Kosher Drudgery for INOI 2005

!would

It was an auroral and limpid 27th April 2005. After weeks of hardwork and preparation, I was all set for the capstone raison d'etre. And that was to clear the Second Stage of National Informatics Olympiad, in short INOI 2005. After watching the phlegmatic debate at the school, we dilatorily set off for a kooky school called Laxman Public School - the centre stage for ZIO cleared participants. With its conked out computers, I had to literally change 8 PCs to finally find a not-so-conked out computer which had the Gnu C Compiler working. And that was a whopping job, which delayed me by 1.5 hours. There were 2 programming questions in the paper with all the mumbo jumbo hogwash to spook the contestants. The questions extended from finding a route for jumper balls to amalgamation of underworld prowlers. Finally at the end of gruelling 4.5 hour examination, I barely managed to do 1 out of 2 questions, which as per the paper standards is quite good.

We (did I forget to introduce Chandu Sir and Shobhit, the other finalist from my school) came back to school in a rickety "Palace on Wheels" and then set off in opposite directions to our havens. After this strenuous day, another chapter from my gazette comes to an end.

! sign off

Sanchit Mathur

(sanchitm@gmail.com)