Bhaskar's Exam Fever

It was eight minutes past eight when Bhaskar entered the exam hall. His father loitered around the school for about five minutes before rushing to his work. Once inside, Bhaskar started solving his paper right way. He attempted all the questions serially. The invigilator was wearing a coat and tie which was odd. While taking extra sheets Bhaskar noticed that the invigilator was scrolling through Excel sheets on his Smartphone. The room felt odd too for there was a giant whiteboard below the wall clock and instead of a class number the board had various pie charts, phone numbers and tables

"Hurry up, the big hand is on 3", Shalini shouted from the kitchen. "What! It's 7.15 already," a startled Bhaskar spoke softly as he bid adieu to his sleep for he was already late.

The next moment, he was in the washroom where he tried to remember Triangle's congruence rules while going about the usual morning routine. Although Shalini knew that Bhaskar is never hungry in the morning she packed a hastily made sandwich in his tiffin box and rushed to the balcony to fetch the school uniform.

Bhaskar braced himself for the day ahead. A regular exam day is anyway stressful and today he was running late for the exam. A new worry gripped his already anxious teenage mind- what if he enters late into the examination hall?

His father had already prepared for the exigency and kept a driver on standby to drop Bhaskar to school. In the meantime, a soft drizzle started accompanying the moderate winds that were blowing across the sleepy town of Mahim. Bhaskar rushed through his breakfast, packed his bag, checked the admit card and other essentials. He was very particular about having 'new' stationery for every exam.

Bhaskar's car crossed the flyover, flower market and rail gate in a few minutes. However, the main hurdle was the Vivekananda Gate that posed a threat of traffic congestion. The driver sensed the tension in the car. Bhaskar was staring at his golden watch that had been gifted by his parents. Meanwhile his father's neck was protruding out of the car window to assess the impending traffic.

It was eight minutes past eight when Bhaskar entered the exam hall. His father loitered around the school for about five minutes before rushing to his work. Once inside, Bhaskar started solving his paper right way. He attempted all the questions serially. The invigilator was wearing a coat and tie which was odd. While taking extra sheets Bhaskar noticed that the invigilator was scrolling through Excel sheets on his Smartphone. The room felt odd too for there was a giant whiteboard below the wall clock and instead of a class number the board had various pie charts, phone numbers and tables.

Munching on his samosa snack, Bhaskar felt like he was giving a very unusual and different kind of examination. Suddenly, he stopped chewing and ogled at the samosa wondering why on earth the peon had given him snacks along with the invigilator.

He realised that these odd events needed more attention than his ongoing mathematics exam. Bhaskar started sweating profusely and requested the invigilator to permit him to go to the washroom. The invigilator looked up briefly (and almost with a strange expression of awe) before getting busy on his phone.

In the washroom, Bhaskar looked at his watch and planned the timings for the next few answers. He looked up again to see the mirror and was almost astounded. Just like the invigilator, Bhaskar was dressed in a formal suit. He vaguely remembered his mother bringing the school dress from the balcony.

He ran back to his class, threw his papers and ran towards the main gate. An eerie feeling gripped him and he thought this might be a nightmare. To his surprise, the main gate was locked with the sign 'Gates open at 19.00 Hours'. He looked for the watchman but there were only CCTV cameras manning the gate.

While running back towards the terrace, his ankle twisted at a step and he fell on the stairs. Bruises were minor but he bled. "This can't be a dream", he thought as he was being carried away to a chair by a few men in suits.

Half an hour later...

"Wake up, Bhaskar. It's almost 3 pm and we are yet to submit our file", Shalini shouted at Bhaskar. Shalini, his Coordinator, and a colleague had been waiting for 40 minutes now but Bhaskar was in deep slumber.

The presentation to the regional manager was happening in 15 minutes and Bhaskar; the team leader had been napping during the lunch break.

Well the upcoming meeting is crucial to Bhaskar as it will decide whether he is sent off-shore to lead an office or demoted to a lower rank for his lackadaisical approach at work. Bhaskar's exam was to begin in fifteen minutes.

By: Snehal Deb

Author of 'Whispers from Saraighat'

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