I couldn't care less!!!
Disclaimer : All characters are fictitious. Any resemblences to real life characters are supposedly and intentionally coincidental [:d]
Hi all,
This blog of mine has been through various emotions (???). Begun in February 2005, when its owner was teeming with energy and enthusiasm to post atleast three crappy articles a week, it has undergone a series of transformations, and changes, primarily because of its owner :) .Now it has reached a stage wherein it yearns to be updated atleast once a month. But its rock-solid determination has never ceased even during times when its very existence came under the axe, (now thats funny isnt it???). Having said that, it is now out here to don a new attire, which is going to be flooded with thematic articles :) henceforth.
The theme for today has a lot to do with nostalgia for some and poignancy for others. It has been something that had made people fret initially, then became less and less important, and one fine day, became an utter mockerey. I feel proud that I have 'dragged' myself across all its manifestations and today, it means nothing more than a page-filling competition. For all those astute SVCE-ians out there, who might have guessed what it is by this time, you are absolutely correct!! Yes; it is our very own 'Continuous Assesment Test', abbreviated as CAT, and rephrased by most as 'Cakhitharuppu Aaramikkara Test'. And for the not-so-intelligent people who were unable to make out as to what it was, refer to the previous sentence (!!!), and you are accentuatuing the fact that you are an SVCE-ian!!!
When I start penning down about how my mindset was when I took up the first CAT, my mind is inundated with funny thoughts. If my memory serves me right, I had my Chemistry I paper first, and on the last working day before CAT, we, the prosaic first years, were taking down some tips (!!!!!!) given by our professors as to how to approach the paper! If you had been a snort all your life, I can vouch safe that you would have been stumped by that one; believe me, one can't help laughing at that. We were all really tense, as we were told that we had to perform very well in the first test. There was no dearth for rumours, with each one concocting stories of his own. There was this guy who said that people who get 35+ in all three tests would recieve scholarships, and one said a person getting less than 20 would not be allowed to sit for the university exams. The profs themselves had a part to play in spreading these rumours, when they said that these marks would reflect in the internals (:- ) .
So with all this running in my mind, the innocent boy that I was (note the past-tense!!) , I sat down to prepare for the exams. I had two-and a half days, a Friday evening, and the weekend to 'prepare', so i took out my books, marked the answers and started studying. An hour had passed when Shyam called up and asked if I was ready to accompany him to 'Bhagya International' for dinner. Without any hesistation, I agreed, and that evening was wasted away. Having spent the evening in that fashion, I decided to slog it out on Saturday, that is, if I was in sorts. Unfortunatley, it wasnt to be, as I was feeling under the weather right from the morning, thanks to 'Friday night out'!!! So Saturday too was eaten away, without a word read. Come Sunday, and I was really frightened. I had three subjects to read, as we were to have three papers on one day, and I had'nt read anything. I began to pine now. Desperate, I called up a 'padips' friend of mine by name Vignesh, and all he had to say was that he was into his second revision. That was like rubbing salt on my wounds, and it made me ever more tense. I then thought I should not have called him, because given the kind of person that he was, it was only surprising that he was not into his third revision as yet.
I was almost in tears, and was looking for avenues to atleast scrape through. It seemed as if that was not destined to happen. It came in the form of another phone call from Shyam, and his condition seemed ditto to mine. Powered by this, I again took it a little easy, for sometime. It was Sunday evening and there I was, not having done even 1 subject, watching a Sunday evening movie on Sun TV. Time just flew as it was one of my favourite Ghabbtain movies. That night, I finally decided to spend some time on studying, and managed to take in some 2 or 3 question, before I dozzed off with the book in my hand. I woke up at 6:45 the next morning, and could do nothing more than getting ready for college. In the bus, I sat next to Vignesh hoping that he could fill me in on some questions at least. He did precisely that, and I went to the exam hall with the half baked equations rusty in my mind. The bell rang, and I looked at the question paper, my eyes filled with fear. As ill luck would have it, the question that I had thought I could skip appeared as the compulsory question. I managed to write some crappy equations for the next question and scribbled something for the other questions. The final bell rang and I came out of the hall, praying that my answer sheet should get misplaced in the process, or that someone should burn them like 'kaadal kondaen'. If this exam was bad, the ones that followed were worse and worst respectively.
My prayers never came true. My sheets were valuated and there was my chemistry prof, giving away the answer sheets the very next day ( I have to mention here that he was very prompt in doing this!!!). When my name was called, I bottled up a sheepish smile on my face, and collected my sheet, hoping that I would get something around 10. God had showered his blessings on me that day for I had got 17. There was a conflict of emotions in me- on one hand I had over-performed :)...for I had got more than expected, but on the other hand I had failed to get 20, and according to one person, would be running the risk of being barred from sitting for the university exam. But there was always a re-val process where 'eligible' students can approach the prof for more marks. People who get 17-19 fall under this cader :). My marks in the other two subjects were around 10 so I was ineligible for reval. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Shyam was there with me all the way, for he too had got almost the same marks that I did!!!
So the first CAT in my life had purred on me, and had left indelible marks in me. But in retrospect, I can't help but laugh at my own stupidity and foolishness at how I felt for having put up a dismal show in these tests. As time passed, Vignesh himself started taking CAT lightly and I vowed not to spend more than an hour studying for it, something that I am adhering to till date. This is what happens to people as they move from the first to the fourth year; CAT amuses them for not more than a year. But hey, if you are a studious chap, better not take anything from this....this article is strictly for those people who are of my wavelength. So that is the story of the much acclaimed CAT, which did make me pine during my first year, but now tantamounts to one hour of fun.
So guys, hope you all agree with my on my 'observations' regarding CAT. Ok...will come up with another thematic episode next time around. Till then, keep waiting for updates.......and keep on waiting......
Signing off,
Rahul.S
Hi all,
This blog of mine has been through various emotions (???). Begun in February 2005, when its owner was teeming with energy and enthusiasm to post atleast three crappy articles a week, it has undergone a series of transformations, and changes, primarily because of its owner :) .Now it has reached a stage wherein it yearns to be updated atleast once a month. But its rock-solid determination has never ceased even during times when its very existence came under the axe, (now thats funny isnt it???). Having said that, it is now out here to don a new attire, which is going to be flooded with thematic articles :) henceforth.
The theme for today has a lot to do with nostalgia for some and poignancy for others. It has been something that had made people fret initially, then became less and less important, and one fine day, became an utter mockerey. I feel proud that I have 'dragged' myself across all its manifestations and today, it means nothing more than a page-filling competition. For all those astute SVCE-ians out there, who might have guessed what it is by this time, you are absolutely correct!! Yes; it is our very own 'Continuous Assesment Test', abbreviated as CAT, and rephrased by most as 'Cakhitharuppu Aaramikkara Test'. And for the not-so-intelligent people who were unable to make out as to what it was, refer to the previous sentence (!!!), and you are accentuatuing the fact that you are an SVCE-ian!!!
When I start penning down about how my mindset was when I took up the first CAT, my mind is inundated with funny thoughts. If my memory serves me right, I had my Chemistry I paper first, and on the last working day before CAT, we, the prosaic first years, were taking down some tips (!!!!!!) given by our professors as to how to approach the paper! If you had been a snort all your life, I can vouch safe that you would have been stumped by that one; believe me, one can't help laughing at that. We were all really tense, as we were told that we had to perform very well in the first test. There was no dearth for rumours, with each one concocting stories of his own. There was this guy who said that people who get 35+ in all three tests would recieve scholarships, and one said a person getting less than 20 would not be allowed to sit for the university exams. The profs themselves had a part to play in spreading these rumours, when they said that these marks would reflect in the internals (:- ) .
So with all this running in my mind, the innocent boy that I was (note the past-tense!!) , I sat down to prepare for the exams. I had two-and a half days, a Friday evening, and the weekend to 'prepare', so i took out my books, marked the answers and started studying. An hour had passed when Shyam called up and asked if I was ready to accompany him to 'Bhagya International' for dinner. Without any hesistation, I agreed, and that evening was wasted away. Having spent the evening in that fashion, I decided to slog it out on Saturday, that is, if I was in sorts. Unfortunatley, it wasnt to be, as I was feeling under the weather right from the morning, thanks to 'Friday night out'!!! So Saturday too was eaten away, without a word read. Come Sunday, and I was really frightened. I had three subjects to read, as we were to have three papers on one day, and I had'nt read anything. I began to pine now. Desperate, I called up a 'padips' friend of mine by name Vignesh, and all he had to say was that he was into his second revision. That was like rubbing salt on my wounds, and it made me ever more tense. I then thought I should not have called him, because given the kind of person that he was, it was only surprising that he was not into his third revision as yet.
I was almost in tears, and was looking for avenues to atleast scrape through. It seemed as if that was not destined to happen. It came in the form of another phone call from Shyam, and his condition seemed ditto to mine. Powered by this, I again took it a little easy, for sometime. It was Sunday evening and there I was, not having done even 1 subject, watching a Sunday evening movie on Sun TV. Time just flew as it was one of my favourite Ghabbtain movies. That night, I finally decided to spend some time on studying, and managed to take in some 2 or 3 question, before I dozzed off with the book in my hand. I woke up at 6:45 the next morning, and could do nothing more than getting ready for college. In the bus, I sat next to Vignesh hoping that he could fill me in on some questions at least. He did precisely that, and I went to the exam hall with the half baked equations rusty in my mind. The bell rang, and I looked at the question paper, my eyes filled with fear. As ill luck would have it, the question that I had thought I could skip appeared as the compulsory question. I managed to write some crappy equations for the next question and scribbled something for the other questions. The final bell rang and I came out of the hall, praying that my answer sheet should get misplaced in the process, or that someone should burn them like 'kaadal kondaen'. If this exam was bad, the ones that followed were worse and worst respectively.
My prayers never came true. My sheets were valuated and there was my chemistry prof, giving away the answer sheets the very next day ( I have to mention here that he was very prompt in doing this!!!). When my name was called, I bottled up a sheepish smile on my face, and collected my sheet, hoping that I would get something around 10. God had showered his blessings on me that day for I had got 17. There was a conflict of emotions in me- on one hand I had over-performed :)...for I had got more than expected, but on the other hand I had failed to get 20, and according to one person, would be running the risk of being barred from sitting for the university exam. But there was always a re-val process where 'eligible' students can approach the prof for more marks. People who get 17-19 fall under this cader :). My marks in the other two subjects were around 10 so I was ineligible for reval. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Shyam was there with me all the way, for he too had got almost the same marks that I did!!!
So the first CAT in my life had purred on me, and had left indelible marks in me. But in retrospect, I can't help but laugh at my own stupidity and foolishness at how I felt for having put up a dismal show in these tests. As time passed, Vignesh himself started taking CAT lightly and I vowed not to spend more than an hour studying for it, something that I am adhering to till date. This is what happens to people as they move from the first to the fourth year; CAT amuses them for not more than a year. But hey, if you are a studious chap, better not take anything from this....this article is strictly for those people who are of my wavelength. So that is the story of the much acclaimed CAT, which did make me pine during my first year, but now tantamounts to one hour of fun.
So guys, hope you all agree with my on my 'observations' regarding CAT. Ok...will come up with another thematic episode next time around. Till then, keep waiting for updates.......and keep on waiting......
Signing off,
Rahul.S
posted by Rahul Raghavan at
10:32 AM
|
1 Comments
