Results

So, this is how the calmness between the storms look like. After a couple of months of witnessing the non-stop  action, it is time for the people of Tamilnadu to get back to their regular life. Or is it? It is now results, they are bothered of. Though there are many who would be indifferent to these results, some see this as if their entire future were dependent on this. The below queries would be giving them sleepless nights. Who will fare well? Where will they stand when the overall results come out? Whether the state will see a person from the delta districts standing at the top or will it still be a person from the Chennai suburbs. Or would it be from somewhere unheard of? What would they talk to the press ?And more importantly, many would want to compare their performances with those of their acquaintances. After all, class 12 results assume equal significance as the general election results in Tamilnadu.

The parents and teachers tell the students from the time they were in their nappies that all their life would be decided by some exam in 12th. "Good marks - Good college - High pay - settled life - bla bla bla", all these, all the students would hear at least once about the 12th exams. " Oh! 12th a? My son's would-be's uncle's brother's daughter was the state topper last year. She is super brilliant . You know? ", we hear such statements coming out in some random conversations with strangers during travel when we tell that we are in class 12.

There are many institutions whose only motto is to produce atleast a couple of state ranks every year, no matter what, even if that meant that they have to suck all the energy and happiness out of the students. After all, students are brain-washed with the following statement " Study hard till 12th. Sacrifice all your enjoyments till the exams. Get good marks. You can enjoy for the rest of your life ".  Absurd.

The only time where the students enjoy is the time after the exams and before the results. The Class 12 results, some 20 years back were published only in newspapers. On the result day, parents used to wake up even before Mr.Sun takes a peek and rush to the nearby paperwallah's shop to see what their son/daughter got in the exams. Now with the smart phones, getting the result details instantly is just like a walk in the park. Whatever may be the mode of getting the result details, the after effects of it have barely changed. The victorious, celebrate it with more calories in the form of sweets and feasts. Their parents see this as the time to show their pattu mama and Rosy aunty of how brilliant their children are and how they burnt the midnight oil to attain this glory.  Whereas, the candidates who couldn't get the expected results go through trauma and stress and start thinking as if it were the end of their world.

Though these results would be used everywhere from college admissions to interviews, I still feel the hype surrounding this is a tad higher than required. Why don't people play down the significance of this results? After all we can see it as just another year of completed education, use the results to plan the future and not just to blame/bask on the glory of the past.