The Real Deal: Being an A Level Student

Being in class XII is an experience one cannot simply just explain. There are so many strange new complexities which present themselves over the course of the year, and it takes quite a bit of head-scratching and puzzling over to get even a small light of comprehension as to what's going on. 

Take for example, the subjects you have to study. Initially, at the start of the year, there is an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction at the thought of studying fewer number of subjects - something everyone in school can relate to. And then...the world turns upside down. Chemistry becomes a subject which can render you so chemically unbalanced that you can soon be found marching up and down corridors talking about 'degenerate complex d-orbitals of electrons in complex ion formation' and other hideous-sounding things. Physics progresses along well until you take your first test. Economics makes you feel incrementally proud of yourself as you count the number of red ticks on an answer (49, 50, 51...) and then brings your morale crashing down with a low final score (8/12).

I remember how the A level semesters began, with two free periods on average every alternate day at the very least. There was a tangible sense of ease: naturally, as these were follow up years to the class X boards which haunted our lives earlier. The young few months of A Levels were kind to us, with little homework, simple introductory topics in new courses and the chance to throw yourself back into competitions and events. But as the year progressed, so did the work.

We've always heard about a 'huge jump in work' between classes X to XII, but it's usually dismissed with a shrug or a 'we're lucky we aren't in Class XII then!' with a side of raucous laughter. But now that we've ordered the dish ourselves, and have realised its enormity, there's one bit of advice I think every A Level student will hand out - "Be ready to hurl, because this food just won't go down easily."

Perhaps the worst are all the college applications, but that's a whole other story.
It's all very confusing for the average student. It's also very taxing. But believe it or not, as the year comes to an end, I'm going to miss being an A Level student.

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The Horror: Hospital Waiting Rooms

Having been recently forced to endure a painful hour and half at a waiting room at a hospital, I can safely say that it is one of the worst punishments you can ever burden one with. It's quite a pain, even with the usually comforting blessings of music, headphones and good company.

The arrangement of chairs in the waiting room is strange: each is amazingly well placed to directly face another, resulting in a necessity to stare into another person's worried face at some point or another. It's not pleasant at all. At first, you're sure you can handle it; indulging in a little staring match is engaging, sure. But slowly, you realise how unnerving it really is. Relentlessly, in every second marked by the ticking of the obnoxiously loud clock on the wall, the other person will stare at you, using their powers of deduction to guess your ailment and just how contagious it is. Naturally, sitting in a hospital, their medical diagnosis can be trusted to be accurate and fair. But no matter what they finally deduce, they will continue to glare at you as if any moment you're going to leap up and burst into a rainbow-hued flame. It's lovely.

Aside from the delightful company you have, there are many more things that highlight the pain of waiting rooms. Doctors, being the incredibly busy people that they are, handle almost 100 patients a day, at least 50 animals, a few stray aliens and the odd inanimate object and hence often have no time to press the button to call in the next patient. Understandably, it means a 5:30 appointment will be pushed back to 7:15, for the greater good of course. Now you may not be prepared for this, and may just end up sitting aimlessly amongst a group of equally bored and worried patients, each waiting to maul one another to meet the doctor first. No matter how much you may feel like it, do not, under any circumstances, attempt to begin conversation with anyone you do not know at a hospital waiting room.

If you do, you're in for a long, detailed and often gruesome tale about the person's ailment, why they got it, when they got it, where they got it, who they got it from, what it does to them at different times of the day, the worst thing it's done to them, the various forms of medicine they eat and just how lovely their doctor is and how you should never meet him until they're done with him because quite obviously, they're about to drop dead from whatever it is they're ailing from. Trust me, looking away is just a whole lot safer.

It's easy to get bored and simply listening to music on your headphones and counting the number of tiles the overhead false ceiling is made of just doesn't cut it. You need something to do, and nothing around you seems very helpful in giving you it. When a good song comes up, you'll momentarily forget being bored in a wild attempt to control your overwhelming dancing desires and might give in, just to see how the zombies around you would react. If you do decide to, video record and email the carnage to me please.

Perhaps waiting rooms are integral to the functioning of a well - rated hospital, but honestly, I see a lot more practicality in allowing patients barging into offices rather than letting them rot and morph into zombies who'd storm offices anyway. Just some food for thought. Speaking of food...catch you later readers.

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Resolutions - 2013

The end of another year draws eerily close, yet again, and it's almost time to say goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013. But how will the new year be? This year, things were chaotic, confusing, wild, joyous, fun and frenetic: in short, just as expected. Two thousand and twelve was a great year, and hopefully, the next can give it a run for its money.

With every new year comes a deep, burning desire to change something about yourself; to make a few hundred resolutions. Of course, adhering to them is another thing altogether but it's always admirable to want to. I've already heard a a few resolutions being dropped heavily all around: 'Going to become thinner by March', 'Going to buy myself the iPhone 5S', 'Going to learn how to jet ski for my next vacation to Hawaii', 'Must plan a vacation in Hawaii', 'Will wake up before 9AM at least 10 Sundays of the year' and so on and so forth. Dreamers, all of them, and specially the last one. Give up Devesh.

But despite the general amusement I always place about new year's resolutions, the trend is amazingly catchy. And so, I'm going to make a few resolutions, honestly from the bottom of my heart, to change in the following ways:
- I will not sing while listening to music on my headphones. In public. On a weekend.
- I will not, despite the all-consuming drive I'm sure I'll have to do it, write a paper titled 'A Study On The Highly Volatile and Intriguing Natural Tendencies Present in Adolescent, Aggravated and Starving Teens Preprandial'. Sorry world. You'll just have to wait for somebody else to do it.
- I will not mock Apple's launch of the new IPhone 5S sometime late next year: we all know it's going to happen.
- I will, as righteously suggested by a friend, attempt to grow and maintain my Sherlock style hair for as long as possible or until mum finds out. Whichever comes first.
- I resolutely resolve to abide as reliably as I resolutely can to these resolutions until the resolve is no longer resolute or until I forget the the meaning of resolute. (It's not far off)

As you can clearly tell, I've put my heart and soul into these ground-shaking and momentous declarations that I've announced for the next year, and I'd like to see you try and best mine. Comment away or drop me a message on Facebook.

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