Examinations are a great curse. They are a bane of our system education. They come like electric shocks to students. When they come, even the gayest of them forget all play and turn worshippers at the altar of books day and night.
Everybody is afraid of them. Ever Christ said, “O God ! save me from trial.” This gives one some idea of the terror they strike into the hearts of the poor examinees.
I had to take the matric examination. I had swotted for it and yet I had a lurking fear that I would not do well. A night before the examination. I felt worried to death. I could not get a wink of sleep- My heart was throbbing with fear.
At last the fatal day dawned. The bell rang and all the candidates hurried into the examination hall. I tried to compose myself but all to no purpose. My heart went on palpitating. The examinees sat calm and quiet, awaiting the question paper that was to decide their fate. At last at the fixed time, the question papers were distributed. There was a pin-drop silence in the hall.
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I read the question paper carefully once and again. Answers to most of the questions were at my finger-ends. My fears were allayed. My heart beat normally. I set to work in right earnest. I finished three questions in one hour.
Now some boys, who had shirked their studies during the year, began to whisper and look sideways. The supervisor administered them a severe warning but a few of them did not seem to need it. At last one of them was turned out of the hall.
This had a salutary effect on others. Calm was restored. I noticed two boys exchanging notes and copying from books in their possession. They seemed to be very daring indeed. But they escaped all notice.
I went on with my work. One by one, I managed to answer satisfactorily all the questions required. I had done very well. I was full of hope. My eyes gleamed. All my fears were gone. I revised my answers twice.
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When the time was over, I handed over my answer- book to the supervisor and came out of the hall. I met my friends and asked them how they had fared in the examination.
Whenever I think of the sleepless nights before the examination, I still tremble and shudder. The fear of the examination is still embedded in my heart.