Exam Warriors!!

March spells the season of examinations! If you are living in South India,  particularly in Bangalore and you have school going kids, your household is probably under the influence of exam fever or has just recovered from it......either ways it means normal/causal activities around the house are suspended until the last day of the exams, or you are still clearing out the piled-up work/chores that you've pushed until after the exams!  Phew!!! I have always hated exams and now the feeling continues through my son's exams as well!! Did our parents exhibit the same paranoia that we seem to go through every time our not-so-little ones have exams or are we overdoing it....??  Imagine, there was a time when we used to exchange notes about how much each one of us has studied and now, thanks mommy whatspp groups, we now get to nervously exchange notes about how much portions each of our kids (read mommies) has covered! A not-so-pleasant dejavu feeling..right?!! And in all this.... nobody could be more causal about than our kids themselves.....who's only answer for how did the exam go is ....'easy-peasy lemon squeezy"!!!

One of the self-help exam books doing the rounds is our Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Exam Warriors" by Penguin Publications. I'm not a great fan of self help books, but this one surely got me interested. True to his quintessential style of conveying messages through one liners and on the lines of his monthly "Man ki Baat",  Prime Minister Narendra Modi delves into what an exam actually means and how to deal with it and master it without losing your mind. Well, the book does not give out any magic mantra as there is none, but it's in the understanding and internalizing everyday common sense wisdom that we are aware of but seldom take it seriously or put it to practice. Starting with comparing exams to festivals as both involve preparations to their run-ups, thereby making it celebration-worthy, the author presents simple ideas on how one's approach to exams must be - from the awareness of "how exams test only your current preparation and not you" to "not being only exam oriented but pursuing knowledge' or "developing your own style and method for your own exam' or "be wise and revise" ...where he in fact gives a blueprint for how to compose a mind map of a particular topic in syllabus (which really helped us!), or how cultivating simple exam discipline matters, and finally how to be grateful to all the people (known and unknown) who help you through this phase, from parents and teachers to even the subordinate school staff like bus  drivers, ayaahs, or the shopkeeper who sells you stationery.....(Frankly, how many of our kids think of thanking the school sub-ordinate staff?) Replete with catchy phrases ( "Don't be a worrier be a warrior", "It's cheap to cheat" , "The Present is God's greatest present, live here and now"," Aspire not to be but to do"), suitable illustrations and with colourful tear-aways including thank you cards for kids to use, the book also leaves you with a few Yogasanas and Breathing techniques to relax your way through exams!!  So exams are just one of many challenges in life......all the best!!!