HIBERNATION IV: This was what actually happened

• I wobbled across the streets all night and babbled nonsense everywhere.

• I constantly hung on the shoulders of Ghosh and messed up his jacket by vomiting on it.

• I kicked the street lights and peed in front of the LHC (in front of the guards).

• Ghosh took me to the senior hostel as he lost his keys and I had not got mine.(I should say that I was not in a position to respond in a natural way).

• I was taken to the restrooms where water was spilled over me to wake me up but all in vain.

• The warden was on a surprise visit where he caught me drunk with others. Worse I showed my ‘you-know-which’ finger to him.

• Lastly, the one whom I kissed was Ghosh that too in front of the whole bunch of seniors and of course the warden and ran fast to bang myself on the pillars.

HIBERNATION III: Screwed (continued from Hibernation II)

“Have you gone mad or I have started hearing things?” Ghosh said angrily to me.

We had been walking for a while now. Every now and then I felt as if somebody was supporting me, as if I was resting on someone’s shoulders. For a brief moment I thought I was at home with my mother. It was a sweet feeling. I never felt this alone.

As we walked past the trees I could hear the birds. A smooth but light wind was blowing. But I felt some chill. I usually like walking alone at night but it was a different experience altogether.

“I hate streetlights. I hate them glow at night. Its light just pins my eyes. Somebody please shut them down.” I was speaking rubbish. My feet ache.

As we passed LHC I expressed my desire to release a few liters of fluid by two different methods.

Firstly I vomited like hell and then peed like never.

“Are you finished yet?”

I felt as if somebody was questioning me. It was the nasty old professor.

“Have you completed your paper?” I replied negative.

“I am scared.” I whispered to myself “What have I done? I have to fix it fast.”

After a nice little excuse, I went outside the exam hall. Soon the gang joined me.

“We are all screwed, thanks to Kalpana and Roshan.” Varun exclaimed pointing his fingers at me. “He is the culprit. What the F**k were you thinking?”

“No point in discussing it now. What should we do next?” said ever concerned Adi.

“Girls toilet…..no chance…..” We all knew it but as the time progressed towards the last hour, it demanded action.

“When was the last time we faced such a problem? What a silly question? Am I screwed? I will fail? Supply? Carry? Professor Vera will kill me?........... What am I thinking? “
My mind was going haywire.

“Somebody do something.” I cried as low as I could to control my emotions.

“Okay, here is the plan but I need a girl to make I work.” Ghosh said as each of us were eagerly waiting for his brilliant idea.

“Right now any girl will do. All we need to save our lives is a girl” though this line of Ghosh is always applicable in our miserable college life but the desperation was never so intense as today.

“So what is the plan?” Adi said.

“We will tell the girl to go inside the toilet and bring out our notes. Plain and simple as it could be.” Ghosh said.

“But what if she ignores our plea?”Adi said again.

“Come on, nobody is so rude” Varun said. “And please stop over-reacting Adi”.

“So what we do now to get a girl? Ahhh….I mean how we can find a girl for the plan?” Rohit corrected.

“We wait” Ghosh said with a firm look.

With fifty minutes to go Ghosh became desperate.

“Has the digestive system of these girls gone inert?” A valid question that remained unanswered.

“Do the girls know all the answers?” Adi again panicked.

“Shut up you panic machine. You are giving me creeps.” Varun yelled out loud. “It’s no use now. We have to find a girl for the plan. And I know who she is.”

Actually everyone knew the girl for the plan, everyone including me. And guess who they sent to fetch the girl? Me.

I went outside the room where Kalpana was taking her exam. I saw her sitting in the last row.

I took my chance and called her name thrice. She looked back and our eyes matched each other. I cannot explain how beautiful she looked.

“I am not the one you are thinking old boy.”

Wait, is that Kalpana, I guess not. Am I hearing things?

It was Rajan sir’s voice. Is he talking to Ghosh? What is happening?

“….what happened……..what a mess…..I carried him all the way sir…..he was babbling all the way……had too much……hold him tight…take him to the washrooms”

I heard a splash. I felt water over my face.

“No what do we do?” someone said.

“We have to find a solution to this?” Ghosh said.

Correct, Ghosh was right; we had to find a solution to this problem. I had no choice than to volunteer. After all it was my mistake and I was the one who had to rectify it. I marched towards the ladies’ toilet. No sign of fear as other held their nerves.

But I never entered the prohibited arena, my angel stood next to me. My angel, my crush, Kalpana stood in front of me with all those notes in her hand as if she was waiting for me.

“I was waiting for you. These chits are hard to understand, forget about using them.”
I looked at Varun who now looked interested in bird sighting in clear sky.
“I needed your help.” She continued “Thank god you are here. But wait, why you are ‘here’?”

“I’ll explain it to you later.”

“You know something?”

“What?”

“Something told me you would come. You would always be there to help me.”

“And why is it like that?”

“Because……”

I was waiting for the words to pop up now. I was dying for this moment. Though it was not such an auspicious event but I would take it.

Just when the love birds began to sing, the devil appeared with his trident. Take no guesses, we were caught, loud and loaded with piles of chits. I looked around. My gang was caught too and the exam was over. A mob of teachers and students surrounded us. I was screwed for good.

“I knew it. Now Mr.Roshan, what have you to say about all this?” Screw me it was Vera.

What would a wise man do now? I was shattered. I could see Kalpana in front of me. She was tensed.

And then I did something which I never thought I would be able to do. It’s strange how a feeling of being screwed as such can generate so much amount of courage that one commits the unexpected.

I showed my middle finger to Vera and moved towards Kalpana, took her into my arms and said “I love you” and before she could realize I kissed on her lips. She was taken aback and so was Vera.

I saw the escape route and I ran like hell. I could hear my friends scream. I looked back as I saw Kalpana stunned. I waved her and tossed a flying kiss.

But I realized soon that a wall applies enough force to cancel out the inertia of a flying human like me.
And yes, it pains to lose such a momentum.

As I took some water Rajan sir stepped in. Then he told me what really happened that night.

Hibernation II: a #$@!^&G mistake (continued from part I)

“OK now. I am done.” I said as I took the last sip inside.

“Ghosh, I think you and Roshan should leave now. We’ll catch up with you later.” Rajan sir said as Ghosh stood up and we left.

“Good Night, everyone or is it morning.” I was feeling a bit abnormal, somewhat dizzy.

As we moved down the stairs I was feeling the earth shaking, my head being pulled by something, whatever. I could see stairs but I forgot how to move my foot forward. I moved a step ahead and suddenly I stopped.

“What happened dude?” Ghosh came close and rocked me as I felt like someone waking me up from a dream.

“Walk fast or we will be late.” Ghosh again said.

It was strange that I walked out of the restaurant and it felt as if we rushed out of our hostel.

“Roshan, where the heck are you lost man? Its time where are the capsules and chits” Said Varun. He was also walking next to me.

“I don’t understand” I said as I began to search for something in my pockets and found some paper rolled inside.

“Thank god, you saved us bro. now the only problem is who’s going to plant this inside the lecture hall toilets.” He asked as every one of us looked at me instantaneously.I was their Savior.

For the last two semesters we have devised numerous ways to hide the chits, capsules and even books(some of which were from the college library). Be it the mechanics exam when we hid the books inside the flush tank or the physics exam where some of us decorated the whole lavatory with our creativity a night before the exams. There were a few instances in my schooldays when I got caught but its known ‘A wise cheater learns from his mistakes’.

I don’t really know what happened. The only thing I remember was walking on the streets. But what I was about to know couldn’t had been much worse. It was exam time, that too of geology.

I walked fast but it seemed to be a new path to the lecture hall.

I have never travelled from this route. I thought but I couldn’t surely say that it was the same route.

“We should take an auto.” Ghosh said.

“What? Why an auto. The lecture hall is at a walking distance” I moved ahead as I heard a loud horn reaching towards me but I could not figure out from which direction.

“Watch out Roshan.” Ghosh pulled me behind as I saw a truck miss me by a whisker. The loud horn really shook me up.

“Are you mad or what, you drunkard.”

The next thing I felt was like lying on the floor. I stood up by taking support of Ghosh’s hands and saw an inert crowd standing around me murmuring and looking towards me anxiously.

“Are you hurt?” Ghosh asked.

I denied. I felt no pain. I felt nothing as I stood up and we took an auto.
The wind was cold and I felt nice. As the auto moved ahead I was drawn into my dream once again.

“Are we there yet?” I asked.

“Almost there” Said Varun. He appeared to be the calmest of them all. His preparation was complete for the examinations. Varun has not failed in any of the exams till now and always came out with flying colors. He is the man with the best grades in our group and always gives tough competition out hard working mugger Adi. And today he was again ready with his chit bank.

“One reading, all the fundamentals are clear and it is also synchronized for better understanding in a jiffy. We are going to rock today Baby.Kya bolta hai, hai na bhai mein dum!!” He exclaimed as I gave him a high five.

“We are here” Varun said. He handed the notes and chits to me. He was right and I couldn’t deny it but suddenly I saw something which was more shocking. I saw Kalpana and Prerna standing at the lecture hall gates. I looked at Kalpana who was staring at me. She looked beautiful in the blue suit.

“Hey what am I thinking? I have to calm down. Control your emotions, Roshan” I said to myself. It was hard for me to control my emotions as I had a crush on her. Right from the first day in the college I had a crush on her. We are good friends. Kalpana is a nice girl. Apart from the fact that she is arrogant (at times uncontrollable) and a bit proud (as are the other girls in the college), but still I like her the way she is. The bad thing is Kalpana has a chain reaction of problems. The good thing is she always asks me for help whenever she has one.

“Roshan, you have to help me out with this. I am going to fail. I need some notes, some chits whatever you have” She said. She started crying which was weird and made me uneasy. I was stuck in a dilemma.

I thought of helping her but couldn’t make out what to do. Then I saw Professor Vera standing at the main door of my center. I was screwed. He was the strictest teacher in the campus and my impression on him only added a few more reasons to make me much more worried.

“What if he catches me red handed?”I was feeling the boost of adrenaline inside me as my heartbeat doubled in no time. Suddenly an idea struck my head.

“What if Kalpana plants the note. She is a girl and professors are quite soft hearted so they won’t doubt of her” I thought. Though I knew it was risky but still I decided to hand over the notes to her but on my terms.

“Ok, I’ll give you this only on one condition. You will have to plant this inside the toilet. Look, many among us need these notes during the exams hours or else we would fail too. Then only it will be helpful to all of us else everyone will fail.”

She nodded affirmatively as I gave her the notes. I walked towards the center as the bell rang. Strange the bell sounded like that of a cycle-rickshaw. Wait the lecture hall has no bell or alarm clocks installed.

“What has happened to you? Come on, why are you walking so slowly” Ghosh said as I realized that I had reached the institute main gate.

“What happened to the exam?” I asked him. He looked puzzled.

“What exam there was no exam? You are drunken man, nothing else. Now walk with me and keep your mouth shut.” Ghosh said and got hold of me as I walked forward. I felt someone pulling me by my arms. I was again swept into my dream.

“Hey Roshan, where are the notes buddy?” Varun said. The exam had started and half an hour had passed.

“In the toilets, where else do you expect them to be?” I replied.

“Are you sure? I searched everywhere and it was not there.”

“Yes I am sure I gave it to Kalpana and she planted……….”

What a duffer am I? How could I commit this crime?
I felt my hands shake and my voice tremble as I spoke the next few words from my mouth. What a #$@!^&G mistake it was!

“In the ladies toilets.”

Hibernation: PART-I: The confusion

“Wake up Sid”

The loud noise of the mobile banged my ears as I regained my toppled senses. It had become a routine for me to shut down the cacophony and prepare myself for another short nap. My laziness had devoured upon me. I pulled the blanket back on me.
One click on the mobile and a bang on the table clock can make the world so peaceful at times.

But soon I realized that I was not so early after all. I swiftly raised my hands and got hold of the table clock and took a brisk glance at it.

It was twelve in the afternoon.

Wait a second, something is wrong.

No not my waking up so early, such things often occur, something else. I don’t have a table clock.

I also don’t have any blanket. That is also not my alarm tone. That is not my mobile.

The big question is “Where am I?”

These few incidents had made a clear indication that I was not in my room.
I got up from the bed which was not mine. It’s strange when you wake up in some other room, on some others bed, at twelve in the afternoon and wearing someone else’s clothes.

I soon discovered it was Rajan Sir’s room. I was in the senior hostel.
“But why am I here?”
“What happened last night?”

My head was paining and I felt a little dizzy. I felt I saw a nightmare. I could somehow recollect the faint memories and my nightmare.

Last night we went to Equator. Late night party with batch mates and seniors is always fun. After all, nice music and glass of Beer can make anyone feel heavenly.

“I bet she is not a girl. She walks like a man, talks like a man; I think she should also shave like a man.” Rajan sir said as he finished his seventh drink of the night.

“Take another one Roshan.” Andy Sir said as he passed the bottle towards me. “So, where were we?”He continued.

“In the girl’s hostel” said Rajan sir who looked like drunk, waved like drunk, laughed like drunk. In short he was drunk. Everyone laughed. Sometimes I do wonder, don’t we have any other topic to talk about other than girls, guns, gadgets, gizmos and g mats.

Girls in our college, a pseudo concept, are worse than mirage or any other optical illusion. You look at girls, not girls who look like boys. Others, who can be considered, are much more proud than one expects. You can find the answers for the Bermuda triangle but this mystery will still leave many of the coming batches bewildered and baffled.

“Can we file a petition for “50% admission to girls in engineering colleges? Varun said.

“Bad joke, Matiyao” Said Ghosh who was not interested in having any sip further. I could see his fingers joggle. He was ready to retreat.

“What do you call when a butt catches fire?” Adi questioned.

Ghosh said “no answer.”

“Fire in the hole” Adi said as he laughed out loud and wild.

“Another cheap joke” Ghosh replied amusingly.

“Hey guys, when are the end semesters going to start.” I asked.

“Forget it Roshan, none of us are going to get A’s. We live in a C grade world and everybody expects us to B+.” said Andy sir.

“And a pack of cigarettes can help me forget every damn teacher’s face except for the English substitute teacher, she is an angel.”Adi said.

“Enough of this BC. No more talking about girls." Rohit said.

“I feel dizzy.” Rajan sir said as he stood up and sat down with a blink of an eye.
“Me too. Ghosh my friend, I love you mate.” Said Rohit bent to kiss Ghosh on the cheek.

Ghosh rocked back as Rohit kissed Adi on the forehead.

“What the hell is this?” he said annoyingly.

“Sit straight, you idiot. You are completely drunk dude.” I said as he moved towards me for sharing my share of his infinite love. I swung back instantly.

I took another glass as the drink now slowly got hold of me.

2. Earthquakes!

It was a heavenly feeling with a sweet tune running around me. Oh! It was wonderful. In front of me was a big ocean and clear sky. There were lush green ridges and quiet shores. I could hear a very sweet tune in the air and as I watch the sky I see seagulls pass by. The view was ecstatic. I could feel the nice cozy breeze and……

“ROCKS”

A sudden outburst of human voice hammered my eardrums.

“What’s the difference between a rock and a mineral?”
The voice continued as I opened my eyelids to take a view of a totally new yet so familiar world. It was then when I realized that my short visit of heaven has also got me a detour into the nightmare and that to without prior notice.

“Wake up Roshan.” A low and panicked voice accompanied by a feeling of being shaken drove me back to into the lecture hall.
“What’s the difference between a rock and a mineral?”
The voice rose again in the deep silence of the lecture hall. I recollected all my senses that I had given up minutes ago. It was quite as a necropolis.

“What happened?” I asked Shivam.
“Sir has asked a question about the difference between a rock and mineral”. He said.
“You know the answer?”
“I think know the answer but I am not sure about it.”He replied.
“Roll no. 3224” The professor called.

Anik stood up. Anik was one of the brilliant students of our class. He was always in the ‘guys with the grades’ list. But for the last few weeks he was struggling with the subject ‘geology’. He hated the subject. No matter how much he learnt, no matter how much he mugged it, he always failed to answer any question popped up in the class.

Anik has had some very bad instances during geological ventures in recent past. The professor caught him playing games on his mobile in between the class. The next week he caught Anik entering the class when he was about to leave. The worst happened few days earlier when somebody else gave the proxy and the professor was so sure of Anik being the culprit that he deduced his five days attendance.

Anik once said to me that if he gets a chance he would try to check the hardness of the rock with a human skull. Later I realized which skull he referred to. He always compared the professor with ‘the one who must not be named’ and today we were ready to witness another battle of his fear.

“Sir, a rock is an aggregate of minerals.” Anik replied.
“He is correct “Shivam said as I looked at him as Dhritrastra looked at Sanjay in Mahabharata. I had no clue what was going on.

“A mineral, on the other hand, is an inorganic, natural substance……”
“Good, it’s nice to see that you have started taking interest in the subject” The professor commented as I could see Anik’s middle finger rising in happiness.

“Sit down and the boy next to him now you stand up”.
Anik answered correctly which the teacher did not expected but guess who the boy next to Anik was. It was Saha.

I would not like to phrase any other quotes in the honor of Saha but I would curse him for raising another doubt in the class for which the professor searched for a volunteer just like a hunter searches for a hunt in hunting season after a whistle call.

I soon realized the call was mine. I had a gutsy feeling of running away from the class as fast as I can. Sometimes you wish you had some supernatural ability in you not to face the situations but to run away from them.

“Boy, tell me an example of a rock?”

Now that was tough one. For a boy like me who brooded on music rock was not a new term. Hard rock was my favorite. But judging by the face of the professor I realized that he was more shocking than rocking. No time for ‘head bangs’, as I felt of banging my head on the wall.

“Answer you fool?”Whispered Shivam “Say something, anything”

I heard him murmur some stone so I spoke whatever I could grab out of whatever he was trying to speak.

“What happened?” he asked again.

“Metallica”

Now, where in the whole damn world did that come out from my mouth? This was not the first time, but I hate being screwed up at such situations. I had got quite used to it now.

“Sir, The rolling stone” I said hesitantly. Another mistake what else can one expect.

“What?” The professor looked puzzled.


I again looked at Shivam searching for answers. My remarkably awkward answers at the first instance had driven appreciable spectators in the lecture hall.

“What did you just say?”

“A stone” I corrected. I knew I was close. Like they say I needed to break the ice as soon as possible.

“Limestone” Shivam whispered again.

“Sir , Flintstones.”

Now I was sure, I am doomed. What on earth am I doing? I am really not letting any ‘stone’ unturned for making the angry professor to kick my butts.

“Are you drunk?” The professor asked me a question which was not expected at all.

If we consider a drink taken about few hours ago to prove one as drunk then, I am certainly drunk in all standards. There had been incidents of guys coming to the class after having a few drinks and falling on the desks just at the wrong times and got caught. Surely I was involved with all that but this time It was not the case.

“Limestone” Shivam whispered again.

“Limestone” I again corrected and this time I finally got it right.

“Ok, sit down” said the professor who left the class with a murky look on his face.

It was just then when I realized that gravity was acting a bit more quickly upon me and that too with much larger intensity. I fell to the desk. It took a bruise on the chin to make me realize that I was drunk.

1. Mistaken identities

1. Mistaken identities

“What the f***”
Certainly this is not the best word to start your day with. But for us this was an appropriate expression uttered every day as routine.
“Seventh time this month, that to in a row. My mobile alarm sucks”

“Sure it does” Replied my roommate who, at that very moment, was busy playing counterstrike on the laptop. “You are running late for the class, as usual.”
“I am not any freaked up Einstein like you. Besides who cares for the damn lecture? Somebody will be making all the notes and all we’ll have to do is to mug up and vomit every bit of it on the answer sheet. By the way, do you know where I kept my pants yesterday?”

“They are on my bed. And please don’t keep your underwear on my bed.” Abhinav is quite serious when it comes to cleanliness. The last time I saw him in dirty clothes was when he came back from the football ground with dirt absorbed in every single bit of his t-shirt. That day he bathed thrice and cleaned his clothes till they are as good as new though this process took a whole night’s long time.

“ouuuww…kkkk…auyyy…..”I said while brushing my teeth. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I was looking rusty and my bulking eyebrows were clearly giving invitation to dreams.

“What time is it?”

“01:25”

“That means I have 4 minutes remaining. Cool isn’t it.”

“And you are supposed to take bath, dress up and take food in this big time gap. Does this seem cool to you?”

“I don’t think so. Can you give me my bag? It’s on your table.”

“Okay, wait a second. Here you go.” He said as he shot a perfect headshot in the game.

“What a shot dude. He didn’t even have a clue what hit him.”

“I think you should run for the class. Hurry up or you will be late. Professor Vera is very strict. If he gets hold of you, you are gone.”

Run: this is the only word in my dictionary which kicks the freaks out of me. To run for has become the part and parcel of my life now. But my instincts always favor the lazy side of me. I cared for good grades. I never participated in any extra-curricular activities. I never did anything which called for any nerve-bone coordination. But time always teaches me how to run. And god provided me the best tutors I could ever imagine.

My first tutor was my school bus driver who always used to reach the bus stop a minute before me daily and I had to run to catch it. Second was my neighbors’ dog that always chased me whenever I walked across the street to throw the trash. I used to run when I reached the railway station to catch the six o’clock local and saw it gaining pace right in front of my eyes. Though I got bruised and broke my leg once, years of practice has made me respect the place this word has in my life. Now it was my professor’s turn.

Abhinav was true. You got to be a rocket scientist to device a way out of this one. With two minutes to go and I had raced my way into the mess. The breakfast had begun but I had no time for public display of my table manners. I swiftly picked up whatever I could get hold of from the table. With a burger in one and notebook in the other I rushed out towards my goal, the lecture hall complex.

I started rattling my bag as soon as I finished the superfast breakfast.
“Pen…notebook….pencil….chewing gum... Wait a second, from where the hell that came from? Who cares?” I said as I popped it into my mouth. I felt my hands paining a bit. It must be the effect of last night. Last night we played badminton till five in the morning and when to sleep when we realized that it was not too dark after all.
Well there was a pair of hands that I never wanted to work fine. Those hands belonged to my wristwatch which very efficiently showed that now I was four minutes late for my class.

“The professor is going to kick me.” I murmured to myself.
The top view of my classroom at the lecture hall complex resembled a hexagon. With a blackboard on one of the wall and two doorways on the either sides of the wall facing them my class was situated at the main entrance of the complex.

As I reached the class I saw nearly everyone sitting and listening patiently to the daemon. I do not have any hard feelings for the professor. It’s just that the last few incidences we came across were no so joyous. Last week he caught me and Varun giving proxy for the same guy. Later he caught me again while I was trying to escape from the boring lecture. Again he caught me when I helped somebody runaway from the class. Today I did not wanted to add another incident in a not so cool list.

I sneaked in a few empty benches at the back and discovered that I might be able to reach the nearest row if the professor turns to the blackboard. I got a chance soon and I sneaked on my toes towards the closest bench. But one voice rose like an alarm in the air.

“Excuse me, sir. I think that there is something wrong in the solution.”

Curse me it was Saha.

The devil just rocked back towards Saha. What a reaction it was. This was not the first time I saw it but I was amazed to see that the whole class looked shocked as if the twin towers have fallen or a nuclear bomb has exploded. I was curious that the professor has spotted me or not.

“What is wrong in the explanation Saha?” The professor looked puzzled.
Arbind Saha is one of the most classic examples of our section’s wide diversity. This guy has problem in everything, be it from mathematics to theories of Plato. He is a true atheist (I say) and an irritating guy (everyone says). Every class we wait for Saha the great to rise up from his throne and raise the mighty voice of doubt and meaningless questions.

There was more than just one reason why everyone was annoyed with him. His doubts sometimes didn’t have earthly explanations. According to him having fun is against the moral rules of a good student. It was a fact that nobody ever saw Saha talking the other gender. I still don’t know whether Saha did not like to talk to girls or the girls stayed away from Saha.

But for now Saha was he villain of my dream to reach my destination and as the professor came towards the back benches and my tension rose that he might discover me. What started as a mathematical argument was turning out to be a very serious discussion. Neither Saha nor Professor Vera seemed to stop. The argument was raising the tension on many faces but I was the only one who was terrified. As usual the talk ended without any conclusion and Saha had o sit down silently with his chain reactions of queries.

But suddenly someone’s phone rang “dhoom machale” and the professor got distracted. This was my chance and I fluently jumped on to grab one seat nearby me. I was saved and Kalpana was ‘dhoomed’ as she got her share of the bitter words from the professor.

“Now who has solved the problem on the board?”
“What! The freak had given a problem to solve and in all this I did not even notice.” I murmured once again as I realized that mistakenly I brought Abhinav’s copy instead of mine in the class. But it was a blessing in disguise. He had solved the same problem in the class last week. It was easy for me to copy it down on a fresh paper now.

But the teacher thought otherwise.
“Boy in the red shirt. Yes, you at the back. Stand up and show me your copy.” Vera yelled out loud.
It was me.
“Yes sir I think I have solved it.” I said hesitantly offering the copy to him and praying that he does not see its cover.
“Very well, you solved the question correctly”
I was glad he didn’t notice.
“But wait; there is something you have done wrong”
I watched him as sweat poured by my eyebrows and I felt my throat wobble. Save my soul.
“You wrote the date wrong….today is tenth not seventh.”

I grabbed the copy back as soon as I saw the sign of satisfaction on the face of the professor. I took a sigh of relief.