CONTROL + C, CONTROL + V

A few days back I went to a photocopy shop to get a copy of my driving license.  The shopkeeper was busy copying a textbook.  As I waited, I remembered that my brother, while he was in college, when he could not get a book prescribed by the University anywhere, borrowed it from his college library and copy-wrote the whole text.  He got so thorough with the content because of this exercise that he never again had to read it for his exams.  I thought of advising the students who were waiting to collect the copies to do a similar exercise, but refrained thinking that it was unethical to do so in a photocopy shop.  When the shopkeeper finished the job and started sorting the copies, I noticed that the size of the text was reduced to the size of a palm.  I have observed in offices when a user of a photocopier enlarges or reduces the standard copy size and doesn’t reset the settings after use, the subsequent user ends up taking the copies as per the previous setting.  Assuming the shopkeeper had inadvertently copied the sheets at a reduced size, I informed the shopkeeper. He did not respond to my comment and continued sorting.  Only when the shopkeeper smiled looking at me through the corner of his eyes while handing over the sheets to the students, I realized that they are bits.  (Bits in student parlance in Tamilnadu are pieces of answer sheets carried on one’s person to examination hall, hidden from the invigilators.  It has a totally different meaning in the adult world.  Now that the “Kolaveri” is a big hit, it is high time the world learns some of the euphemisms in Tanglish.)

For a moment I thought I should advice the boys, but soon changed my mind.  I should confess it is not just because of my resolution not to give unsolicited advice, but also because I was little intimidated by the body language of the over-grown boys.  They probably had read my mind while I tried to read their school name from their badges.  I silently collected my license and the copy and left the shop.

Throughout my student life, I never copied.  Not that I was very principled.  I just didn’t have the opportunity.  My parents were very strict and ensured that we (I and my siblings) didn’t carry our textbooks and notes to school on the days of examination.  They thoroughly checked our pencil and geometry boxes for possible “bits” before we left to the school.  Moreover, I and my siblings studied in the same school and we acted as checks on each other.  Any mischief was reported back home at light speed.  Also, I was caught in the personality cage of a “good girl” and I worked hard to maintain that image. 

On a few occasions while writing exams when I failed to recollect a formula or a phrase in a definition, I looked forward for some prompting from the girls sitting next to me, but I was never lucky.  The girls who were ready to help didn’t have an answer and those who knew, didn’t want to help.  I was initially magnanimous in helping my classmates, but over a period of time, I developed a unique style of writing and so didn’t want anyone to copy my answers.

While I was in my 2^nd year of college, we had a class test.  The lecturer excused herself after dictating questions.  There was a festive mood in the class when the lecturer left the room, which lasted only for a few minutes.  The paper was so tough that none of us knew the answers.  Most of us could not comprehend the questions and could not identify the chapters from which the questions were asked.  Some brave girls opened the books looking for answers, but failed to locate them.  The lecturer returned and collected the answer sheets.  The entire class failed and we had a retest.  The lecturer later said that she wanted us to understand the concept of “open book system” of exams.

Coming to the present, I feel we are all hypocritical.  We happily copy ideas, fashions, technology, content, tunes, designs, trends etc. and with the advancement and penetration of the world wide web, all that we do most is Control + C and Control + V, but insist that the students follow the old pattern of examinations.  Isn’t it time for a change? Why preach what we cannot practice?