EXAMS

 

Exams were invented/discovered to analyse and improve the student function and to improve his ability to face the world. Exams were a tool for the teachers to evaluate the the students understand the blindspots and fill them.

In ancient times the students left their homes and lived with their teachers , rishis and yogis would come to their houses and select their pupils and take them to train the as per their requirements. These trainings would consist of reading of vedas and purans, reciting the mantras and others spiritual practices. Focus was to create a well rounded individual who can face the array of difficulties and challenges life throughs at us.

Students were also taught to defend themselves, cook, farm and take care of cattle and other domestic animals. Apart from that one teacher only had 2-5 students at his attention. This built a strong connection between the guru and sheeshya, many could call them a team and they were indeed.

An example of individual training comes from a story from Mahabharat.

Once Dronacharya the guru of pandavas and kauravas brought his students together in  front of a tree. He said “ There lies a bird on the branch of that tree, I want you to aim at the eye of the bird! Every one of you come ahead and tell me what you see before shooting.”

First comes Duryodhan he said “ I see the world, the Lucius blue sky, dense green leaves, my guru’s feet and a bird.”

Likewise the rest students come and go, some say they see the sky, leaves, trees, birds and many other things, with Arjun coming last,

Guru enquires him to tell what he sees, Arjun replies “ My respected guru, I only see the eye of the bird!”

To which Dronacharya commands him to shoot, and the arrow goes straight across the eye of the bird.

Guru stops and teaches the lesson of focus and determination, he teaches the students how the mind sees what you show it, and to focus on your goal you have to eliminate the entire universe and what remains becomes your soul purpose, he appreciates Arjun for being the only 1 who understood this. This was a lesson all.

He again goes each student and points out how and where they went wrong in applying the concepts, for example he taught Duryodhan that how his cunning nature and flunkeyism couldn’t help him achieve the goals he wants, he understood it when the sheeshya included the feet of his teacher when he described what he saw.

 

Just like this there are many anecdotes that explain how the Indian education worked, stories of Chanakya and Chandra Gupta, how they both dedicated their life to each other as a common goal to make India great. They tell us how close the student teacher relationship was, and how the early part of a students learning dictated not only his survival skills but also his personalities and moral skills.

As a teacher Tenali Rama used to give moral dilemmas and puzzles to students to better understand the human psychology and how to bring out the best solution to Rajya samasya, without hurting the people and rajkosh!

Exams have always been a part of learning process and for the most part they were surprise and without a syllabus. Well I was never a part of a gurukul but I can understand that the students were never afraid of the exams nor they tried to copy other students to get better grades, that’s because there were never any grades. Students were there to learn and make themselves better, each student learnt a different lesson, skill, and power throughout their course in ashram. They were free to choose their areas of specialization, whether it be gada youdh, or dhanur dhar. Arth shastra or kumbhari, it was the guru’s duties to identify the talents of the child and encourage him I that field. Guru shaped the life of the student.

Kabir wrote this Doha

 

“ Guru Govind dono khade, ka ko lage paye, balihari guru apne, govind diyo bataye.”

 

Which loosely translates to, “I have my teacher and god himself in front of me, now whom should I worship first? I conclude to greet my teacher first as without him I would never about god”

Such was the conditioning of the students. Today when I reflect on myself I find myself fearing exams , not knowing what to do if I don’t know answer to a question, what if they asked something out of syllabus ? did I read all the reference books available in library, what if they asked out of thelatest edition of the books? Are my notes good enough ? what are the toppers studying from? How do they do it?

Such questions take me to the whirlpools of thoughts and comparisons and self doubt, because my efforts are not a subject of me alone but also the syllabus, my handwriting, my presentation, my attendance( not attention), my behavior in class and with teacher, hell! My marks depend on the mood of the examiner when he’s reading my paper.

Moreover, it depends on how accurately I memorise the books and how beautifully I regurgitate it on the paper!

According to me the student should feel he achieved something after giving the exam by the thought that he could apply what learned, not after the results come seeing an A or 90% in the marksheet. A student should not be feeling relived that the exam is over and doesn’t have to mug up stuff he does not want to, we as student should inculcate a deep fire for learning , maybe not the school/ colleges teach but what genuinely interests us. We as teachers or elders to our young ones should test them and prepare them for the challenges you faced in your life, try to make them a better and well rounded person, strong and fit to handle the world as it comes.

I hope in the coming time the students don’t fear the exams, compare themselves to other students,but built a foundation, work on their talents, minimize their errors and be masters of what they truly want to be.