32. After the Leak

"Hey buddy, the question paper has been leaked!" said Satish excitedly, even as he was entering the room, hopping in joy.

"What do you mean?" asked Aravind.

"Yes. The paper has been leaked. Only fifty persons have got it, including me!"

"How did it happen? The government won't take it lightly!"

"The test is tomorrow. The news might not even have reached the government. Even if the government authorities come to know of this at this late stage, they can't do anything about it. They won't even admit it since it will be embarrassing to them. I have bought the question paper for one thousand rupees. You may share half the price by paying me five hundred rupees!"

"Hey, let us not go for it. We have been preparing well for the examination. We don't need this kind of a shortcut."

"If you don't want to pay for it, it is fine. I will show you the question paper anyway. Taking a xerox copy may be risky."

"Money is not the issue here. When I said we shouldn't go for any shortcut, I was speaking for you also. The paper that you have obtained may not even be authentic. What if we get a different question paper in the examination?"

"It won't happen. I am sure that we will get the same paper in the examination. It will suffice if we make ourselves thorough with the answers for the questions in this paper!"

"I am imploring you once again. Don't do this. We have prepared well. Let us just revise what we have studied. Don't rely on this dubious paper and don't trade the time we have for revision for preparing for this paper!"

But Satish was not in a mood to listen to Aravind.

"How did this happen?" asked a furious Director of the Government department.

"Sir, that will be known only if we conduct an investigation. The examination is scheduled for tomorrow. We can't do anything at this stage" said the senior official of the department.

"Why not? How much time will it take to prepare a new question paper?"

"Well, a new question paper can be got ready within an hour or two. But it has to be printed and sent to all the centres. This can't be done in a day."

"How many examination centres are there?"

"737 centres."

"Do all the centres have an internet connection and a printer?"
  
"Yes, they have. But..."

"Ask the Chief Examiner to get a new question paper ready within one hour. Send it to the examiners at all the centres by email, along with detailed instructions. Ask them to take the print-outs using the printer at the centre. They should print out as many copies as required. If there are issues like printer not working etc, they could, at their own responsibility, take print-outs at establishments offering printing services. Let them send us the invoices and I will approve them for payment. But no one should know that the print-outs are question papers for tomorrow's examination. If the examiners are using the services of any other employee, they should create an impression that these papers are for some other mock tests. After taking the print-outs, the examiners should put them in large envelopes, seal them and keep them in their custody. All these should be done by tonight. If the paper is leaked at any place, the examiner at that place will be held responsible. Don't tell anyone why we are doing this. Just tell them that we are testing out a new procedure. Tell them that if anyone has any question or problem, they can call me up any time, even if it is late night."

"Sir, will this work?" asked the official, in amazement.

"It will and it should! I cannot allow a few people to gain an advantage from the question paper leak" said the Director, strictly

"Ok, sir."

"One more thing. This is very important. Please mention that everyone should immediately confirm the receipt of the email. Ask the Chief Examiner to send messages to all the examiners asking them to check their emails and confirm receipt of the emails. If we don't receive confirmation from anyone within an hour, call them up and check. No one should give an excuse that they didn't see the email. Sorry. You will have to forego your sleep tonight. So will I!"

Satish, who went to the examination centre with a sense of excitement and supreme confidence, was in for a severe shock. 'I should have listened to Aravind and focused on revising what I had studied already. But I was carried away by a sense of complacency that resulted from my having got the leaked question paper!' he thought, feeling remorseful about choosing a dishonest approach. 

ThirukkuRaL
Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 4
Stressing the Power of Virtue

Verse 32 (In Tamil)

aRaththinUngu Akkamum illai adhanai
maRaththalin Ungillai kEdu.

Meaning:

There is no possession more precious than righteousness. No harm will be more severe than the one that will be caused by deviating from righteousness.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kaikku ettiyadhu' by the same author)

Verse 33 

Verse 31