Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Viva fever


Time allotted was 9 am.
I left my home at 9:30. I called my friend to ask if theviva had started because that would decide if I had to take a bus or a cab.

Yes, my friend said, “The viva has started. The first tworoll numbers are already in. where are you?”
“I will be there in two minutes”, I said and quickly hung upthe phone.
It was quite surprising because externals don’t usually showup unless its 10am and viva doesn’t start before 10:30.

My roll number was 21. I still had a lot of time till mynumber would come, but when you are in your final semester you know how unpredictablethe viva’s are. So instead of doing some calculations I decided to catch a cab.

The biggest advantage I have is that, I stay near to thecollege.
So I took a cab. There was no traffic on the way and I reachedcollege in 15 minutes.

I feared I was late, probably I was next to go in. I stillhad to study a couple of questions.
I climbed 8 floors as quickly as possible only to find thatroll no 1 and 2 were still in the lab giving their vivas.
I had just spent 5 times more money coming by cab.
I could have come by bus or could have easily left at 10 andstill reach on time.

Roll number 1 and 2 finally came out after getting drilledfor around 25 minutes.
First two roll numbers turn into celebrity as soon as theycome out. They are very important. They usually set the tone.
Everyone rushed towards them. Everyone wanted to know howthey performed. What questions are being asked? How is the external? Is theexternal male or female? How the external looks? Does the external ask whathave you studied?

Meanwhile I revised some questions and also got some newdoubts. I ignored them and consoled myself that external won’t ask them.

It was 11:55 then and roll number 19 and 20 went inside thelab.
Next was my turn. It’s not funny when you are next for viva.
An immense pressure creeps in your body.
I tried reading but everything seemed alien now. So I closedmy book, took the file and waited for my turn.

At 12:03, I started talking to myself, “It’s just  8 minutes since roll numbers 19 and 20 havegone in, still time for my turn. But I could be going in the next second”.
15 minutes ago I was full confident on what I had prepared.

At 12:07, I was still waiting. I had no idea what was goinginside.
Has the external suddenly became irritated? Who knows!
It’s that time during waiting period , you may fumble whenasked what’s 2 + 2?

At 12:12, I could see my whole world before my eyes. Those whowere done with their viva’s were relaxed now.
Studying everything doesn’t always mean your viva would besuperb. Everyone must have had atleast one not so good viva during their lifeas engineering student.
There are few students who answer confidently, some fumble, someanswer wrong with confidence. I fit in all these types.

Being in 8th semester I have experiencd all typesof externals.

There are some cool externals. They are less concerned aboutwhat’s going on and more interested in gossiping with the internal.

There are some who  act cool but sarcastically insult you. They  say,” Oh! You are not saying anything, maybeyou haven’t eaten anything from morning”.

There are some who are nice to you no matter what you say. Theywould give a smile as you walk inside, make you comfortable and eventually giveyou good grades.
Some would be silent but deadly. You can’t predict if youare right or wrong. They would just smile at you.

There are some Hitler types. They shout at you even when youanswer correctly. They always tell you  that you are wrong.

And then there are some with superb 6th sense. Somehowthey would always ask a question on that little paragraph in that big chapter whichyou had ignored.
Whatever you study. How much you study! You will always liketo be asked what is 2+2 ? Unless you are wannabe nerd.

At 12:20 there was still no sign of roll number 19 and 20coming out. My legs had become numb now.
I didn’t know if my blood pressure was falling or rising.

At 12:23 the door finally opened.
The professor came out, smiled at me and said with a politetone, “We are taking lunch now. Come after 20 minutes.”




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