ஆத்தா நான் pass ஆயிட்டேன்

That was the name of a movie that was released many years ago. It was one of those village themed ones that were quite popular and almost mandated by every movie producer in the late 80s.

The phrase has been used exceedingly by students over the years, when they return home after seeing their exam results in school or college. And I have used it many times myself, the last occasion being this evening.

As I may have ranted in these earlier posts of mine, my employer warrants that all employees must take up a few certification exams every year, failing which their promotions and increments are impacted. I cleared only 1 out of the 2 mandated for last year and I had to clear 2 this year.

I had already given a few attempts at one of these certifications, but the result was always the same - Failed. It didn't help that the pass percentage was set as 70% whereas in my student life, I managed to cross that number only in my practical exams.

Anyways, this morning, I took up one of the certifications for this year. This was relatively an easy one considering that it involved a lot of banking knowledge. Any person who has been following the recent economic crisis would be able to quickly relate to mortgages, second liens etc. And that was basically the syllabus for the exam I took up today.

And the best thing was that I actually studied the material for this exam on Sunday evening. I resisted the urge to watch movies and surf the net and instead, studied for this exam. Even this morning while driving to work, I asked my friend to question me on some of the topics from the material!

I said many a prayer before I left home and my mother also did her exam ritual of applying viboothi on my forehead. At the exam centre at work, I logged into the system and before clicking the confirm button to take the test, I said another round of prayers.

I started answering the questions and found that the paper was relatively easy. There were 60 questions in all and I could say that I was unsure of at least 8 questions. And since I am bound to make mistakes due to my tendency to read fast, I must have screwed up another 4-5 more.

I submitted the paper and once again prayed for a good result and Voila!!! The screen said that I had score 72%. The sick sadist who designed this online exam system has tried to play a neutral tone and the result never announces whether one has passed or not. It only shows the score you obtained.

I came out and checked with my friends who all unanimously said that 70% was the pass-mark. One person even said that it was 65%. In any case, it was clear that I had passed this exam.

When I came home and announced to my mother "ஆத்தா நான் pass ஆயிட்டேன்", she was quite ecstatic. I don't think she was this happy even when I cleared a career altering certification in my previous employment. She was quite eager that I pass this one and has been saying her share of prayers. Guess all that worked in my favor today.

In terms of illogical reasons of why I passed, I can also include the fact that the material that I studied from was originally printed by a friend of mine and it was then passed on to me by another friend. Both these people clear their exams quite effortlessly and I guess their luck rubbed on to me a little.

Any which way, I am one happy man considering that one of my 3 exams are done. The next lot is on the 16th and I am actually going to be writing 2 in a single day. God bless me!