“Please shift a little, I cannot see the answers” came the squeaky voice from behind which interrupted my train of thoughts. I turned back and gave an angry bird look to my friend who returned the angry bird look by venting his fury in hushed tone for me acting like a jerk and not showing the fill in the blank answers during our class 4 English exams! I am sure that he was cursing me under his breath! I am certain that he conferred the title of a back stabber in that very moment for me refusing to show the answers! I am certain that he would never forgive me for me having committed a mortal sin by violating his birth right of copying! After all it was just a couple of fill in the blanks! It would have fetched him 5 marks! 5 marks would push him successfully and help him cross the border of red line which segregated the fail and pass categories.
After the exam, he met me and cast an accusing look at me. I returned the “accusing look” with the “what is my fault” look. He soon beckoned all my other classmates who stood encircling me. I thanked my stars that we were in the classroom and not in the playground. Had that been the case, they surely would have pelted me! Before I could utter a word in my defence, one of my friends silenced me with stern look. The expression in his eye conveyed, “You have already committed blasphemy by refusing to show some stupid answers; now please do not commit yourself to hell forever by talking something stupid!” Looking at this expression, I just shut my mouth and prepared myself to listen to an earful of reprimands! Little did I know that it would not be limited to earful of reprimand. On the contrary, I got a full-fledged sermon on my lack of virtue. This is the way it started,
Friend 1: Esha, you have let us down badly! What is the use of you being a bookworm if you cannot help us in the time of need!
Me: But why should i….
Friend 2: (Interrupting me halfway): How can we trust you? You are not there for us in time of need! You do not know what friendship is all about!
Me(Shocked): What? But…
Friend 3(Silencing me); Now do not pretend that you don’t know! You are very greedy! You want all marks by yourself and you do not want to share! You are violating all norms of decency! You are not helpful!
Me (Teary eyed): Arre But…
Friend 4 (interrupting me again): You think copying is a sin? Are you out of your mind? Who told you? Don’t know where you are learning this crap from!? Shameless creature!
Me; Speechless………………..
I was left confused and dazzled! The quest for scoring is genetically embedded in all of us! Whatever be the means! Whatever be the way! It happens at every level of academic life. My husband, who did his masters from the US, says that the moment you are caught copying an assignment, you are debarred from the University and deported back to your country! Plagiarism is a taken very seriously and one has to pay a very big price for using unscrupulous means for fetching grades. On the contrary, back home, it is very difficult for us to absorb why so much of fuss is made about plagiarism. There is a very famous term amongst engineering students “Chapna” which is translated as “printing” Engineering students’ chapofiy journals and assignments all the time! Now let us just not blame the poor engineering students. They go through enough tortures in the 4 years of their engineering school! We law students are no different! Or for that matter, the caste of students in general is no different! There isn’t an ounce of guilt in copying journals, assignments, answers or for that matter anything under the sun! No wonder, we love the feature of CUT/COPY AND PASTE the most!
Is Vyapam Scam, in which 36 people have lost their lives until date and thousands of people, including, doctors, judges, students, middleman, politician etc. are under scanner for having defrauded; a logical extension of the socially accepted norm of copying for the purpose of scoring? Think for yourself!
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