PROS AND CONS OF BEING AN UNDERDOG

(I dedicate this one to my friends Sofie , Thush and chitra

 who are by my side in the most trying times
 and Sachin, for helping out my friend)

Once upon a time there was an honorable school called Rajagiri in the mythical town of Kalamassery. In the 8^th standerd of that school studied a girl who was a pain to her classmates and teachers alike.

Why? Because she never submitted her assignments on time. There were only 8 girls in her class and all of them were exceptional students, except this girl. It was like she was send to blemish their name. The teachers and students tried to make her mend her ways but she remained unobtrusive.

 So they all prayed to God that he teach her a lesson. God listened to their prayers and dropped a curse on the girl, “Thou shalt atone for thy sins by taking architecture, where thou shalt be an underdog!”

                That’s how I ended up here. Now, every coin has two sides and so does this curse. I shall recount here, my experience as an underdog in my class. An underdog is the one who is always getting low marks making them on the verge of getting a year-back.

1.       No emotional trauma (except in the last minute)

Procrastination is our religion. ‘We can always do our work later when we are older and wiser’ is our mantra. During that time we can laugh as our classmates start worrying days before the submissions, like they have an anxiety disorder. They work like crazy so that they don’t lose out on the competition. They have emotional breakdowns and cry saying they don’t have a concept. They complain that they don’t have enough sheets and bring, like, a dozen sheets on reviews. 

None of that affects you. You are an entity unchained by competition and reviews. This is why you ended up an underdog in the first place.

2.       You are off the radar

The added luggage of a design course is the creative competition. This has meddled between friendships, created rivalry between the students and whatnot. But you are not part of that. Everybody just loves you. Sometimes I am glad that I am this way. 

I see many students go red in the face when they see the mark list, because their rival scored better marks. When she claimed she will score less! How dare she!! 

3.       Nobody expects anything from you

Design is your baby and you see people come like vultures to dissect your baby. I am talking about the good students here. Nobody cares to come to my table in the studio to look at my design. Why should they? Its not even finished yet.

 I feel sympathetic when our class topper is approached by the students asking

“Where is the class topper’s design? Let us see!”

It might not be finished and she would be embarrassed to show a sheet that’s not good enough. But the poor girl is always bugged to show her design, even when she doesn’t want to. Furthermore, the teachers are disappointed in the good students if they don’t keep up their design standards, since your standards are rock bottom, whatever you do they don’t really mind. 

4.       Small things are appreciated

When you are average student they only appreciate the real good stuff. But when you are an underdog, they applaud even the small things that you did right. Even if you don’t have anything to submit except a plan, they say,

“Ohh.. nice drafting!”

“That’s good. Since that’s all I have anyway.”

5.       Underestimated.

I know there is good reason for everybody to think this way. But hey! I don’t get marks because I don’t submit sheets!  Not because I can’t design! What’s even worse is that they make you a standard for comparison.

‘Man! I think I am even worse than Ridha this sem!’

They might not say that aloud, but yeah, you are an example for everybody how not to do this course.

6.       Roja

You might be wondering who that is. When you go on without submitting your sheets you end up in the shortlist of five people who are likely to get a year-back. So your design teachers decide to give you advice and inspire you to get out of Loserville. 

I have had the good fortune of getting into this list almost every sem. They tell you stories of kids who were really bad once and through sheer determination and perseverance overcame their hurdles and eventually, became the design toppers.

 I don’t know why, but I always get Roja’s story. When I hear her success story from my hopeless position, I just hate her more with every word they say.

7.       Dark rumors

Some beautiful people who care a lot about you come to know that you are in the year-out list. They are very considerate, so they imagine what you would do once you get a year-back. They commune with another equally considerate friend.

“What is she gonna do when she gets a year-back? She will probably drop out huh? Since her parents have a lot of money and all?”

         

“Yeah! There is no way she will pass with such low marks. She will drop out.”

Viola! Suddenly there is a rumor spreading that you are going to drop out, when such a thing wasn’t even in your agenda. Friends are coming to you to give you counseling.

“You should fight! After all, you survived all these years! Submit your sheets somehow. Don’t worry, we are all with you. We will help you draw the sheets! "  Now you are dumbstruck and mortified. Time to do some reality check.

         8.       Emotional trauma and existential crisis
                   (in the last minute)

This happens during final design, model and portfolio submissions. All the cool ‘I don’t care’ demeanor has evaporated to last minute panic.

These are very trying times. We do not eat, sleep, drink, take a bath or even brush our teeth! Continuous all nighters stretch our nerves super thin. This is when existential crisis sets in. Questions like,

 Why am I doing this?

Why should I do this?

What if I didn’t pass?

What am I going to do in the future? I will never reach anywhere!

Why did I take this course?! I am not even good at it!

....etc are asked. And only one answer to all of them. I hate my life!

 You want to burn the whole world, kill everybody or yourself, but rather, you draft, crying like a baby. On top of this some other beautiful people decide to be a pain to you. They are in doubt whether there is submission when there is none. So they call the teachers,

Student: “Sir, is there model submission tomorrow?”

Sir: Hmm, that seems like a good idea….”yes you can submit it tomorrow”

Student:”what about the site model, sir?

Sir: “Okay, tomorrow, 9’ o ‘clock submission, site model and block model.” The new order is immediately put up on the Watsapp group, so that tomorrow, everybody gets marks on an imaginary mark list. You are now struggling to put together a model within one day.   

9.       Underdogs unite!

You are not alone in your fight against submissions, other underdogs seek you out.

“You didn’t submit right? Me too! High five sistah! Let’s do it together!”

We do fun stuff like trying to complete the design in the last minute, give moral support to each other, beg the teachers to extend the submission dates, beg them to accept our sheets or models after the due submission dates.

 Thanks to them, I always have company in the most harrowing times. I don’t think the toppers unite and form lasting friendship like we do, do they?

10.   Epic comebacks

Another specialty of studying a design course is that there is always space for epic comebacks and second chances. Roja pulled it off, so can you. If you were an underdog  studying an engineering course you would have work your ass off to get to the top again, which is not always possible in the case of academics. But in architecture you just need a stroke of creativity to turn the situation around in your favor (in my case it came in the form of white ink on black sheet) and some good friends who will help you in your crisis.  

                Even if your internal marks are low, you can always shine in front of the jury. They do not know your past follies, whether you submitted on time or not, whether you are of good character or anything. 

The drama and uproar over who finished first and who has the most number of sheets is over. Looking at the big picture, I don’t think it even benefited anyone.

                In the end I always come to know that being an underdog is better than turning your head into mush by worrying over who got better marks.  

P.S : a minute of silent prayer for the author whose ‘carefree’ attitude will get her a year-back any sem.