Careers Built on the High School Exam Merit List
In the 1950s, finishing high school in Shimla with good grades and making it to the merit list was essential for pursuing a career as a doctor, lawyer, or engineer—highly coveted professions of the time. Those who didn’t make the cut often found success in business, proving that alternative paths could also lead to great achievements as time and luck unfolded.
The matriculation final exam was a significant event, eagerly anticipated by both students and parents. During my time, Punjab University conducted the exams with a common syllabus and standardized process. I worked hard to prepare, supported by my parents, who ensured everything went smoothly.
Exams were held over 5-7 days in school halls assigned by the University. Invigilators guided students to their seats, checked roll numbers, and distributed question papers. We began writing answers immediately, mindful of the importance of legibility for the examiners.
Our school had trained us to carefully read the question paper, select questions (e.g., 5 out of 7), and allocate time wisely. Starting with the easiest question, the invigilator paced while also announcing time left. By the final hour, most of us aimed to have completed the majority of the paper—a strategy drilled into us during school.
After each exam, my classmates and I compared notes, quickly gauging how we had performed. By the end of the week-long exam period, we all had a fair sense of our results and awaited the official announcement with both hope and trepidation.
The Announcement of Results
The examining body took two months to send our answer sheets to anonymous examiners, often schoolteachers, who graded them against standard guidelines. Once grading was complete, the University announced the date for publishing the gazette—a comprehensive booklet listing the examination results for the entire province.
The Gazette was a thick volume of about 500 pages, organized by district, school, and student outcomes. It was divided into three sections: the merit list, pass list, and failures. Every student, parent, and school anxiously hoped for a place in the merit list, or at least a pass result.
In Shimla, a local businessman would collect a copy of the Gazette from the University and read the results aloud from his upper-floor office at 9 PM. He started by each school and then with the merit list, followed by the pass list. Students whose names were not announced joined the ranks of the unsuccessful. Cheers erupted for merit-listed students, while others faced tears and disappointment.
At my home, my family waited anxiously for news. My father, hearing my name among the merit list, rushed back to share the joyous news with my mother. However, I was busy celebrating with friends, visiting their homes to share our success. Since, I lived a bit farther from the place where the Gazette was read out, I didn’t return home until after 11 PM, leaving my worried parents—and a house full of relatives—waiting.
When I finally arrived, the celebration turned into a religious puja to mark the milestone. It was 1957, and while this was a major success, it was just the beginning of a decade-long academic journey, culminating in higher studies in the USA.
and I want to secure a place in the formula student/ rocketry teams anyhow.I thought Ill be having an advantage if I know cad to a certain extent. Moreover, CAD is a full subject anyway so why waste time and money just to learn the theory for 2d design which I will have to do anyway. So ig I shud just use yt and drawings available on the internet.
black line may find himself in immense trouble.
fck u bitch
aerospace was in talks for ToT transfer of this.
