I was on invigilation duty in one of the examination halls. The stipulated three hours were over and I requested the students to bring their answer books for submission. One by one all came along except one boy who was still furiously scribbling. When I asked him to submit his sheet, he said he needed two more minutes to finish. Two minutes later when I went to collect his sheet, much to my chagrin, the boy took the sheet and started running around empty desks, requesting that he still needed more time to wind up. I was flummoxed because I couldn’t be seen chasing him around the room, playing catch-me-if-you-can.
Finally, I threatened to leave the room without his answer book- a threat that ultimately paid off. Sitting in an examination hall for three hours, without the distraction of gadgets, is a huge pay off. A careful observer is able to glean so many idiosyncrasies and mannerisms from the motley bunch. At times these acts become a source of entertainment during the otherwise monotonous three-hour watch-dog duty.
Call it the Covid effect or the new fad, but ‘clean shave look’ is a passé for men, and men all around can be seen adorning beards and moustaches even the ones lurking at the threshold of manhood. The perks of wearing a moustache and a beard may not be quite alluring as it involves consistent care, regular trimming and maintenance, even dodging frothy drinks and sleeping in a particular pattern. However, it never fails to give the desired ‘machismo effect’ to the wearer and no doubt it comes in ‘handy’ in the examination hall. The moustache, of course, acts as a trigger when they get stuck in the middle of their writing or when they wish to ponder upon some point. Their fingers automatically reach the whiskers, which they keep twirling, first the left then the right one, till they reach some conclusion.
This brings us to an interesting case of bearded identity. One hot summer day, I was on Observer duty in one of the colleges. The college authorities received information that a proxy candidate was appearing for an exam instead of a student. We reached the examination hall and asked the candidate to step outside.
We checked his college identity card, his admit card, Aadhar card and some other documents. Everything was in perfect order except for the fact that the roll number slip had his clean-shaven image. Without batting an eyelid, he caressed his facial hair and said it was a Covid benediction.
I would like to confess that I am a total softie when it comes to students and their precious time writing exams. I envisioned his face without the beard and gave my verdict that the student was innocent and should, therefore, be allowed to finish his exam. The college Principal, however, didn’t seem so convinced. She called a nearby bank and requested them to send someone with the fingerprint scanner.
In a few minutes, we were all sitting in her office ready for the big revelation. The boy was asked to lay his finger on the scanner which immediately denied the match with the Aadhar card number punched in. It still took us another fifteen minutes of grilling before the boy cracked and admitted that he was there in place of his younger brother who had taken up a job in Delhi and was unable to appear for his exams. Case dismissed!
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