Exam Blowers

With all the other sections of media busy storming themselves towards the do-wellers, we decided to take a dig and visit some of those not-so-lucky exam bloopers. These students pride themselves albeit in silence for marking the other end of the spectrum in a nation that goes into frenzy during the months of may and june.

Okkaliyappan is a small-city small-time student who visits his school in Idukkankottai near Nelvalaiyanpatti near Virudhunagar near Madurai in Tamilnadu. We visited him in the usual meadows where his cows graze. Says a proudly beaming Okkali - "I was surprised rather than shocked when I got my results. I had scored 10 marks in History, though I didn't attend any exam. It could be because they gave me free marks for vote.". Okkali's father Makkaliyappan had never attended school because his father Sakkaliyappan never had, and this is a lasting moment to cherish for the entire village. Makkali says "I am going to shave my head, fall at the feet of the Chief Minister and ask for a government job for my son. He knows how to graze cows very well. All the cows listen to him and never talk back.". Okkali is hoping he will get that job, and most probably he would.

Aspiring doctor Bhargavi Jadhav, whose delighted father is also a doctor in Bihar scored 20% overall. "I had run away with my boyfriend and was in Samastipur when my father called me to say I had scored 20%. I couldn't believe what I heard and even asked my dad to stop forcing me to come back. But he sounded serious and I knew that moment I had topped the state. I was ecstatic and hugged my boyfriend who in turn hugged me back with great caution after a lot of looking around. We came back home and I couldn't find him ever since. But I am delighted for my results. Probably I even topped India.". Bhargavi's mother is a happy lady, and in celebration of her daughter's acheivement, she has forcibly collected Rs.10000 from all the household in her region to make a garland for her daughter. She says her daughter will grow up to be Bihar's Chief Minister one day. But all Bhargavi's father wants is to make her a doctor too. "I never went to school, but became a doctor by God's grace. Now I see my daughter following me and I can't hide my emotions", says a teary-eyed Rakesh Jadhav. Bhargavi doesn't plan to leave Bihar and said she will never leave her land even if she runs away again.

It was a gala festive atmosphere in Kolobolopur of Murshidabad disctrict in West Bengal where Debanjana Sengupta is elated to have scored 40 marks in all subjects. Cameramen who managed to find the route to Kolobolopur and those of them who managed it alive were happily clicking photos of the beaming Debanjana who was wearing a two-piece and singing sheela ki jawani. Happy family members were feeding each other with laddoos, Gulab Jamun, Rasgulla, Golgappi, Ledikeni, Rabri, Malpua, Jal-bhora, Kheersagar, Raskadamba, Bonde, Rajbhog, Pantua, Mihidana, Kadapak and other such Bengali sweets which were in abundance. Debashish Sengupta says "My daughter shcored 40 morksh in all shobjectsh. I mean, put together. My shon had schored 27 in hish year. We are plonning too shenndd Debi to Kolkota to take yoga clooshess from Biposho and bekome the next sheela.". Debanjana is on cloud nine and says innooshently with a pout "All my relatives were in disbelief. None of them thought I would be able to manage 40! I did put in all the efforts, but didn't know I would score this much at this level. This is another occasion to eat all those sweets, please help youself." Her favorite star is Shahrukh Khan and she spends her day dreaming about him. "Stay focused, party hard, eat a lot of fish and worship Saurav Ganguly" is her advice to her fellow students.

Last stop was at Aamchi Mumbai where Silind Maman is still trying to board the 9 o'clock Fast train to Dombivili. He stays in Andheri and had been trying to go to school since the day he joined, but was never able to get into the rush-hour trains. He was fortunate the exam was held in Andheri, so he could write it. He barely passed all the subjects because of the thousands of coaching centres, but his girl friend has not been able to do so well. Nevertheless, they roam around in the high-rise shopping malls, where we caught up with Silind: "I think it was my uncle who owns the real estate and mafia business who passed the exam, not me. These pani puris and vada pav's have some amount of brain power in them. I almost missed the exam because I had to take my girlfriend for an abortion. Luckily, my dad said he would drop her while on his way to office, so I went to the exam instead. I asked my dad if he would help me this way daily to attend my exams and his answer was a firm yes! Without his support, I would not have been able to achieve this, I owe so much to him". Silind hopes to join IIT on the lines of the three idiots, and wants to become a computer engineer. "After all, dude, I have all the traits, don't I?" asks a smiling Silind who missed the train again.

These are only some of the under-rated acheivers who prove time and again that marks are not the only commodities that count in India, that is, if you have other necessary commodities.