proxy of the semester

dear blog

what a wonderful day it was! First, i got up at the right time to attend AK 47's class. In the next class, i did, perhaps, the most daring act of my life!

It all happenned like this.. My friend- T0 (pronounced 'Tee knot') and I walked up to the microDARDonics class 15, minutes after the time, confident that the teacher would let us come in. We entered to find only about 20 people ,in a batch of 60,attending the class. Just as we sat down on the last bench, we complied all the data. The data was the roll numbers for which we had to call out proxy attendances. We divided them equally amongst ourselves. So, i had to answer the roll call four times.

During the lecture, we got two more requests from our friend from Agra, to call out some of 'his' proxies, to reduce his burden. He was originally sent by his 'Board' with a mission to to call out 8 proxies, apart from his own! We agreed to call out two of his proxies. So, each of us had five roll numbers to call.

At that time, my lecture notebook looked something like this-

microDARDonics
15.2.08

05409
05422
054XX
054XX
05XXX

(the actual roll nos have been censored on public demand!)

the numbers on the page were the rolls numbers for which i had to say 'Yes Sir' or whatever i liked. In the rest of the lecture, we discussed many other important issues like organising the mass bunk for the practical class that day, the design of some pages of SRIJAN, the state of our college 10 years from now, US presidential elections and the effect of global warming on Hamirpur.
still, when the lecture seemed nowhere near its end, we started playing tic-tac-toe.

finally, after 11 games of tic-tac-toe, the teacher stopped teaching and picked up his attendance register. We pulled up our socks and got ready for our jobs. Things went on smoothly till the roll number 440.

It was then that the teacher realised that there were too few people in the class and too many on the attendance sheet. So, he cancelled the whole attendance and started taking our attendance again. but this time, he didn't go roll number wise! He went seat wise. He asked every person his roll number and then marked him present in his register. this way, he had planned to cover the entire class, minus the proxies.

I was sitting on the last bench of the fourth row. so, my turn came after a lot of time. just as i had answered my roll call, an idea stuck me. i noticed that the teacher took about five seconds to search for a roll number on his register and mark him present. during this time, he just looked at his register. so, i wondered if i could quickly move to second bench of the fifth row in five seconds, to call out a proxy. also, he being a new teacher doesn't recognise me. luckily, i was wearing a huge pullover at that time. in one 'five seconds' i took my pullover off and kept it on the bench. in the next 'five seconds', i reset my hair and straigtened my T shirt. in the next 'five seconds', i quietly moved to the second bench and sat with one of my classmates started cursing me in 'Full Spirit'. It was then that my 'new neighbours' realised what i was upto! someone told me to go back. some other guy told me that i will be dead meat if i get caught, which, according to them, i was sure to get. somebody else told me that the teacher would recognise me for sure. some other said that i will get a suppli. even the girls sitting near me started whispering. probably they were telling me to back off. at that time, i heard a voice- loud and clear- 'You can do it! Go Go Go..' that voice came from my mind! that voice was louder than all the wispers around me. hearing that voice, i told everybody to shut up and act normal, which they thankfully did.

Then, when my turn came again, the teacher asked me my roll number, in full pain(!). i could not believe it. i thought that he was asking the one sitting behind me. then he asked me again. Probably the changed colour of my clothes( grey pullover to brown shirt) fooled him. anyway, i utterred 'four twenty two' , in full confidence with a serious face. he stared at me for one full second. that was the longest second of my life. i thought that he had recognised me. then, my heart leaped up when he marked 'my' attendance and moved on to the next one.

Soon the attendance was over and the teacher left the room. I felt like a hero! the whole class hailed me! those who were cursing me earlier now gave me high fives! even the girls were smiling at me, when i changed back into the pullover. even long after the class, people, including the topper, hailed me all the way back to the hostel. even i don't know where i got the guts from at that time! everybody was full of praise for me.

today, only one proxy was called. and i did that!

later in the evening, anybody, from any branch, whom i met had heard of my heroic deed. it feels great. people even said that it was the 'proxy of the semester'! i'm on top of the world!

this day will be fresh in my mind forever...