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THE QUESTION PAPER



My call was very gladly received by my sister who was in the midst of a monotonous job of setting a question paper for her students. She needed a distraction which I willingly obliged. These days we happen to be enjoying our telephonic conversations a lot more than usual. The reason being we dwell upon the stories from the past that have been handed down to us from our ancestors.


They are not stories of valor being passed down the generations in musical forms to infuse courage. They seem like tall stories stretched by imagination, not only to us but also to an innocent bystander. These have become so believable to us by virtue of being repeated so many times during our family reunions. The stomach churning laughter they induce keeps those anecdotes so lively till today.


Tippan chacha, was a guest who came from far away to take a departmental examination for promotion in the city where my grandparents lived. Our grandparents were too glad to have him visit them. As for one of their broods, my mother, who was much younger than him, enquired about his performance after seeing his question paper.


He claimed his competence and adeptness in finishing the paper much ahead of the scheduled time. First page went well then as she turned the next page to check for the other questions he realized he had forgotten to turn the page and see. Hence, had left the remaining three questions unanswered. The way he tried to snatch the paper from my mother's hand revealed the sudden realisation of his folly. Now that Tippan chacha had committed this blunder he was penalized by his nephews and nieces in the family and as a penance had to take them for “Pakeezah” movie to the cinema hall. Needless to raise any queries regarding the result of the examination but the movie was wonderful in their words.


My sister called me the next day as she finished compiling her examination paper to inform me that simply out of compulsion after our conversation she wrote “continued on next page” at the bottom of her examination sheet lest someone may miss the second page like Tippan chacha.
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Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 10, 2022 at 1:57 PM

    Great. I enjoy them a lot. Keep it up. Stay blessed. 🙏🏼

    ReplyDelete
  2. Meenakshi ChaudharyJuly 10, 2022 at 2:06 PM

    Definitely such real experiences and mistakes guide to improve

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 11, 2022 at 7:39 AM

    It's really very well written, I wonder how people commit such mistakes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Swati SharmaJuly 11, 2022 at 7:55 AM

      After I posted this 2 people told me that they have also done this at some or the other stage.It indeed was so fascinating to know this.I just loved them for telling me.

      Delete
  4. Dr. Rajeev SharmaJuly 13, 2022 at 7:05 PM

    Enjoyed the narrative as it seems a common occurrence & it is written in a very fluid style. Definitely improving. Keep writing

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJuly 14, 2022 at 10:08 AM

    I always wondered the reason of writing this in all our question papers! I got to know the real reason today! 😂 Such a fun read!

    ReplyDelete
  6. anita sharmaJuly 26, 2022 at 8:02 PM

    Each time I read your piece it gives me a feeling of my experience. Well, you jot down the experience so well with whole lot of vocabulary.
    You love writing and I love reading your experience each time. Great job!
    Keep sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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