Monday, April 20, 2009

The importance of thorough planning

True story - IIT Bombay, Batch 1992

Four college students had been fooling around till the wee hours and were totally unprepared for a test which was scheduled for the next day.

As they made their way to the campus, they thought of a plan. They smeared themselves with grease and dirt and put on tired expressions. They then went up to the dean and said that they had gone out to a wedding the previous night. On their way back, one of the tyres of their car had burst and they had had to push the car all the way back. They were exhausted and were in no condition to appear for the test.

The dean acquiesced and said they could take a re-test after three days. Triumphant that they had got away with their little ploy, the boys thanked him and said that would be perfect.

On the third day they appeared, well-prepared and ready to take the test. The dean said that as this was a Special Condition Test, all four were required to sit in separate classrooms while answering. The boys agreed.

When the question paper was placed before them though, they each stared at it aghast. The test consisted of two questions for a total of 100 marks.

Q.1. Your name _______ (2 MARKS)

Q.2. Which tyre burst? (98 MARKS)

a) Front left

b) Front right

c) Rear left

d) Rear right

Results will be on a cumulative basis, after a comparison of all four papers.

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