Foolscap: Foolscap is a size of paper, traditionally 8½ by 13½ inches, though today it may be a bit smaller, and the term may be used loosely to refer to any large format paper. It gets its name, typically pronounced full-scap or full-scape, from the watermark once used to identify it, in the shape of a jester's hat, or "fool's cap." Bit : Visiting card sized pieces of a foolscap paper, filled with answers to essay questions & diagrams, used extensively during examination times. It gets its name, traditionally pronounced 'thundu' , from its size which is inversily proportional to the plethora of information it possess.
My point of interest is Bit and not the full paper. Back in college days I had these two great friends who had mastered the art of bits. Since I dont like giving the names out , lets call them my Gurus , Arun & Rijo( Ahem Ahem !! ) Every exam time, they spend enuff time to come out with these bits of papers with tiny but beautifully calligraphed answers. I've been awestruck by their expertise in writing in such small sized papers in even smaller handwriting. As they say, Andaaz Apna Apna, each of them had a unique style of folding the papers too.
Before going for exam one of my Gurus tucks in his shirt ( he never does that on normal days to college ) and then tucks in all the bits around his waist. Final piece that goes in would be the "Index Bit".Index bit probably had directions to find his actual bits like, "Module 5 essay : Right butt" . The other Guru always had a long strip of bit , which was folded like a "shoji" screen. He also had magical left hand with which he can skim through the answers while holding the bit inside the palm. Many a guys who tried that style often dropped the bit when under the pressure situation of an examiner standing near them, but never did the master. Gurus were as cool as cucumber when they had to use the bit.
My tryst with bits were not limited to these Gurus. I knew guys who actually stole the extra university paper from the lab and wrote the answers in it before coming to exam hall. A few may ask how they'll get to know that days specific paper code, ie the alphabet (A to G) printed on top of the sheets inside a black circle. I knew one guy who carries his instrument box ( they only time he carries it to college) and inside it would be his instruments like cut-outs of all paper codes and gum to paste it to his answer sheets. That was definitely innovative.
When I asked my Gurus on why they dont try the "university paper" instead of bits, they'll answer in unison. "Too much risk. Need for external applications and instruments . What if you are cornered by an examiner with their skillful eyes , you are caught red-handed. Thats where bits come in handy. Bits are small enough that you can gulp them incase of emergency. Thereby , you dont leave a trace or evidence". Needless to say, I was impressed by their thought process and effort they put in their art.
I am no priest and I always wanted to copy during exams. Unfortunately, I don't have small handwriting which makes it difficult for me to write on bits. Someone advised me to jot down only points and not the entire sentence. To try it out , I started reading essay to fish out the points from it. Crazy thing was, by the time I read and jotted down the points to my bit , I would have by hearted the essay. Another person advised me to try drawing the architecture of microprocessors , so that I dont have to learn it. Well, I guess I've this Photographic memory which did not help me much in the art of copying . By the time I draw the picture and it'll be registered to my mind. Basically the need of bit ends by the time I finish writing a bit. So there I was , with a desire to copy during exams , but never having the right capabilities and artistic skills for it.
In my pre-final year in college , I informed my desire to my gurus. They were gracious enuff to enlighten me."Sojish, all you need is a reason for copying. For eg: , you'll spend a lot of time thinking and formulating sentences during exam time. Look at us. We've all answers in our finger tips, literally !!" . Thats a good enuff reason for me and another friend of mine , whom we can call "mr nice" ( perhaps, he was the only nice guy in our entire gang of weirdos). Unlike me , he is a gentle,soft and silent guy. Nice and Me decided to copy somehow for the next exam. For debutants , copying during exam is a really thrilling & exciting art. The preparation was akin to opening the batting for your team. Two guys with totally opposite style of batting.
I jotted down the answer to an essay question in a paper and tucked it in along with the shirt. I had to walk a mile to reach the college . By the time I reached my exam hall, my bit was sliding up. To quickly cover it before the examiner would see it, I pulled out the bit and dropped it inside my shirt. Exam started and few minutes down the lane, I could feel the bit sticking to my stomach . It felt cold & wet with my sweat. Half way through the exam , I opened the button of my shirt to pull out the bit. Much to my dismay, only a piece of the bit came out as it was already drenched in sweat. There ended my hope for a successful copying. As I walked out of the examination hall, I felt like a batsman who got out 'duck' on his debut cricket match.
Mr Nice was caught . The news took me and my gurus by surprise. Of all the people, Mr Nice !! . That was what went through our mind. Nice was in a state of shock, I guess. He was not sure what was happening around him. Gurus ran to the head-of-departments to beg & plead. Because they had a little guilty feeling inside them, they were literally on their knees. As said in Quran , "valah taziru vaziratan vizr ukhri" ( No sinner can take responsibility of other's sin ). Nobody budged. "The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour". ~Japanese Proverb
I realised that , it could have been me in Nice's place. Had it happened, I would have had to lower my head infront of god-knows-who-all. It was like , one small mistake and the entire world crumbling around you. Worst part of the whole episode was that , suddenly one feels wronged. Everyone around would trample your ego and would question your integrity and values. All because you made one silly mistake.
I've heard from someone that, integrity and values are like rubberbands. You think you can stretch it and it'll return to its original state. But if you try to stretch it often and harder, before you know it, it'll snap. Once broken, they are difficult to be restored. Merciless and unforgiving , thats what life would be for you. The higher you are in the society and older you are in age , weaker would be your rubberband. Which means, even the silliest mistake you do would leave a dark black mark in your life. "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody is watching"
The guilty feeling, that all of us involved in bit episode, lowered our morale badly. That particular semester gave us maximum supplys ( failures ) in the entire curriculum. I promised myself that I would never have the desire to copy again. The excitement and thrill was not worth it. My Gurus ,they also decided to quit copying .... well, atleast until their next semester exams.
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Too much complications if I sit
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