Why exams are unfair!!

UNFAIR would be a universally-agreed-seven-star-rated understatement for these darned exams! They seem to be totally useless and pointless; unnecessarily a stupid burden on us poor kids, who have to sacrifice our otherwise normal-and-fun-filled life during exams and enter into a pathetically bored existence.

I fail to understand a single positive in the concept of exams. Okay, maybe everything would be disillusioned otherwise, there would be no means of evaluation and how would students get admitted to schools and colleges? I am mostly speaking of our Bharat's a.k.a. India's educational system, which is simply too much of a pain! I mean, even the texts in the super-fast-sleep-inducing-textbooks say 'India's Education System is faulty' (this was really a line in one of my books :/ ).

A few REAL reasons why such exams are unfair (and pointless, useless, and many more suitable 'less'es :P ):

1. Wrong criteria for judgment.

Tell me, how can anyone judge someone's capabilities and abilities through a two or three hour examination, where we pour out all magnanimous stuff we've literally crammed inside our small heads, peppered with a few fancy words coming out of our writing capabilities. (OK, agreed. They can measure intelligence, though only up to a limit, and limited to the measly subject). What if someone who's really knowledgeable, falls ill and is just able to write a few sentences? What if a moron decides to cheat from his blackberry and the unsuspecting invigilators don't notice, and he ends up topping the exam? It's just not fair. Not a single teeny weeny bit. 

2. The 'Image' behind the exam scores

I am still to find a sane student who wants to get a good score for philosophical stuff like 'personal satisfaction', 'self-achievement' or 'moral values'. All we want to ensure is that our self-respect or 'image' isn't  spoiled. We don't want to be perceived as failures or kids without any intellect. Is that the purpose for which exams were invented in the first place? I highly doubt that. 

3. They ruin our normal (and social) life anyway

That's the worst part! Tell your parents the dates of your exams and listen to the endless list of forbidden things! (that's a different story that we're experts at finding out loopholes). You're not allowed to read your novels, because you're supposed to read only incomprehensible textbooks! Forget that evening walk with the neighborhood friend, forget endless phone calls to friends (except to ask for the syllabus), forget social networking! (Not really, whatever happens, we can't leave Facebook, can we? :P ). To cut a long story really short, it's just not done. 

4. We're tagged for life.

However much people preach about exams not being the right criteria to judge an individual's intelligence, they WILL make an impression of you based on the results (it makes no difference if the topper doesn't have an iota of common sense). You get over 90% (really? kya khaate ho? :P ) and oh my gosh! You're a star! Relatives from all over the world croon over how well you do in studies (no matter if you're internally dying from lack of normal human activity); you get under 60% (again, really? You should study a lil bit!) you're a loser, you're told you're worthless. It doesn't matter if you're excelling at a sport or other activity. All this isn't right. It's even against the rules of nature!

5. The torturous invigilator

When we finally show up with our long, short, round et cetera kinds of noses (OK, poor joke; that's what happens during exams) buried in a thousand page bundle of notes, and are ready to sit for the paper, we're blessed with an invigilator who's sworn to make the experience worse than hell! (S)he'll keep on scolding the innocent students, reprimand them for shifting in their seats (don't they know everyone NEEDS to shift a bit? It's way uncomfortable otherwise), for moving their necks or eyes beyond 90 degrees in any direction! We're there trying to think of answers (OK, cook them up) and they won't even let us concentrate! :/

6. Exam results make phone bills shoot up to insane levels!

Remember how you were found stuck to the phone like a honey bee on a bee hive, with a scrunched up face, revealing to your friends how much you're scared of the 'marks' you'll achieve (or not achieve)? Or the time when you hunt for numerous phone numbers and call each of them to confirm the date and time of results? Or finally when you know the result, you're discussing it all with friends over the phone? If those are board exam results, you'll find a thousand phone calls from Pinky chachis or mamis (whom you don't even know), asking for your results? The net result (not the exam result, people!) being a hike in phone bills that could give an inferiority complex to a BPO!

I personally feel there was a guy who wanted a system to measure people's capabilities and had 'THE exam' idea, but his implementation went awfully off track and we have the result (not the exam result, tortured soul!). Or maybe he was just plain stupid. Anyway, thanks to that guy's invention, all mortals in this universe are suffering. 

Doesn't anyone see the shrunk faces, lost weights, disheveled looks and potentially dangerous stress levels? Why this thing at all? Recognize people for who they are, for the 'real' intelligence, rather than judging people on their ability to cram lines. No one lacks intelligence in this world. Everyone is just not able to put their academic intelligence on paper. 

But then, it doesn't matter, does it? Talented people always find a way to rise and shine, to prove themselves, to let the world know what they stand for. (That doesn't mean this post is useless. It took an incredibly long time, you better think about it! :P)

An end note to those rare species (if they exist) who read these posts seriously, however hard and pointless and frustrating (and many more similar adjectives) we find exams, the sad truth remains that we have to give them. So, while you're at it, study a bit. :P And think along the same lines as me if you're out of school and follow this if you're in a job and don't have to give exams!