You probably don’t know about this one. But in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh there is a small town named ‘Khurja’. People who are from that town say that Khurja is world famous and they all know what it is famous for. If you don’t know what Khurja is famous for and you haven’t heard its name before this, you don’t have to worry about what it is famous for. Who gives a shit?
But that town means a lot for me. I spent my first 19 years in that town. Though I was not born in there but I was brought in that town the same day I was born and I was raised in that town and I don’t care what it’s famous for. I love it anyways, it’s in my blood (and it shows).
So I was telling you about this town. And don’t worry; I am not going to bore you with the history and the culture of this town (though this article will have some of my memoirs so it will have some history… sorry). So I am going to talk about the education system of Khurja. Just for the reference I would like you to know that I am the kind of guy who doesn’t like studying. So.. Khurja have these so many schools but it has only one real college. People say that it’s enough for a small town like Khurja but I say then why not just one school or just one shop for all the commodities or just one doctor?
When I ask these kinds of questions to them, they say I am an idiot and I am not making any sense. Well maybe I am not, but if it doesn’t make any sense to you, at least you can tell me WHY it’s not making any sense to you wise guys? So I was telling you about these schools and colleges. When I was a little kid I used to watch my big-brother going to school, I had always wanted to go to the school just like him. Little I knew that when my day will come, I will be screaming and running away back to my home. This was my first school. Getting accepted for that school is a totally different story in itself (and it’s long too), so I am going to leave it for some other time. So this school was called ‘K.P. Montessori School’ (Krishna Prasad Montessori School, but we used to call it Kutta-Pilla Montessori School). I started my education from the preparatory class and as far as I recall, we used to get a beating by the teachers in that school so much that I was scared to go (not that because I will get all of the beating, but watching the other kids getting beat up was too much for me). I thank my class-teacher in 3rd standard for the fact that I am almost deaf from my right ear (this is real, no fake story). So I got into this school and all they used to do is make us dance and if someone screwed up… you know what used to happen. I don’t know if they still do it that way but that was my first impression of educational society.
I somehow went through my school life (AND GOD I HATED IT but I was in some other schools too for some reasons) and got into the junior college (10+2). And that was the time when the things got ugly.
But I think this was better than the school as I used to know why the class is getting a beating. I also liked it because I got involved in NCC, I was able to bunk the school whenever I wanted and (the best part) telling my parents that I don’t want to go to school was not a biggie. I used the term ugly because the beating took an ugly form in this phase. Kids used to getting beat in the assembly ground. I will describe the beating process in some other article (it needs a totally dedicated article and I am sure you will like it). So the beating took and ugly form and in NCC (National Cadet Corps), some BAD things happened to some of the boys. Which; obviously scared the shit out of me.
Well, this whole thing was going and one day, I was in college. The funny thing was that my junior college and college were on the opposite sides of the same road and both of their main gates were merely 10ft. away from each other. So it didn’t feel like I am going to some other place. I mean I was 'literally on the same street and in the same place. Totally like, ‘Same Shit, Different People’.
This college was called ‘N.R.E.C. College’ and just when I thought that now I will have some real study and some quality life (that’s because my dad and other old guys used to tell me that how great and excellent this college was in their days and how much fun they had in their time) I was again in for a shock. That college totally sucked. There were no professors in the classes, no good furniture (imagine yourself in a class where the furniture is from the 50’s and was in the shape like the people who made those tables and chairs are in these days.
So, no professors, no furniture, no real sports, no fun activities and the best part was, the library, the books in the library were from the days of my dad and his friends. Now the only thing I can say about the facility (the building) is that it’s so antique and unique that it can be a museum and it needs preservation efforts as it is on the brim of extinction (literally, you should see that place).
Now, about the professors; that college is the reason why I HATE professors. What most of them used to do was just sit together and have a chit chat and bitching about each other behind their backs. From one of my reliable sources among the professors I came to know that in one ‘Professors Only Party’ two of the senior professors were discussing how there were not hot enough gals were in the college and how the current gals with no hot qualities make the college look miserable and degrade the standards. Now the only professors who were sincere and cared about the student were limited to the number of 3. It was one of those colleges where a student has to be careful of not to do something inappropriate as if you will do that; the professors will beat you up.
Exams in that college used to be so much fun. It was a regular college but when it was Exam Time, there used to be so many new faces that you have never seen and you would know that those new faces are your course mates. The best part I liked about that college and exams was ‘The Lab Practical’. To give you an idea about how the practical used to be in that college, I will give you a personal experience from my final year of the college. The practical in the corresponding subject carries 30 marks (out of a total of 130). Now I had 2 practical subjects, 1.Physics and 2.Chemistry. AND MAN I SUCK AT CHEMISTRY. I suck so much that the only chemical equation I know correctly is H+O2=H2O.
So I had this chemistry practical exam of my graduation and I was blank and had no idea what I will do in there. After some time-wasting they called me in for ‘Viva-Voce’ (which was the key for the marks). There was this guest examiner sitting with the H.O.D. of the Chemistry Department (who was my Dad’s buddy). I was preparing myself for explain why I don’t know the answers of any of the questions asked and the first and the only question I was asked was, “What does your Dad do?”
- “He is a Lawyer.”, I said.
And that was it, I was done with my Viva-Voce. I was moving out of the room and I saw my Dad’s buddy whispering something into the ears of the lab-boy. The lab-boy followed me to my station and asked me to show him my record sheet (which was blank as I didn’t know any answers). He said, “Write anything in your record sheet. Anything, just don’t leave it blank. Got it?”
He left and I still had no idea about what to write in my record sheet. But I filled with something and I got 29/30 in that practical.
I should have been happy for those marks but I knew some of my class mates who didn’t have anyone knowing the professors so that they can get good marks and GOD these classmates of mine were good students.
Want to know how much they got? The most brilliant one of them got 19/30.
And a jerk from my class who had this rich dad who knew everyone in the town got 28/30. He is still a jerk. That was something which broke my heart but heck all of my (good-student) classmate-friends covered that difference in the exams and scored way better than that jerk (and me of course). But now you tell me is it a good system where you are marked on how well someone represented you? Or about a college which literally has no system, facilities and faculty.
And the best part about that college is, it’s still running the same way it was in my days. Now please answer my question which I asked in the beginning of this article. “Why don’t we need other college in this town?”
But I still make no sense to anyone and I believe I never will.
P.S.: Want to know, what did I write in my record sheet of that Chemistry Practical which earned me 29/30 marks?
- My very first movie scene. [Link: http://tinyurl.com/myveryfirstmoviescene]
