An examination is at best a gamble but after taking an examination, we know slightly what we can expect. I had worked hard for this examination. I had done my papers well. I was quite confident that I would get a high 1st division. There was a sneaking hope in my mind that I might get a merit position. I waited anxiously for the results.
On the day the results were to come, I reached school well before time. As soon as the result were put on the board I hunted for my roll number. I had secured a first division but just scraped through it. I could not believe it. How could I get such low marks? All my answers were correct. Then how I had scored only 80% marks in Mathematics? And how the hell I could get barely forty-five marks in Social Studies? I was very good in it. I felt cheated.
At first I felt like crying. In desperation I could have committed suicide. All my hard work had gone waste! And then secured in me such a range that I could have torn my examiners to pieces, if only I could lay my hands on them. What did they mean by giving me such low marks? I deserved better. They probably evaluated my papers after a quarrel or in a bad mood. But why should I be made to suffer? I felt shy of facing my friends and teachers. Gradually, anger and shame gave way to a dull acceptance of my fate. My parents comforted me by telling that there are other examinations. Moreover first division is not so bad that I should feel so miserable. What cannot be cured must be endured. Anyway time is a great healer. I also kept quiet.