Failed From Far

The most awaited result got publicized, but Internet hadn't landed the soil of my country. Televisions were tabled in few pocketed places, Still they worked, minute and achromatic. With huge audience circling, signal was word alien, Viewers would holler in unison, "It's raining!" I now understand the fluctuation of signal, We'd leave the jammed hall. No rain outside! Correspondences saw only lethargic typewriters, That sounded a poll pecking of a woodpecker. A single wireless station would be queued With people waiting for, "Pom, pom, Tango, Charlie." Communication gravely sought its transmission, Three-band radio justified on its little way, Only richer lots bought and owned pompously And my country had a single frequency squeezed. The announcement was radioed in a succinct brief- "The result of 1997 ICSE examination is out." Nothing more or less, of the India-based examination, I jumped on my toes only to later feel crushed. My kiths were dejected with my abortive result, An unofficial hearsay, they caught hold onto Their dejection pierced my heart, agonizingly. I'd to visit my alma mater, result matted least. A two-day-long journey, not by a luxurious car But on the hood of a truck on a bumpy roads, Only the Indian highway would ease the journey Like relieving the physical pangs of exhaustion. The mental turmoil intensified as I neared My school where the sheets would be displayed, The wall would announce to a hundred lot of us, The failure provoked sleepless nights and journeys. My heart thudded as I entered the school premise, Lips dried, even a pool of water wouldn't wet them. Shivering, perplexity and numbness, crippled me, I just wanted me alone to declare the performance. I walked up the staircase with thundering emotion, The entrance seemed gloomily unwelcoming, Saw I a crowd of my mates craning and giraffing, On the either sides of the entrance, sheets full. No greetings, no handshaking, I just shied away, Waited for the crowd to go thinly populated. Just in one particular column to refer, wanted I, PCA or PCNA - biggest summary of a year's toiling. My comrades filed out slowly, forward I lunged, Searching my name, throbbing took its tempo. Spotted the name, from the wall, PCA grinned, Pass Certificate Awarded, I became triumphant! ©?Khachab Dorji