I said, “When you told me that you would be coming, I trusted.” I said, “Then why bother to get up early? When you come, I will get out of bed and sit in your car.”

He said, “You are not going to take a bath or anything?”

I said, “Everything after the examination.”

“Any preparation?”

I said, “Who bothers about preparation?”

On the way to the examination hall, he would try to tell me, “Listen, remember a few things: this is your roll number. Don’t forget.” He would force me to write the roll number on my hand, so that I wouldn’t forget it. I would write the roll number on my hand, and he would say, “Write your name; otherwise you will wonder what this is, whose roll number it is.”

I said, “You should trust me just a little bit.”

He said, “I don’t trust you. First do this examination. You have to top the university.”

I said, “Whatever happens, I am happy.”

And he would tell the superintendent, “Don’t let him out of the hall for three hours.” Three hours was the time – because he was worried that once he was gone, I may go back to my bed. And the superintendent came to me and said, “Remember, there is no hurry for you to finish the paper. Take your time. You cannot get out of here for three hours. Your professor has ordered me, and I respect that old man.”

I said, “This is strange.”

I would finish the paper in two hours or one and a half hours, and I would ask the superintendent, “You can see I have finished the paper. Now don’t bother me, because I have not even taken a bath yet. I have to go and wash my mouth, take a bath and change my clothes. I have come directly from bed.”

He said, “Directly from bed? But who forced you?”

I said, “The same professor who forced you.” And I said, “I will not report against you. Nobody is going to report it; everybody is so engaged in writing.”

He said, “If this is the situation, you can go. But have you answered all the questions?”

“I…you can see!” He knew that I had answered, but he would look. He would say, “This is strange. In a post-graduate examination, your answer to the question is just one page, half a page. Do you hope to pass?

I said, “I never hope anything. This much I enjoyed; more than that… I never do anything that I don’t enjoy.”

And by chance it happened that one of the retired professors, Professor Ranade of Allahabad University – he was a world-famous authority – got my examination papers, my answers. So my professor was going completely mad.