One look at my school exam schedule in September and I knew the time had come for desperate measures. I had to arm myself against the evils of sleep and general all-encompassing laziness and inertia of mind. Yes, I did not include Facebook in this list because furtively checking my news feed at 2 in the morning is second nature, and a twitchy habit, like sniffing, which you just can't get rid of.
The days swung by with increasing velocity, and before I knew it, I was gazing, bleary-eyed, at the Physics question paper and trying to suppress the panic which rose in intensity as I turned the pages. During the course of the three-hour exam, my heart rate alternatively accelerated and decelerated, and the pen seemed to be so heavy in my hands. It's just something Physics does to you. You either nail it or fail it, or, in my case, you just scrape by with enough marks to not attract the disapproving glare of the teacher. Its funny how many times during a Physics exam the thought, 'Fuck logic' flits through the mind.
Then we were, most kindly, given a day, ONE day, to revise our entire Chemistry syllabus, which comprised 10 gigantic chapters ranging from Physical Chemistry to its Organic counterpart, and once more I found myself desperately cramming the subject at one in the morning, due to appear for the subject in eight hours. I did what I should have done long ago. I downed a giant mug of scalding hot coffee (black, no sugar), turned on the A.C. and sat down to cram some more. You might wonder about the little A.C. detail, but actually I have a peculiar reaction to air-conditioned places; I cannot sleep in them. The coffee, coupled with the A.C., would keep me awake for hours on end.
I dozed off at around a quarter to 4, and awoke feeling only slightly woozy at 6. Realizing the need to shake off the residual wooziness, I inhaled a half-cup of caffeine this time. Then, with bloodshot eyes, twitchy fingers, an irregular pulse and a wild look in my eyes, I set off to meet my fate. Well at least all this drama was worth it; the second test went off slightly better than the first.
And now with tired, tired eyes, I type in these words, glad that I have one day to revise the English syllabus.
The books must be around somewhere.
I think just the one cup will do the trick this time, don't you?
Stupid earthling! They think exam is life. I've never given a rat's ass about it (I've never got a decent grade too) but I have never really been dissatisfied with what I was studying. I have only studied thrice to fair well in an exam - before class X boards, before the KVPY interview and before the class XII boards. Otherwise, I just study for the fun of it (and sleep for 12 hours a day!).
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