Course Feedback Form

Today was the day I thought most of us had been waiting for.
Because today was the day we were going to assess one of our least favorite profs, or atleast my least favorite. The prof. who caused us so much misery. Yes, today, were we going to fill this prof's Teacher-Feedback-Form. And I had already made plans to give her the least grades possible, exactly what she deserved. Little did I know that my classmates had no such intention.

I got up early today, knowing that it was an important day. Not that it made any difference as I went late to the class anyway and had to sit in the front row. And there she was, going on about some stupid code-checking rubbish. Now, it may not be rubbish, but the way she was explaining the thing made it sound worse than anything I had learnt before, from whatever I can recall.

It was a normal C-slot class. We were doing what we always do. We were busy taking down notes quietly in the class, making no effort to understand anything, finally having realized that it won't work. The prof. speaks faster than anyone I have ever heard, and makes full attempt to keep us from understanding anything. Knowing that we can't understand what she teaches, she continues to blabber something about I-never-know-what and we continue to stare at her till the end of the class. It almost seems like she doesn't want us to learn. In her class, I always carry the look of a person who's not able to understand anything, to make her realize that I am not. Asking questions is of no use either. She'll never answer your question in a straight way. She'll always find out a way of dodging the question and at the same time, have you convinced that you have understood even though you wouldn't have. Though a few people in the class try bugging her till they get an answer, they always end up confused by the end of the class.

Its not that she doesn't know her stuff. I am sure she knows it very well and she must be one of the best in her subject in the whole country. But the thing is, she has turned this course into a self study course. Hardly anyone understands what she teaches in the class (or atleast I feel so) and the only way to pass the course is to study at home. So that's what we do. We study on our own, write those not-so-nice quizzes of hers and get some marks. Now, it so happens that according to her, our marks are way too low and with a hint of sarcasm she as good as says that we are just a bunch of dunderheads who are not able to understand even the basic concepts. This angers most of us, or atleast me, but we just sit quiet and wait for our time.

And today, we were given the chance to assess her. I had obviously planned what to fill in the feedback form, the truth. I knew I would be giving her an average of 3.5 or even lesser. I was quiet sure that my classmates will be doing the same. I was waiting desperately for the class to end, but it seemed very slow today. And if that was not enough, she added to my impatience by extending the class by 10 minutes. Finally, as she left, she gave the feedback forms to the class representative, who was sitting next to me. I took one, and I filled it up quite fast. I think I gave her an average of 4.5. I thought it would be quite good for her usual standards. Something like a treat.. But then, as the class rep. started recieving the assessment sheet from different directions, I caught a glimpse of a two or three and it gave me a shock. I took the forms and started going through them (not literally). There were forms with an average of over 8.5. Not one or two, but more than 3-4ths of them. And then I wondered: How can these people, most of whom I was sure disliked the prof, grade the prof so leniently? There surely wasn't anything wrong with my judgement. I expected everyone to grade the way I did. But I was wrong somewhere. What is wrong with these people? Do they grade this way to please the prof? Or do they expect some kind of treat in return for this favour? That won't count in the case of the prof concerned. She would grade us peacefully only because we graded her that way no sooner than Bako would give up. Or is it that they are just scared of the prof? Or according to my editor Der Bus, they just don't feel like grading a prof badly, however bad he/she might be?

Whatever the reason might be, what happened in the class today was very irritating. Though while writing this blog now, I feel that it doesn't matter that much. I shouldn't be making such a big deal out of it. Everyone has their own opinions and how they grade a prof is totally up to them.

Barkos Liebesgeschichte

Das Geschichte ist über ein Affe und seine Liebeleben. Der Affe heißt Barko. Seine Liebesgeschichte folgt:

Barko hat sie erste mal auf dem Mangobaum getroffen. Barko hat sie sehr attraktiv gefunden. Ihre Augen sind groß. Ihre Ohren sind sind lang.
Ihre Name war Koki.
Koki hat Barko gefallen gut. Barko hat sie heiraten gewollt. Am nächsten Tag hat Barko es ihr gesagt. Sie hat aber ihm gesagt:
"Entschuldigung. Ich liebe schon jemand anders." Als Barko es gehört hat, war er sehr traurig.
Barko war so traurig, dass er zu sprechen aufgehört hat. Er hat bald zu essen und zu trenken aufgehört. Er hat krank geworden.
In Barkos Nachbarschaft war noch eine Affin. Ihre Name war Miki. Barko hat ihr gefallen. Als sie wusste, dass Barko krank war, war sie
traurig. Sie hat zum Barkos Baum gekommt. Sie hat 10 Tage lang ihm geholfen. Barko war bald gesund. Er hat ihr viel gedanken. Sie hat gesagt:
"Ich hat dir geholfen, weil du mir gefällst." Barko hat sie gefragt: "Du bist sehr nett. Willst du mich heiraten?"
Und heute sind Barko und Miki verheiratet. Sie haben eine große Familie. Sie haben Ihren eigenes Baum.

(This blog has been published in German. The English vesion is yet to come)

Hood in the Wood

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the Sherwood forest. Whenever, she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked her mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been a while since they'd seen each other.

"That's a good idea," her mother said. So they packed a nice basket for Little Red Riding Hood to take to her grandmother.

Remember, go straight to Grandma's house," her mother cautioned. "Don't dawdle along the way and please don't talk to strangers! The forest is dangerous. There could be thieves and outlaws or worse, wolves, just waiting for a little girl like you. "

"Don't worry, mommy," said Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll be careful."

And so the little girl left the village for a not-so-long journey towards her Grandma's house.

A few hours later, Red Riding Hood knocked on the door of her Grandma's house.

"Who is it?" said a deep voice.

"It's me, Little Red Riding Hood."

"Oh, how lovely! Do come in, my dear," said the deep voice.

When Little Red Riding Hood entered the little cottage, she saw that her Grandma was still in bed and had covered her face with the bed sheets.

"Grandmother! Your voice sounds so odd. Is something the matter?" she asked.

"Oh, I just have touch of a cold," squeaked a voice from under the bed sheets.

"Grandma, are you sure you are OK? You seemed to have put on a lot of weight.", said Little Red Riding Hood, looking at the huge pile under the bed sheets, which she thought was her grandmother.

"I am OK, dear," said a hoarse voice quite unlike the first voice.

"Come out of your bed sheets, Grandma, or I will leave. I came here to see you and you don’t seem to be wanting to meet me at all." said the little girl.

And to Little Red Riding Hood's shock, two men leaped out of the bed.

"Hi there little girl, I am Lincoln Greened Robin Hood. Scared you, didn’t we?" said the first man.

"And I am Little John of Sherwood, Little Red Riding Hood." said the other who was taller than the first one by a foot.

"Are you going to eat me now?" asked Little Red Riding Hood.

"No, little girl, we are here to protect you from a wolf who, according to sources, plans to eat you." said the man who called himself Robin Hood.

"The source being my dear friend, Will Stutely the rude." said Little John of Sherwood.

"No, no, you are making a big mistake. The wolf is supposed to come here and eat me. That’s how the story is supposed to be.” said Little Red Riding Hood.

“No, dear girl. This is a modified version of that old story. After hours of begging, did we get these roles. We can’t just let that dirty wolf of the wood gobble you up. The wolf will be killed and we will take you back to your mom.” said Lincoln Greened Robin Hood.

Bang! There was a soft knock on the door and the next moment the door fell in. And as expected, there barged in a big dirty wolf.

“Sorry, I am late.“ said the hungry beast to Little Red Riding Hood. Then his gaze fell on the two sturdy men in the room. “And who the hell are you and what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I am not sure if you were informed, but there is a small change in the story. We are Robin Hood and Little John of the Wood and we are here to protect Little Red Riding Hood from you, dirty wolf.” said Robin.

“Well, that’s just unacceptable. You see, I am really hungry and I was under the impression that I will be allowed to eat this little girl. Now you tell me that’s not how all this is supposed to go. I will eat both of you as well.” said dirty wolf of the wood and he pounced on the two men.

“Hold on, dirty wolf! I have got an idea. You can eat that stupid woodcutter outside and we will take the girl with us. Is that alright?” said Little John of Sherwood.

The wolf thought for a moment and said, “Yeah, I think it’s a good idea. Ok, I’ll be leaving then. See you sometime later in another grandmother’s house. Let me take care of that woodcutter now”

Little did the wolf know that woodcutters are quite unlike woodpeckers. They carry an axe with them most of the time. And when he went outside the cottage, standing there was this woodcutter with his sharp axe. There was a howl, a scream and a thud and the next moment everything went quiet.

Meanwhile, inside the cottage, the two outlaws were celebrating their triumph over the wolf.

“Took proper care of that dirty wolf, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even have to use my crossbow.”

“Wait a sec. Where is the girl?”

“Oh God. She isn’t here. What are we going to do now?”

“Let’s go out and search for the girl.”

The two men came out of the cottage and saw that there were footsteps leaving the cottage. Understanding that the girl had gone in that direction, they followed the footsteps.

After hours of walking, the two outlaws reached another cottage which was so big that twenty wolves could be staying there. They knocked on the door and waited for a response from whoever was inside.

The door opened and the men walked in, to see what they least expected.

To their horror, the room was full of wolves. They were about a dozen wolves inside sitting around a dining table gaping hungrily at them. And there she was, Little Red Riding Hood in the center, staring at those two as well.

“What in the god’s name is going on here? Am I dreaming?” said Little John of Sherwood.

“No, you are awake, big beef. And you better prepare yourself to be eaten raw by wolves.” said Little Red Riding Hood.

“How can this be possible? Are we seeing the girl we saved from a dirty wolf in association with a family of wolves?” squeaked Robin Hood the brave.

Little Red Riding Hood looked at them and said,

“Neither am I little, nor am I red. I am in fact a werewolf. And what you see here is my family. They are all my siblings and pure wolves. I am the only one gifted here, the lone werewolf. The wolf you got killed today by the woodcutter was a wolf we all despised, for he was quite unlike we are. We asked him to join us but he refused. So our next step was to get him killed. And there you were, ready to help anyone who needed help.
I was sure that you would get rid of that wolf for me.
But you weren’t brave enough to kill the wolf yourself. You got him killed by the woodcutter. It doesn’t matter anyway. At the end of the day, we have our enemy killed and tasty dinner at home.”

And then, she froze up all of a sudden and within a second, turned into a wolf.

Next moment, there were howls, screams, thuds and then everything went quiet.