I, The Absolute

I have never been particularly offended by low marks. I don’t remember of having come in top 10 ever in my entire schooling. I was worried only once when my mother, frustrated not knowing what to do with me, tore my progress-card. I never used to study. Din’t know if the results were because of lack of grey matter or hard work. Enter +2, it became worse. Life used to be movies and more movies. Just managed to pass. The same is the case with under-graduate studies. Low marks were a habit with me.

When I joined my first job, I realized that I was doing better than my peers. I used to reflect on my marks and wonder if the marks ever represented what I am. But when I consistently performed well over my nine years of experience, competing with reasonably competent people, I was convinced that marks had nothing to do with my capabilities.

Today again when the economics marks were given out, I felt no pinch. I din’t even bother to check my answers with the correct answers. Term I is a fait accompli as far as marks were concerned. It hardly mattered to me. I think I have understood Economics to some extent. I know when I go back to the industry and make decisions, I will surely use what I learnt here and feel better than those marks would ever make me feel.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the system of exams and the classroom pedagogy are designed to test a few aspects of intelligence; never the person himself. Some people master to beat the system all the time. (I did it for once when I got good percentile in GMAT.) If I ask them to talk about some topic or write about it impromptu, they would fumble. But they can get good marks in the exam. Same is the case with class participation. Some people are hyper-active here. But take them aside and seek clarifications, you may not get much out of them. Some others are actually good; but don’t stand a chance in class participation. Today it happened with one guy in our class. A good presenter, good writer, has a clearer mind; but could not bring himself to talk about a topic in the class. Had to be motivated. Don’t think it is not without reason that the H/S/W have a grade non-disclosure policy.

Am I finding excuses for bad grades? No. To prove it to myself that I am not cooking up excuses and just for the sake of it, I want one A+ from a subject (accounting / finance, perhaps) before I leave ISB. I will write about my feelings, if ever the marks enthuse me, when I get A+.