You waited? Of course❤️

The reward for my punctuality was to wait for the late comers to arrive. I wrote this while describing about the art of waiting as an activity. I am often caught waiting for others because of always being on time, but the waiting I am going to describe in the coming paragraph is a waiting I signed up for myself voluntarily.

My 48 year old mother had an exam scheduled on this Sunday, almost 27 kms away from our home. I know the first question to address is why my mother is required to give an exam as a 48 year old. Well, it's a long story- a recent Supreme Court judgement made a teacher's eligibility test mandatory, for all teachers to pass to remain in service. My mother joined as a teacher way before this test came into existence but now she is required to pass this exam for job security. I know the second thought is- Isn't it unjust, cruel and apathetic? Well, it's a short story- It is what it is, accept the court's judgement and just pass the test. 

I know the third thought would be to know my mother's and other teachers struggle while re-learning and re-opening those dusty books which were stacked in the bottom-most row of the bookshelf since time immemorial. Well, I agree their struggle is worth sharing, but as per our custom, struggle stories are shared only after acheiving success with a motivational song running in the background. Therefore, I'll share the intricate details of my mother's struggle after she gets her favourable results. Till then, please pray for her to pass so that she regains her confidence to do anything and everything. 

A fourth thought would be if I am not addressing the elephant in the room (my mother's struggle), then what is this write-up supposed to be about. Well, remember the first paragraph about waiting? Yes, this is supposed to be a detailed account of my longest wait of approx 8+ hours as I decided to accompany my mother to her exam centre located in the middle of kilometers of Sarson ke khet. 

Her exam was in 2 shifts- Paper 1 from 9:30 to 12:30(morning) and Paper 2 from 2:30 to 5(evening). Given my expertise in giving exams, I planned to leave our house at 7 am, reach the centre by 8 and make her entry by 8:30. Thought was to give her enough time to get comfortable with the exam environment and also have enough time to reach another centre if we get to know that we arrived at a wrong centre. Also what if our auto's tire gets punctured in the middle of a road with no vehicle in sight? Thus, my planning had to take account of all such what ifs. 

We reached the centre precisely at 8 am. Upon seeing the surrounding, our auto uncle told my mother didi kya karengi yahaan dhoop mein....bohot lamba samay hai shaam ko lene aajayengi. My mother was also slightly convinced by his suggestion as there was no appropriate area visible for waiting. I didn't want to leave her alone at the centre. What if my mother wants something during the exam? More than what if, I just wanted to be there with her and witness her raw reaction after giving the exam. I wanted be with her during the break time and make sure she eats properly and rests adequately. I wanted to make sure she doesn't have to worry about anything apart from her paper. I know, my mother is independent enough to manage everything on her own, but I just wanted to be her safety net for that day.

My mother understood my feelings and told the auto uncle that I will call him if I needed to go back. Outside the centre, I checked my mother's roll number and her alloted hall for the exam. Made sure she does not have any metal in her outfit, she has all the pens working, has enough water and the photo, ID and admit card are safe in her hands. I was way more panicking and cautious than her. After making sure everything's right, my mother made her entry. I told her I am standing at the gate for 20 minutes, if she needs anything she can comeback. 20 minutes passed and my mother didn't come back means she had entered her exam hall successfully.

My first part of job was done, but my heart didn't want me to leave the gate yet. So, I stayed there and witnessed other candidates ranging from 24 year old to 55 years old entering the centre's gates. Aunties were accompanied by their husbands. Female candidates were advised to not wear any metal jewellery not even their mangalsutra. So the aunties who were coming after ages to give exams didn't know about this. They hurriedly yet cautiously removed the metals and handed them over to their trusted keepers.

 An aunty enters the gate but comes back as she forgot to touch her husband's feet for good luck. Uncle, in a reflex places his hand on her head but doesn't move a facial muscle in the process. Even though uncle didn't utter a word, I could almost feel as if uncle found it cute when aunty came back to touch his feet for blessing. This write-up is not going to address the social politics of wife touching husband's feet, this write-up will include this event because I found it cute. Maybe uncle and aunty didn't feel comfortable in exchanging best wishes in words or touching each other's feet is their way of showing love and respect....who am I to judge?

All these little details are important for me to write, because apparently this was the first time I stood waiting on the other side of an exam centre's gate. Our centre was located in sarson ke khet with only a narrow kacchi sadak leading to the centre. Constant announcements were made for vehicles to vacate the area outside the gate, so there isn't any traffic caused. An unusual yet hilarious announcement of Gaadi hataiye, naksha matt mariye drew my attention. A boyfriend on his superbike was standing there dropping his girlfriend and holding her hand wishing her best for the exam. Maybe this was their way of showing love.....again, who am I to judge? But yes, sadly the boy had lost all his aura points when the entire attention shifted towards them by the announcement.

In the exam, I always wondered about the psychology of people who used to enter at the last moment. I thought of them as risk takers who were too cool to wait in an exam hall. When the gate was about to get closed, these people made their grand entries, with cars suddenly stopping in the middle of the road, its gates opening, candidate off-loading half closing their car's gate, directly entering the centre's gate without checking their hall numbers and of course the public convincing the guard to let them enter. How can people like me who reach atleast an hour before every exam, ever become this cool? 

Well, now the gate has closed means my mother has her OMR in her hand. Which means now I have to find a place to sit and wait. Others had come with chatai which they laid in khet to rest. I didn't want to rest surrounded by so many people but also not wait in a secluded place in view of my personal security. Fortunately, I located a parked auto 100 metres away from the centre. I comfortably placed myself on the driver's seat. Why driver's seat and not passenger seat? Because what if someone starts the auto and I am not reflexive enough to get off? Thus the driver's seat was more secure. However nonsensical the reasoning sounds, this is my lived reality and I am not proud of it.

After some time, a middle aged uncle also came to sit on the auto's passenger seat. You see, if I had chosen the back seat, someone would have occupied the driver's seat and then I would feel uncomfortable. Though, the uncle was nice and he didn't interfere and respected my privacy. 

After seeing the time, I made up my mind that I have approx 2 hours to pass. I had come prepared for the long wait with my tablet, one book, snacks and everything I might need. I thought of listening to a podcast, but somehow couldn't concentrate on either of it. The silence in my surrounding was so soothing, I didn't want to concentrate on anything apart from feeling the wind on my face, smelling the freshness in the air and hearing chirping of birds. I liked how the sarson plants swirled in sync with winds. I have been to villages, but never had the time to observe and feel the silence and slow moment of time. I enjoyed it.

I had two phones with me, one my own and another of my mother. I thought of calling my relatives with whom I had not spoke to in a while. When I opened my mother's call app, none of our relatives were on the recent dials. Due to exams, my mother was only taking essential calls. We have to compromise and change so many of our habits for that one exam. Nevertheless, I started ringing all my relatives one by one, and they all told they were scared of calling as my mother would get disturbed. I empathised with them and shared how this week was tough for me too, as my mother constantly scolded me for disturbing in her preparation.

After constantly talking to my relatives, I brought two packets of Taka-Tak. Since the centre was located in the village, the village economy made profits from the exams by setting snack shops near the centre. Everything from chai to chola samosa to puri sabzi to bread pakora were freshly made and served to its targeted beneficiaries. I contributed my share by purchasing 2 taka-taks, 2 chai and 4 samosas. 

Two hours passed in no time. I was again standing near the gate waiting for my mother to return. The guards located me near the gate, smiled at me or at the role-reversal of children taking their parents for exams. The guard uncles were also supportive, they asked me if I had eaten something or found a place to rest. I replied with a yes and showed them the packet of samosas which I had got packed for my mother.

Familiar faces were seen again waiting at the gate, same set of people who I saw in the morning were again on their duty. The same cars again began to come. These 10 minutes were taking more time to pass compared to the the combined 2 hours which flew in no time. Then the bell rang, it meant my mother has completed her exam and the OMR is being collected. Within the next 2 minutes,  the gate opened, candidates started coming out, there was lot of commotion outside. People coming out were passing remarks that the paper was lengthy, they couldn't complete. 

My heart paced a little wondering how my mother's paper might have went. Then suddenly amidst the crowd, I located my mother coming with a smile on her face, looking like a penguin walking at snails pace. She somehow looked the cutest among everyone. I waved at her and she approached me. I asked her about the paper, she said it was lengthy but she managed to complete. And this is how the first half of my waiting story gets completed. 

I didn't expect my write-up would be this long but sharing unnecessary details is slowly becoming my signature style. I wanted to write chiefly about the second half which is more interesting but for it to come, you will have to Wait. Also, thank you for reading my longest written post till date.....You read? Comment, Of course❤️