Now that's how it's supposed to be done!

In comparison to my other posts, this is going to be rather short...just a sloppy narration of interesting events, as opposed to the usual sloppy narration plus boring analysis...

Here's the scene - two vivas, back to back - ADBMS(Advanced DB management systems) and SP(Systems Programming) - and me scared to death about SP. ADBMS was never too much of a worry in any case, but after SP was rescheduled yet again(long story, not worth going into) and the teacher issued some cryptic comments, I was prepared for the worst, or should I say, unprepared...

In any case, things start up - the first half of the class ends up doing ADBMS and the second half goes to SP. Being stuck at the end of the first half, I realize that it's going to be a long day...Eventually we end up going to ADBMS, in the midst of happy reports from the second batch about SP. Apparently our great teacher was following through on her assurance that the risk was all hers, not ours...people ended up coming out after less than 3 questions, and she didn't even seem to be listening. Things were looking up...

The usual group of 3 ends up in ADBMS vivas. After the first 3 minutes, the prof has deduced that I know what I'm talking about and the other guys don't(I suspect they did, and were either merely confused or inarticulate). I'm sitting in the middle, and I sit back and watch the show as questions are shot at my left and right. Every now and then the occasional question comes to me, I answer, prof nods his head, and goes back to torturing the other two...Thankfully, he's a nice guy and they get off easy. I come out rather happy, and figure the best thing to do is to get SP over with quickly. Needless to say, this does not happen, as profs break for lunch.

Meanwhile, we furiously struggle to stuff more SP into our heads, all the while hearing news that a teacher from another department has turned up and is asking devastating questions. Our own teacher is following the age old practice of covering up her own ignorance by getting petty...

The teachers return, and we wait outside the lab as the first group goes in. Since there are only about ten of us left, tension levels get even higher, and people(myself included) bemoan the injustice of subjecting us to this torment while the other batch gets off scot free. First batch comes out looking pale...second batch comes out with reports of a devastating question, and the info that they've been told to come again 2 days later - with the answer this time. Feverish inquiries are made about the answer, as most people refuse to believe that my answer is right.

Time for the final group - that's me - and only two of us as opposed to the usual three. I go in fearing the worst. Friend of mine who came out two groups ago comes in along with us(he has a question to answer - or else...). He ends up giving an example I explained to him a few minutes ago, and the new teacher brings me into the discussion, noticing my slightly interested look...

Instantly I notice something different - no vague, uncertain statements - she actually speaks with certainty and assurance - and she isn't faking it. Belatedly I realise that I'm actually dealing with someone who knows the subject(and by knows, I mean knows, not the poor excuse that usually passes for it around here). Is this good or bad?

Questions start. They actually need to be thought about, not just used as an index into an answer table...Pretty soon I can no longer maintain the conventional student facade(not that I really try) and end up in my usual avatar - digressing and getting technical...to my surprise, the teacher loves it, and proceeds to go out of the syllabus, into AI and my experience with interpreted languages(long live Python!).

Slight detail - the poor chap next to me has been forgotten right at the beginning - he receives a few questions and then the big guns are trained on me...

I battle my way through and emerge triumphant. Some prof turns up and the viva ends. I'm left with a weird feeling that I struggle to identify...Teacher puts her finger on it by informing me that she actually 'enjoyed taking this viva.' In my astonishment, I manage a reply to the effect that I had a whale of a time too. Whew!

Now this is how it's supposed to go! A little thought on the bus back home brought me to the conclusion that two ingredients have always been missing at college(profs and students alike) - actual competence, and a deep love for the subject. Those of us who have it(that's right - I'm modest too) are strangers, those who don't are the people the system seems to be working for. Sounds like an interesting idea - over time, all systems end up catering to the lowest common denominator(not to mention employing them) - kinda like entropy and the heat-death of the universe...

Will probably post tomorrow, once the last viva is over...of course that gives me a lack of subject matter - what the heck, I'll talk about the weather...

PS: Incidentally, Operating Systems vivas got over today - not much worth writing about - just that they were abnormally short, and that all my apprehension was for naught...