At the eleventh hour, everything seems to go haywire. The confusion created by examination phobia doesn’t let us prepare even a single chapter without haste. As we prepare a chapter, the next chapter comes to mind and erases whatever we’ve learnt. Ultimately, our mind goes completely blank as we sit for examination.

The following may be a traumatic situation experienced by a student struggling with his brain during the examination.

Brain (sleeping): Grrrrr...

Student: Come on! Wake up! Help me out!

Brain: Oh no! Why are you disturbing me? Can’t you see I’m sleeping?

Student: I’m taking my examination. I need

your help.

Brain: Sorry, chap! I’ve nothing to help you with.

Student: Please, don’t be so mean. Without you, I can’t get through.

Brain (annoyed): What do you think of me? Am I a machine? I’ve been continuously toiling for several days without any rest. I need five to six hours of rest at least.

Student: Oh, pal! It’s not the time to argue. Time is elapsing and I have a lot more questions to answer. Simply tell me the answer to this question.

Brain: I’m sorry. Nothing is stored in my cerebrum.

Student: What! I remember storing plenty of data late night.

Brain: Of course, you did store. But you stored loads of data so quickly that I couldn’t process them well and I was exhausted too. Consequently, I lost them all.

Student: How can my night-long effort go in vain?

Brain: Dear friend, you’ve never tried sharpening me. Every time you stuff me with useless games, soap operas and movies. On other days I’m always idle, but always overloaded prior to any examination. All these have weakened me, in fact, my storage capacity.

Student (weeping): Forgive me for the last time. From the next time, I promise to prepare beforehand.

Brain: Anyway, I’ll help you get through this time.

Student (smiling): Thank you very much.

— Sudhir Shrestha,

Class IX, South Point Boarding High School