mentally draining, emotionally debilitating, physically strenuous. I will make a frank, honest confession- I badly wanted it all to end.

In the escapade that unfolded, I found out that things are not all as they seem to be.

Five things about Boards et al that I failed to understand.

Five myths about B-O-A-R-D-S busted...

MYTH 1) Boards are just like any other exam.

Come on, we all know they aren’t .the terminals never judges us for life! They were never the parameter to decide what path our careers and our life at large would take, they never evaluated us in totality, and they never made us shriek with paralyzing fear that a single mistake was capable of changing the entire, mind it , entire course of action that our lives are to follow.

MYTH 2) Score well in Boards once and for all, and your struggle will be soon over.

This, you are told in a didactic demeanor by the very person who would, a year from now, be saying the same about college/ graduation. They themselves know that life is a struggle and can never be over but still, obstinately keep on pestering you with highly unwanted advices, and unbelievable, limitless, inexplicable expectations.

In the long run, it would hardly be a matter of prestige if one could score an immaculate 100 in maths or an astonishing 98 in English, what’s really going to matter is the knowledge we accumulated that remains with us for ever.

MYTH 3) Its all hard work.

I am not implying that hard work is useless. No. never. But it can alone never guarantee success. So, when people chide you to study hard and harder from day 1,  surreptitiously, deep within, even they know the role that luck plays here. The mood of the examiner, the length of the paper, the on-the-spot time management etc etc.

MYTH 4) NCERT is enough.

If I be given the liberty and authority, I‘d have given the award of the “FATAL ADVICE OF THE CENTURY” to this one. Teachers, tutors, pass-outs and classmates may consistently and intently explain you how NCERT is “more than sufficient”, but mark my words, they are never enough. Not for economics, not for Maths, not for Physics. Not for practice. Not for Tests. Not for pre-boards. Never for boards. NCERT is essential, indispensable, extremely so, but never ENOUGH. Neither is reference book. Nor are notes. For the Big Day, nothing seems to suffice.

MYTH 5) The sample papers give an insight into the real question paper.

Bah! Humbug! Forget about getting some ditto questions, you might end up answering twisted questions on topics that you considered trivial. Perhaps, the topic is taking revenge on you for having deemed it unimportant.!!!!