ABSTRACT
It was January and the twelfth standard students of Brahmacharya Vidya Mandir and Higher Secondary School of Jesus were two months away from the end of their school days. However, the atmospheres in the urban and the peripheral schools were markedly different. In the city school, teachers had rushed through their ‘portions’ to finish by November (having started in June), which meant that students had been officially on study leave in order to prepare for their final exams for quite a while already. Students had long finished their first and second ‘models’ (mock final exams), practical models, the actual practical Board exams, and were on study leave preparing for the Boards. They came to school for clarification and revisions on set times and dates. The ambience of these sessions was solemn. On one occasion, I was able to catch a glimpse of a maths revision session through one of the few classroom blinds that was not fully shut. Students, with absolute concentration, stared at the blackboard where the teacher went over some problems. The imminence of the Boards kept everyone tense and focused.
