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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

Dance Exams

December 16, 2019 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We didn’t have dance exams when we were children, and I think I’m glad of that. Sometimes, though, I wonder – if we had appeared for exams, would we have been more driven to learn? Or would we have wanted to stop learning dance? I was one of those kids who loved exams, but I […]

Filed Under: Dance Tagged With: Academy of Indian Dances, Bharatanatyam, exam

Board Exam

May 9, 2013 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Ought I to be nervous? Concerned? Stressed? My students are writing their board exams. I wished them luck, gave them a pep talk and some last minute ‘tips’. One student asked me for a vocabulary list he can use. I wanted to tell him ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’. Instead, I told him not to use ‘hi-fi’ […]

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: exam, school

Exam Gems III

April 24, 2013 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Asked to ‘write a commentary’ on a poem, students write:’…one thing where I felt that it is wrong is that he did not divide the last line properly, the last line’s word is going in the next paragraph.’ ‘The name given to the poem is very good’ ‘The poem does not start with a boy […]

Filed Under: Language Tagged With: exam, school

Exam Gems II

April 23, 2013 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Attempting to create pathos and anger: ‘Reaching hospital it was looking like messy type’ ‘I got him into the last point of insultation’ Attempting – um – I don’t know what: ‘And if the film is ya some actors take more many if they don’t hard work’ (Mm? Can you say that again?) Imaginative writing: […]

Filed Under: Language Tagged With: exam, school

Exam Gems

April 22, 2013 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Correcting papers is a crazy experience. There are some things each teacher in the staff room feels compelled to share with the others. Commenting on a poem’s language and style, students write… ‘This heart-touching poem…’, or better still – ‘This tear-dropping poem…’ Commenting on the expected audience, a student has a bewildering response – ‘The […]

Filed Under: Language Tagged With: exam, school

Invigilator

April 16, 2013 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Right through school, I enjoyed exams. People found that odd, so I often did not confess that I loved exams. I loved the excited anticipation just before exams. I loved that clean, fresh uniform. (Somehow, the exam uniform stays cleaner than a regular day’s uniform.) I loved the light bag with barely any books in […]

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: exam, school