Sitting in the second row of a boring class

March 1st, 1996 admin Posted in Poetry |

Sitting in the second row,
how I wish I could throw,
a chalk or two at close range,
or maybe to the teacher for a change.
I am turning giddy with all this gibberish,
about a channel being n or p,
all holes and electrons are getting at me.
All my mind can barely make out,
is that it is all becoming OHT.
I feel my eyelids obeying gravity,
and my eyeballs floating up,
the teacher’s uttering turns a lullaby,
my heavenly state never does it perturb.
Am I going into unconsciousness,
or maybe I am seeing a dream.
Suddenly my elbow slips, I am awake,
did the teacher at me scream?
No, he’s busy singing his song,
I know not if I am right or wrong,
I do catch a word here and there,
but who the hell does care.
And so generously I set them free,
And they pass off over me as OHT.
I know what he’s teaching anyway,
I’ll learn it tomorrow if not today.
Thus reassuring my soul with true lies,
I wish to know the sublime state of other guys,
I turn my head and find my friend,
who’s trying hard to pretend,
that he understands what our preacher just said,
And the teacher is happy that he nods his head.
Alas the poor fellow little does know,
that his students who want to show,
that his understanding is deep,
is passing off into a state called sleep.
And the room is filled with a monotonous hiss,
of the chalk licking the blackboard,
and the students mechanically note all this,
though till death they seem bored.
The teacher writes to rub and rubs to write,
while I with myself am in a fight,
the board supposedly black with chalk turns white,
I am sorry at my own plight.
And my head turns to the wall on the right,
on which sits mighty and tight,
the mocking clock that’s always been,
the meanest of things I’ve ever seen.
I resign and start to read the jargon,
our desks are always full of,
but reading the same riddle the same rhyme,
doesn’t make you laugh,
especially the 103rd time.
At last I decide,
that before I start banging my head,
let me write a poem instead,
on how to efficiently pass,
your time, sitting on the second row,
of an unbelievably boring class.

( I wrote this one in Dr. Kakoti’s class. He is a great teacher and a very nice person…
the problem was not him…it was the semiconducter devices which were terribly boring.
OHT refers to “Over Head Transmission”
Anil Krishna 1996)