Monkeying around

"There is a monkey is in the games field!"

No one seemed to care and everyone continued with their work.

"Hey! Can't you all hear? There is a monkey in the football field. Someone help me shoo it away."

"You mean a real monkey?"

"Yes."

"Does it have a tail?"

"Of course it does! What's wrong with you?"

"Oh my god! A real monkey in our games field. We should shoo it away."

"That was what I said."

A little later...

"We have shooed it away."

"Thank god"

"I agree. It was dangerous for the real monkey. But how did you differentiate the monkey from the others in the field?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know how you managed to differentiate. The monkey had something that the others did not have."

"What?"

"A tail"

*************

The invigilator took over the charge from the previous invigilator exactly an hour after the exam started. He sat down and looked at the students writing the exam. He was shocked to find that only six of the 16 students were writing the exam. The rest of them were staring at him with a wicked smile on their face. He walked up to one and whispered "why are you not writing the exam?" "Because we have finished the paper" came back the loud response to everyone's amusement. The invigilator shushed the students and started pacing the hall. He looked at each of the students. Except for the six, the others stared right back at him and smiled. Some tried to enter into a conversation but he walked away. He decided to sit in the chair near the entrance of the hall as he did not want to disturb the six who were writing the exam still.

The student sitting on the first row got up and walked towards the table containing the water jugs. He took many seconds more than the required to reach the table. He took more time than required to pour the water into the glass and continuing the pattern took more time than required to drink the water. He placed the glass back and in a Ninja style movement bent down and picked a chalk from the floor. He was not as quick as a Ninja and as a result the invigilator noticed the action. He came back and sat in his seat. He stared at the invigilator for some time before bending down and writing something on his desk with chalk. He continued the routine for sometime. The invigilator tried to play nonchalant by staring at the trees through the window on the far side of the hall. But the nonchalance did not last for more than a few minutes. He got up and walked towards the student who looked at him with a smile. He pointed at the caricature he had drawn on the desk and asked "does it not look like you?" To the invigilator's annoyance, it looked like a caricature of him. He shushed the student and walked away.

The students were in various stages of boredom. One was writing the word "EXAM" on her writing pad. Two of them were conversing using their hands and eyes. Another was checking through his stationary pouch. He was happy to find something that could be thrown in the dustbin, which was placed at the other end of the room. He got up and walked very slowly towards the dustbin. A girl was drawing an arrow on her ankle. Another girl was drawing a web like pattern on her desk with a chalk. The invigilator was surprised at the level of artistry displayed during the physical education exam. A girl seemed to be sleeping with her head on the desk. Another girl looked at the clock in the front and almost instantly turned around to look at the clock at the other end of the room. She shook her head in disappointment when she found the time on the two clocks were the same.

A girl requested if she could borrow a highlighter pen from her neighbour. The invigilator hesitated but ultimately let the girl borrow the pen. He moved on and passed the fellow who had drawn the caricature and found he was busy giving the caricature a shoulder enveloped in a shirt. The invigilator gritted his teeth and moved away quickly. During the next round, he found the girl who had borrowed the highlighter pen painting the nails on her left hand. From time to time, she paused to look at her green nail in appreciation. The invigilator's mind could not take in any more acts of boredom. He went back to his chair, took out a book and started reading it. 

Two minutes prior to the end time of the exam, the students raised a clamour. He got up, collected the answer sheets and the let the bored students free.