All Izz Well, Except the Thermodynamics
•INVESTIGATIVE DISPATCH•BY ADITYA
Editorial Illustration:All Izz Well: an editorial cartoon on the semester exam paper answered entirely in musical notes and film lyrics.
VINTAGE INK ARCHIVE
All Izz Well, Except the Thermodynamics
An engineering student at Chandigarh University answered their entire semester exam with lyrics from 3 Idiots. The evaluator filmed it. 12 million people watched.
There is a scene in 3 Idiots where Rancho tells his friends that when life gets unbearable, simply say "All izz well" and push forward. The philosophy is a cinematic coping mechanism for academic pressure.
In April 2023, an engineering student at Chandigarh University, Mohali took the message quite literally.
Sitting for their semester examination, facing multiple questions about thermodynamic equations and engineering mathematics they clearly hadn't studied, the student made a creative executive decision. They wrote down the complete lyrics of "Give Me Some Sunshine" and "All Izz Well" from the 2009 Bollywood film 3 Idiots — across every page, for every question, in neat, careful handwriting.
The Evaluator's Video
The teacher grading the answer booklet found the first song lyrics beneath Question 1, paused, turned the page, found more lyrics beneath Question 2, and at some point picked up their phone.
The resulting 45-second video — showing the evaluator panning slowly through pages of Bollywood song lyrics where engineering derivations should have been — was posted to Instagram Reels and hit the internet running.
12 million views.
Reddit's engineering communities treated the student as a folk hero. Comment sections filled with engineers sharing their own mental health confessions. Indian film Twitter appreciated the curation — both songs selected are the specifically the ones about surviving academic pressure and systemic examination burnout. The choice was not random. It was curated commentary.
One top comment read: "Bro didn't fail the exam. He submitted his thesis."
The University's Response
Chandigarh University's evaluation cell confirmed what was obvious: the answer sheet was awarded zero marks. The student was counselled and mandated to appear for the semester backlog paper in the supplementary cycle.
The university did not publicly comment on the artistic quality of the submission.
Timeline: INC-ABS-2023-PB-018
| Date | What Happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| April 2023 | Engineering student submits semester paper containing complete 3 Idiots song lyrics across all questions, Chandigarh University | Republic World, 14 Apr 2023 |
| 14–16 April 2023 | Evaluator's video goes viral; 12 million+ views across Instagram Reels and Reddit | Free Press Journal, 15 Apr 2023 |
| April 2023 | University awards zero marks; student mandated to retake semester in supplementary cycle | Chandigarh University Academic Records |
Sources & Further Reading
- "Engineering student writes 3 Idiots songs in exam paper instead of answers" — Republic World, 14 April 2023. republicworld.com
- "Student writes '3 Idiots' songs in engineering exam instead of answers; video goes viral" — Free Press Journal, 15 April 2023. freepressjournal.in
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