Scene: Department corridor, 9:47 AM. Three minutes before the viva.

Rifat is pacing like his life depends on it—because technically, it does. Sadia sits on the floor, textbook open, mumbling definitions she learned five minutes ago. Sabbir? He’s on his phone, scrolling through memes.

Rifat – Bro, “How are you so calm?”

Sabbir – without looking up “Acceptance”, my friend. Acceptance. I’ve already mentally prepared myself for the supplementary.

Sadia –  looking up, horrified SUPPLEMENTARY?! 

Sabbir: We’re already cursed at loss. Last four years… all coming down to twenty minutes with Sir.

Pause.

Rifat –  Twenty minutes of pure, unfiltered judgment.

Sadia – Twenty minutes of “Hmm… interesting answer.”

Sabbir: Twenty minutes of wondering if Sir had his morning tea or not.

10:00 AM. The door opens.

Internal Examiner (Sir): Next!

The three exchange glances. It’s Rifat’s turn. He stands, adjusts his shirt seven times, and walks in like he’s approaching the gallows.

Inside the viva room

Sir is flipping through Rifat’s thesis like it’s a restaurant menu he’s not impressed by. External Sir is smiling. That’s somehow worse.*

External Sir: So… tell me about your project.

Rifat – clears throat Sir, my project is on… uh… brain completely blanks …the implementation of…

Five-second pause. Eternity in viva time.

Rifat –  …the thing I wrote about.

Awkward silence. Sir looks up.

Internal Sir:The “thing”?

Rifat –  nervous laugh Sir, I mean… the IoT-based smart home automation system using Raspberry Pi and—

External Sir: interruptingVery good. Now tell me, what’s the difference between IoT and IIoT?

Rifat – confidently wrong, Sir, IoT is… Internet of Things. And IIoT is… *pause* …Intense Internet of Things?

Sir stares. External Sir blinks twice.

Internal Sir:…Industrial Internet of Things.

Rifat: immediately ‘Yes Sir!”That’s what I meant! Industrial! I was just testing if you were paying attention, Sir.

*Nobody laughs. Nobody.*

10:25 AM. Outside.

Rifat emerges, looking like he’s seen things. War things.

Sadia –  “How was it?!”

Rifat – stares into the void I told Sir that IIoT stands for Intense Internet of Things.

Sabbir: pause …Bro 

Rifat – “I KNOW.”

Sadia: Did he… did he fail you?

Rifat –  Worse. He just… wrote something down. Silently.

Moment of collective dread.

Sabbir:That’s it. I’m going in there and saying I designed the entire project using “CHATGPT and YouTube tutorials.” At least I’ll be honest.

Sadia:DON’T.

10:30 AM. Sadia’s turn.

She walks in. Sits down. Smiles nervously.

External Sir:So, tell me about your methodology.

Sadia: Sir, we followed the Agile methodology for our project—

Internal Sir: interrupting Why Agile? Why not Waterfall?

Sadia’s brain: “Because… our group chat was more chaotic than organized?”*

Sadia: Sir, because… Agile allows for flexibility and iterative development, which was essential for—

External Sir: And you conducted user testing?

Sadia:confidently lying “Yes Sir!” Extensive user testing!

Internal Sir: How many users?

Pause. Critical pause.

Sadia: …Five, Sir.

External Sir: Five?

Sadia: doubling downP Very thorough testing, Sir. Quality over quantity.

Sir exchanges glances with External Sir. They’re either impressed or plotting her academic demise.*

-11:00 AM. Sabbir’s turn.

He walks in with the energy of someone who has already accepted his defats.

Internal Sir: Your project?

Sabbir: Sir, blockchain-based voting system.

External Sir: Interesting. Explain how blockchain ensures security.

Sabbir, akes deep breath  “Sir, blockchain is like… a ledger. But digital. And it’s decentralized, so no single point of failure. Each block contains a hash of the previous block, creating a chain that’s immutable and “

Internal Sir:* cutting him off, “Did you actually implement blockchain or just use a library?”

The question every CSE student dreads.*)

Sabbir: long pause …Sir, we used a framework. But we understood the underlying principles thoroughly.

External Sir:smiling, “Which framework?”

Sabbir:…Ethereum, Sir.

Internal Sir:And you wrote smart contracts?

Sabbir:weating …”Yes, Sir. Using Solidity.”

Sir opens the project report. Flips to the code section. Points.

Internal Sir: This is copied from GitHub.

Silence. The kind of silence where you can hear your GPA dropping.

Sabbir: “Hail Mary attempt” Sir, we used it as a reference and modified it according to our requirements—

External Sir: still smiling, which is terrifying “Where are the modifications?”

Sabbir looks at the code. Looks at Sir. Looks at his life choices.

Sabbir: …”Sir, honestly? We were going to modify it but ran out of time. But we learned a lot in the process!”

Pause.

Internal Sir: unexpectedly “At least you’re honest.”

Sabbir exhales for the first time in five minutes.

12:00 PM. Results pending.

The three sit outside, exhausted.

Rifat:I think I failed.

Sadia: I think we ALL failed.

Sabbir: I basically admitted to academic borrowing and Sir said I was honest. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

Pause.

Rifat –  You know what’s funny? Four years. Four YEARS. And it all came down to whether Sir had his tea this morning.

Sadia – aughing despite everything “And whether External Sir was in a good mood.”

Sabbir: “And whether our printer decided to work the night before submission.”

They all laugh. The kind of exhausted, semi-hysterical laughter of people who’ve been through something together.

1 month later – 

In CSE52 batch group CR forward a message – 

Everyone passed.

Congratulations.

Rifat, Sadia, Sabbir all three from their respective houses stared at the message. Then it hit them.

Epilogue:

Later that day, group chat:

Rifat: “Guys I can’t believe we actually graduated.”

Sadia:Alhamdulillah 

Sabbir: Sir really said “Change the variable names.” Laughing emojis.

Rifat –  “That was the most Bangladeshi advice ever.’

Sadia, –  “Now what?”

Sabbir –  “Now? Job hunting. Another pressure cooker.’

Rifat – “ Please. Let me have ONE day.”

Sadia – “One day of peace before we enter the real world.”

Sabbir – sends meme, “Congratulations! You’ve unlocked: Unemployment”

Rifat –  “I hate you”

Sabbir – “Same”

THE END

(But not really. The real pressure cooker is just beginning.)