Rules and their essence
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As the rhythmic chiming of my clock was disturbed by an abrupt beginning of Iron maiden's song "trooper", which was also my alarm song, I was docilely perturbed from a short three hour sleep. I moved uneasily from side to side trying to locate for my clock to stop it, as papers underneath me made a rustling sound . My movement was halted by Romith, who was still asleep using my Frank M White fluid mechanics text book already in tatters, as his pillow. We had about an hour to reach the examination hall but not before fighting for a slot for bathroom and toilet. I was piqued to notice that my room door was wide open and my bucket was already missing a midst the vague memories that Dr. Shinde promised to give us certain hints during the first few minutes of the exam.
Dr. Shinde, a somber faced, pot-bellied and staid person taught an advanced level fluid mechanics course in our seventh semester. All his classes were scheduled at 8:00 in the morning, only about a couple hours after we finished our age of empire games. His mannerisms marked by somnolence made these classes vapid and dry leaving the name "fluid mechanics" as a mere moniker. His dull and cheerless voice sounded like a lullaby as it quietly slipped across our ears as some students were slowly veered into deep slumber. However, his exams vivified and mystified us in ways that not even Penn and Teller could match up with. He had a unique sense of humor when one of his surprise exams had a note "all students who take this exam get full marks" as a foot note last page. The striking feature of his exams was they largely constituted multiple choice questions with multiple answers besides the condition that said "identify all correct answers to get any credit".
Still afresh from the experience of barely scraping through the final exam on continuum mechanics, my logic and memory were far from being a continuum. Trying to recollect some useful formulae, as a final effort, I and Romith rushed to the examination hall on our bicycles. Dhaniraj, a studious, stubborn and unfriendly tamil classmate with an average build, seated in one of the chairs upfront in the hall, greeted us with a strange smirk on his face. As we glared into the hall for any vacant seats, we observed that Amal and Karthika, "the centres of information", as we called them, were so surrounded by my classmates that even Sachin Tendulkar would be envious of such worship, even if for a day. As our cheeks dropped and gleaned a grimace instead, the reason for Dhaniraj's smirk dawned onto us for the only vacant seats were next to him. I and Romith grasped those seats and eagerly awaited the hints Dr. Shidne had promised to disclose.
As Dr. Shinde slowly motioned towards the examination hall carrying a broad smile on his face, contrary to his usual persona. I chuckled quietly as Romith murmered, "Aaj Shindeji kaafi khush nazar aarahe hai". With a smile that could completely eclipse a full moon, Dr. Shinde dropped a "fatman" on as he revealed, "Students this is an open book exam with only five questions. Use necessary concepts and explain their relevance to get any credit. You are free to use your text books". I was were terrified as I realized that I had left my text book and calculator in the hostel room. It didn't take long before I realized that I was going to flunk for the first time in IIT life and the timing couldn't be any worse for placements and deadlines for applications for higher studies were just around the corner. Reality struck me like a shock wave and stung me like a swarm of bees as I began to imagine clouds of darkness beginning to loom over my immediate future. Dhaniraj having sensed my state of affairs burst into a laughter. As the clock kept ticking, several thoughts about my future began crossing my mind, forming strong vortices and eroding me of my preparation. It was at this juncture, I heard a dull voice from over my shoulder that said "write what you know", as I felt a steady palm on my shoulder. I didn't turn around to see who it was for I knew it was Shindeji. I felt a sudden calm in that voice and an reliable assurance in that touch. The turbulence in my head began to laminarize. The next couple of hours, I shut myself from the examination environment, as I could see the fluid mechanics I had learnt thus far flowing fluently, as I derived all the formulae needed to solve the questions asked. It was like a meditative state of mind, the zone that sportsman talk about.
A month later, Dr. Shinde summoned me in his office to discuss about my exam. He told me that I had not answered any question in completeness for the formulae I had derived were already part of the textbook and I had no conclusive calculations either to support my cause. He further told me that as per the rules of the exam, I could be failed. "However", he continued as he began to walk past me out of his office, "I give you a nine out of ten for, I can forgive myself for breaking some rules but not when their essence is broken".
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