The Art of Memory

It was 9.50 am, there was absolute silence for what felt like eons of time. All that could be heard was the loud ticking of the clock and sound of leaking water can.

The Invigilator walked slowly around the classroom placing the question paper face down on each of our desks. Final semester, Communication Engineering paper. At 10 am, the bell finally rang. We all rushed in checking the question papers.

Within 2 mins tears trickled down my cheeks, I couldn’t recollect any formulas :(. My lips trembled, trying to conceal my tears remain a daunting challenge, but it soaked the question paper. Sobbing attracted invigilator’s attention. I managed to answer with a crackling voice.

Passing with distinction, Campus placement and Metro life – All my dreams shattered, silent war within my mind. I wiped my cheeks every few seconds.

After 30 min, I heard a zzzzz, that was my friend signaling me. We are not supposed to talk during the exam. I preferred turning a blind eye to his gesture, but he was persistent. I heard another voice whispering from behind ” It’s ok, write something”. Another smile from across the room, with a gesture, that he is also sailing in the similar boat.

A duration of 3 hrs passed with whispers, signals, smiles, and gestures. That persevered me to complete my exam and hand over the paper. The invigilator gave me a strange look at my swollen eyes and bloated face and commented, “Tears won’t get you marks”, this made me start sobbing again. My classmates came out in succession from different classrooms.

Guess what happened next?

We exchanged looks and laughed in hysterics, that invited warning from the head of department to clear the hallway. We came out of the building but we couldn’t control our laughter. The whole day filled with fun in describing each other answers and expressions during the exam.

Although our destiny will be determined by our answers, we all are in complete merriment without having a single thought about our disaster. Though it may not be our greatest of worries compared to others in the world, but for student life it is. From that day to the day before the results, we didn’t think about the scores or the future. We enjoyed every day as usual.

When thinking about this incident today, it amuses me with two fundamental traits. Courage and Acceptance.  That made us to laugh at our fears and failures. That prepared us to pursue our life with daily excitements. What happened to us today??

We are worrying about something that may or may not happen in the future. Our imaginations are expanding in exaggerating our miseries instead of enjoying this exact moment. The two things that we are missing today are

Courage  to confront a failure
Acceptance of what could conceivably happen

Acceptance can be achieved by practicing asking what is the worst thing that can possibly happen? Once we accept that will direct the light towards the solutions, it will back us up with courage.

Another beauty about the above memory is that friendship doubles joy and abates misery. Friends teach us life lessons by magic memory.

Photos and videos record memories, but sharing brings that to life. I don’t possess a picture of my memory, but I want to share this with all my friends. Today in social media we share forward messages, pictures and wishes among friends. Try sharing a memory that you enjoyed with your friends. I swear you can expect excitement, happy tears and smiles light up the chat. We will identify at least one trait that are missing with us today to face the world. You will feel joyful and your spirits brighten up.

Please share the number of LOLs, smileys or magical trait you identified in the comments box below after sharing your memory with friends.