network problems..

how good it felt to have the question paper in hand a day ahead of the exam..!! a total of ten 2 mark quesions plus five 16 mark questions..! awesome, just what i needed to ensure my safety..! 

it was a sober friday, october the 3rd, I headed back home from college after completing my dbms exam.. I knew i hadn't done well.. Sleep had got the better of me, and i had been dozing thru the exam.. on the 170(its a bus), on my way back from tambaram, i had decided..! it was time to make amends.. i needed to step up my performance in saturday's exam.. 'networks'.. 

Reached home earlier than usual, and enjoyed a short nap.. by the time i woke up, it was 5pm.. i wanted to go n play.. football, my only solace.. returned home at 6.30 exhausted and it took me sometime to settle n get down to business.. Out came 'data communication and networking' by Behrouz A Forouzan.. I, with a bemused look started to scroll through the pages hoping to acquire some guidance from someone on the important topics.. 

And then... it started..! "Buzz!!".. A flash caught my eye.. It was my Nokia 3110 classic(not so classy though), which had made the sound.. '1 message received' it said.. and i pressed that big button right at the center and there appeared several lines of text.. 'Not another stupid forward..!', I cursed the sender whose name i was yet to see..

I read through.. It wasn't a joke.. It wasn't information.. It was the networks paper..

           "1. Explain about guided and unguided media with examples (OR) Draw and explain the OSI architecture..

            2. Explain the operations of Go Back-n (OR) Selective Repeat ARQ..

           3... 4... 5...!!!"

5 questions.. with choice..! "..Wowwie..!!" I said to myself.. and my eyes almost popped out the way it did everytime for 'Thomas the Cat'(Tom n Jerry) when he saw a good looking she-cat..

I closed the book that very instant.. and switched on the idiot box(honestly, it ain't as idiotic as you ppl think..!).. i had wanted to watch 'Behind Enemy Lines' for several months.. and this was the best time.. 'With the question paper in hand and more than 12 hours to go for the exam, what more do you need..! Therez nothing wrong in watching a movie..! Is there..!?!?'..

The movie went on till 11.20pm.. My dad approached me and asked me casually.. "I thought you had an exam tomorrow..?"..

I was extra casual with my reply.. "So what..? I know all the 5 questions..! No worries Pop..!"

I then read through the famous five.. with ease.. The topics seemed too easy now that i knew that they were sureshot questions..!

Bus journey the next morning was even more comical.. Beaming with over-confidence.. I slept through the entire journey.. And then waited with impatience for the 9.15 college bell, which signalled the commencement of the examination.. we guys got into the hall grinning, but it wasn't long before the grins turned into grimaces.. In front of us was this paper, with an entirely different set of questions.. I found one to two questions with the weightage of 8 when I had actually prepared to write the same for 16..! All hell broke lose..! This was more nightmarish than any nightmare..! There was a serious Network Problem in the exam hall..

"But then, why should i quit..??", thought I.. and wrote whatever I had read the previous day, not bothering about whether it was asked in the paper or not..!

Stepped out of the hall as soon as they let go of us.. headed straight out of the college without a word to anyone.. Reached home.. and slapped myself..! But I was happy for one reason.. It wasn't only me, who had got kicked in the teeth.. 

Our class motto of 'united we stand, united we fall' was exemplified once again..

These supposed question paper leaks..! Phew..! Have had enough of em..! But then, if I'm gonna get another paper today saying "Theory of Computation", I guess I'll take it.. It feels better to blame the 'leakers' for your failure rather than blaming yourself..!

Hopefully, I won't be posting anything on Monday titled "Computation Problems..!"..

Until then...