A deadline is a deadline is a deadline. But the repercussions of not defining a deadline can come back to haunt the authority concerned in weird, even comical, ways. Professor Kari can use the adjective he believes best fits the situation he found himself in for not clearly defining the deadline for submitting his assignment.

The deadline for submitting the mechanics assignment was a particular day. All engineers, or is it a trait common to all humans, usually achieve their goals just before the deadline. Some management gurus call it "Just in time". However, it must be noted that it is not the desire of efficiency which drives people to adopt this "just in time" philosophy. It is laziness that causes it. Whatever the reasons, it was something that we PCTians excelled in. But when you cut too close, you can scrape your skin at times.

That is what happened to "Bhiwandi" (a guy who got his nick name from the place he lived at), and he finished his mechanics assignment a wee bit late, and couldn't get it checked by Kari. But all was not lost. And better late than never is an axiom that is abused to death by the proponents of procrastination.

So Bhiwandi, who was a bit dejected at the fact that he was going to get a late-mark despite finishing the assignment, got an opportunity to reclaim his pride. But then, it was the question of "where" to get the assignment checked that assumed more importance than the question of "when".

Bhiwandi and Bhavin (I think) were headed back home on a bike. Red lights, which always play a critical role in cheap thriller movies, had a pivotal role here too, as they halted Bhiwandi and Bhavin to a stand still. Lo and behold! Bhiwandi's heart must have jumped with glee when he noticed the person who was stuck at the red light beside him. Who else, but Kari, on his a marginally oversized scooter. And Bhiwandi grabbed the opportunity, with both hands. He whipped out his assignment, and asked, maybe even demanded, that Kari check his assignment then and there, at the red-light!!! After all, the day, which was the deadline, was not yet over, right?

I so wish I could have seen Kari's expression then, and heard his response. Well that will be a secret between Bhiwandi, Bhavin, and Kari. But whatever the response was, the assignment did not get checked. And the next time Kari gave his deadline, he explicitly clarified that no assignment would be accepted on the road!

-Himanshu