Fifty-Fifty

Fifty (50) is a number that has appeared in my life in many ways on many occasions.  Perhaps, no other number has been part of my life as much as 50.  My earliest memory of 50 is the class tests in my school.  All class tests were evaluated for 50 marks and the passing marks was 17½.  So, whenever a teacher returned the test papers after evaluation, the first look was always on the numerator, because the denominator was known – 50!  Fifty paise, also known as ‘8 annas’, was a big amount during my childhood.  I could buy a handful of chocolates with 50 paise. 

I started playing cricket when I was in high school.  50 is an important number in cricket as well – one day international matches are played for 50 overs and a batsman always aims to score minimum 50 runs, if not 100.  I wrote 12 examinations in my tenth standard board examination – all out of 50.  When I joined Pre-Degree, 50% became a daunting target, which I failed to score, making me ineligible for admission to professional courses like engineering.

In my college, I learnt the first lessons in probability with the example of tossing a coin, where the probability of getting a head or a tail was 50%.  During my Post Graduation, I was actively involved in various programmes and celebrations related to the golden jubilee of my college – the college was founded 50 years ago.  Two years later, when I attended the selection process for the post of Academic Associate at IIM Ahmedabad, I was the first in the waitlist.  When I asked the administrative officer, what were the chances of me getting the offer, he said ‘Fifty-fifty’!

Next year the whole country celebrated 50 years of India’s independence. During the same period, I appeared twice for the Final examinations of ICWAI.   In both the attempts, I cleared all individual subjects, but failed to get the group aggregate, which was 50%.  I became a full-time teacher in 1998.  50 has never left me since then – I have been grading my students as part of internal assessment for 50 marks for the last 24 years.  I was involved with the golden jubilee celebrations of SIT, my current Institute in 2013.  Two years ago, it was the fiftieth wedding anniversary of my parents.  I am sure they would have celebrated the same up there in heaven.  Within few months from now, I will reach another milestone of 50 in my life!

By the way, this is my fiftieth post in my blog – Reflections.  I started Reflections in October 2012.  But I was not very regular in writing.  Last year, I resumed writing more frequently.  In fact, 36 of the 50 posts were written during the last one year.  Reflections has received a total of 8,772 views as on today.  The write up on Prof. K Balakrishnan, my mentor at IIMA remains at the top with 676 views.  Let me thank all my readers, whose support, encouragement, and feedback were the greatest motivation to write.  Anticipating your continued support, let me embark on the journey towards the next 50.