Aqib Ullah
There’s a popular song in Khowar: ‘Ma gilasa oogh tip no ko boyan’, which translates to ‘Why isn’t the water in my glass filling up?’ Now, it seems to me that the above-mentioned song has been written for the blue-eyed crow of English paper setters.
Matric board exams started two days ago after the cancellation of the first two papers due to heavy rain wreaking havoc in Chitral. Yesterday’s English paper for the 9th class was conducted. Unfortunately and unintentionally, I flipped through the question paper. Nothing was new. The crow was still thirsty. That bird has been toiling to reach the water at the bottom of the container since we were in matric. I couldn’t help feeling sympathy for such a poor creature that hasn’t been able to quench its thirst hitherto. Neither is the water level getting higher, nor is its method of putting the stone into the container coming in handy. Its efforts are in doldrums.
That bird should show some sanity because the paper makers aren’t ready to move forward. This battle between that thirsty crow and the paper setters has reached its zenith due to the lackadaisical behavior of the latter and old-fashioned method of the former.
The English paper setters are not poised to move forward without satiating the thirst of the thirsty crow. And the crow is also an adamant bird, not changing its method of getting the water level reachable. The situation is getting serious every year for the students appearing in board exams.
I haven’t the foggiest whether they can’t find any other topic, or they are in a special contract with the crow. The students giving papers should show some sympathy by doing a favor for the crow. Instead of writing an essay, they should find the crow, fill its container with full water so that it can fly away from question paper for good . Otherwise, the thirsty crow will remain thirsty for another thirty years.
For heaven’s sake, there are many other fables that can be included in English papers to evaluate the students’ creativity and thinking ability. It’s high time to do a favor for the crow and students so that both can move on to bring some productivity into their lives by focusing on other things.
