New-age paper warriors

Ipninder Kaur Bedi 

The board exam is upon my family after eight years. My younger daughter is appearing for the exams. My eldest had sat for the boards years ago, and so I was accustomed to all its facets. Nothing seemed novel this time, but it was interesting to watch the reactions of parents whose children were appearing for the board this time.

The day of the first exam everybody reached the venue over an hour ahead of time, abiding by the class teacher’s instructions to ‘parents group’ on WhatsApp. The moment a new notice was flashed, parents would rush to respond ‘thank you,  ma’am’. The cellphone kept beeping as each of the 40 parents replied one by one. Overenthusiastic parents kept posting news flashes. Again, all 40 parents acknowledged. The scenario outside the gate of the exam centre was one of mayhem. Each parent wanted to crosscheck that his/her ward had seen the room number correctly. There were more parents than students! 

As soon as the gates opened, the parents began giving bear hugs. Mothers were clinging to embarrassed children, as though they were going to war! After the children slipped out of their mothers’ embraces, schoolteachers blocked their progress —last-minute aartis, prasad and red tikkas on each forehead. Onward marched the soldiers. As if this was not enough, the parents did not budge from outside the gates for another 45 minutes. They stood there, just in case their offspring returned for a final hug or blessing! Moms and dads walked up to the next gate of the school to catch one last glimpse of their soldier walking to the main hall to conquer the exam. 

The scenario at the end of the exam was no different. Parents reached half an hour before the paper ended, nail-biting indicating their nervousness. News cameras along with reporters lined up to interview children as they emerged out of the ‘battlefield’. Students could be heard talking to one another that they felt like film stars, with such a large audience gathered outside the gate.

Each time a student walked out, parents would crane their necks to see if it was their child. The facial expressions of each student was observed intently to judge how his/her exam had gone. Parents were ready to pounce on their children as a tiger pounces on its prey!

School subject teachers were having the time of their lives, strutting around like peacocks, confident of themselves, and grabbing attention of anxious parents hanging on to their every word. 

The nariyal paniwallah was doing brisk business parked directly outside the gate. Parents were cajoling their kids to have some coconut water after emerging victoriously from the war. 

Heaving a sigh of relief, children along with parents were bundled up inside waiting luxury cars, with the driver looking adoringly at the child returning after being held captive for three hours. The driver would then speed away with the parents cuddling their ‘prized possession’ on the backseat… only to face another battle after a few days!