From loss of a child, the entire issue is being digressed into, “Got 97% in PUC and still did not get admission into MBBS” and vested interests blaming it on NEET. Given than Naveen is a final year student, I guess he must have scored 97% in PUC( a rote-based school-leaving certificate exam) in around 2017.
XII Board exams are all about rote memory and reproducing verbatim. Let me recall from my own experience. One of our subjects, Chemistry was such a lengthy paper; not a single numerical problem. Appaa himself was frustrated when he saw the paper…he said someone with no knowledge has approved this paper. Some armchair chemist…n we laughed it off.
My last exam was Biology. An insect fell into my left eye on the way to school. Appaa couldn’t do anything do about it. We had no time! Washed my eye and sat for the exam. I simply could not open that eye. No time for pitying myself. I had to write well in the exam, come what may. One of the choices I made in the 10-marks section was a lengthier answer. This changed my destiny.
When the results came, I got 200/200 in Chemistry but 199/200 in biology. I requested a photocopy of my answersheet and took it to one of our family friends…uncle was a biology teacher and he had the answer key. I had not written a particular word in that fateful answer. The particular word that was in the key was missing in my answersheet The gist was there but not that word. So, the examiner had scored me 9 out of 10.
How did this affect my weighted average? We had 200 marks from State Entrance exam which was very well devised…100 from Biology, 50 from Physics n 50 from Chemistry. And 100 marks from XII Boards(50 from Bio, 25 from Physics, 25 from Chemistry)
My XII weighted score was 99.375/100 but my weighted average turned out to be 296.73/300 bcos I had made mistakes in 2 MCQs in my entrance exam. (That on another post). All this in 2002! It has always been competitive!!
It would not have taken much time to blame n cry victim, “I got 99% and still did not get Madras Medical College…all bcos of the Entrance exam!” I knew I made mistakes which cost me that dream. Neither do my parents encourage such self-sympathy. “You get what you deserve. And you make yourself deserving by your sincerity and hardwork”. This was what we heard from Mum n Appaa all our lives!!
When we were going for the counselling session, Mum strictly told Appaa, " MMC looks evasive. She may not get. Don’t let her cry. Also, please do not choose Stanley. She is too weak and lacks the physical strength to travel that far from home everyday. If she comes late or anything happens, I cannot handle it alone in your absence. I will not allow hostel. Ask her to take KMC. She can shine from wherever, even if it is number 3."
So, from a childhood dream of getting into number 1, belonging a General category with 99.375/100 in that rote exam and an overall decent 296.73/300, I opted out of number 2 and chose number 3. Yes I cried I could not get into MMC but that was that. Just that evening after counselling. Never after.
I neither blamed my category nor the pattern of exams. Nor did commit suicide bcos my dream was shattered. It was my fault…I should have scored those 2 MCQs correctly. Period.