When the tale isn't all in the numbers!

Those in India without a head for head for numbers are at a serious disadvantage at present. Not only is the dissection of the electoral verdict being marked by proxy statistical battles raging particularly across cyberspace, various examination bodies have also weighed in with the results for classes X and XII at the same time. Empathy for those leery of numbers is merited.

The relatively new form of examination results has confounded generations used to simple marks at least here in India, immortalised in popular cinema of yore by successful students waving newspaper reports of their percentages. Now with inscrutable grade point averages on the one hand and near-perfect scores on the other, many are left wondering whether their Pappu passed or not.

The announcement of the results of the 2014 elections have obviously also thrown up debates about pass percentages of another sort, thereby increasing the bewilderment of those for whom number crunching is anathema. More so as the controversy centres on abstruse issues such as total vote share, sampling inadequacies and proportional representation.

Even as number warriors continue to lunge and parry over decimal points, the electorate can perhaps be forgiven for wondering whether there were any Pappus passed in these five-yearly examinations as well.