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Quitters, never whine
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After the thrills and spills post-Eamcet, candidates reveal to K.SACHIDANAND MENON their modus operandi to cope with scorecard blues
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NO HASSLES Life goes on irrespective of success and failure Photo: S. SUBRAMANIUM
Give them money, sweat, tears and toil and the cram schools will give you a rank. A tidy little set of digits that brands you either as The Genius or a hopeless loser in the number-crunching, book-chomping world of academics. And like with most hopeless losers, it's difficult explaining dad, the nosy neighbour next door and the general crowd that it wasn't your fault. Maybe the guys who framed the questions should have been more considerate. Perhaps flunking tests is all in the genes, blame it on dad...
Post Eamcet, the ultimate `genius grade' test in the State, there have been a lot of high fives and heartbreaks. While the toppers see themselves splashed all across newspapers, the losers are shuffling about avoiding dads, nosy neighbours and the general crowd. The good news is, all ye losers, this is perfectly normal and everything's okay with the world. As psychiatrist Prabhakar Korada puts it, "There are some who just laugh it all off but the majority go down with the blues for about two weeks. This is a normal reaction to any distressing event."
Rolling with the punch
Most take the hit in their stride, going ahead with contingency plans or gearing up for another shot at cracking the test. When Shailender Rathod landed up with unflattering figures in his Eamcet scorecard, it didn't take too long for him to be done with the issue. "I don't think cribbing is going to change the way my scorecard looks," he says with a wry smile. "One thing's clear to me and that is I have another year of preparation ahead of me. I am planning to drop out on academics for a year, sit at home and study for next year's exam," adds the Intermediate student, who has set his sights on becoming a software pro.
Others of his tribe are taking a totally different approach, arguing that square pegs aren't meant to fit into round holes. "Look, I had this feeling that I wouldn't make it. I guess you have to have an aptitude for these tests and every student knows where he or she stands in the crowd. I always wanted to be an Army officer and that's what I'm going to focus on," reveals D. Rangaraj, a CBSE student. "I wrote the exam on the advice of mom and dad who thought I shouldn't put all the eggs in one basket. I feel students should be open to suggestions but set goals themselves," he sums up.
Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing, they say. But losing comes with its own comforts. You get, for example, the perfect excuse to go on shopping raids, pub hopping and freaking out with your buddies. Abhishek, another Eamcet casualty, is doing just that. "Man, I need some time out to de-stress myself.
There's no point in doing a post mortem of the case. It is bound to stink. It's wiser to chill out with buddies," he says and adds philosophically, "This too shall pass."
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