When you grow up, you pass through several stages in life that change the way you look into the things. There are a few good experiences and there are some bad ones to tally. And some of them get imprinted indelibly on one corner of your heart. Those special ones remain vivid throughout the life and give a feeling of recency on each remembrance.
In this blog, I am going to share one such event which abruptly swayed my life: My first encounter with the failure. The title takes its justification from the fact that though the story is being texted now, the script was imprinted in my heart years ago when I was a teen.
I was a bright student of S.D.A. Middle School, Bhilwara( my home town). I was all tears when I had to enroll for a different school for carrying further studies after 8th standard. It was St. Anselm’s Sen. Sec. School, an elite school of the city. I was an innocent studious boy till then, devoid of all that chutzpah that such big schools offer.
My first day at this school was as shocking as expected. I was welcomed with a harsh denial to sit on the first row by the old boys’ gang of my class. One of them approached me, pulled my bag and threw it on a bench backside saying: Naya aya he na, chal peeche baith. Yaha hum baithte he.
And they all burst into laughter. I could not understand what that laughter was for. Somehow I managed to occupy a seat at the second bench. And then came another fellow. He started abusing me. I was struck dumb. How could a stranger throw such lavish abuses at a new entrant? This was my first encounter of the grim reality of the so called reputed schools where only the children of the privileged class would study. Another blow came when I found after the day was over that my cycle had been punctured by some menace of my class. This was the way I was welcomed to my new school.
I returned home and detailed the ordeal to my father about my first day at school. My dad nestled my head under his arms and said: Sonu, school change ki he na to thodi pareshani to uthani padegi. Sab theek ho jayega, tu bas apni padhai pe dhyan laga. Tu adjust ho jayega jaldi.
The next day I went to school and took a test on English subject. I stood first in the class and everybody was hovering round me after the class was over. The incumbent topper of the class came and greeted me saying : Bhai ab to meri position ko tumse khatra he. Even the boy who abused me last day came and asked about my previous school. Suddenly the whole scene changed. I became the talk of the class.
The honeymoon period ended soon when Quarterly exams arrived. I was struggling to get over the menace of Mathematics. It was a shift from Rajasthan board to CBSE for me and it took a hell lot of pain to grab half of the lessons of the subject. The day arrived when I wrote my Maths Paper. I attempted whatever I could and took a great sigh of relief after the exam.
The results day came and I got the first debacle of my life. I was declared failed in Mathematics with a meager score of 15 out of 100. My dad scolded me harshly and expressed pity at my sheer incompetence. On that day I wrote the first poem of my life which poignantly carved out the feelings of a teen bereft of accolades he used to get in his previous school. Nevertheless, I summoned up courage and prepared myself to face the mighty task. I can still feel the moisture of tears on my cheeks I bore on that day when I sat to prove to my parents that I would overcome this ignominy and would come out with flying colours.
I diligently worked hard for 2 months and got myself tuned with, until that time, so incongruous subject of Mathematics. The Half yearly Exams arrived and I got a distinction in Maths. Kudos. I continued that streak in Annual exams also and gratified myself and my family.
This experience taught me one great lesson of life : there is nothing that can not be achieved, there is nothing that cant be conquered. The only requisite is that we resolve to march ahead. The paths will unfold automatically once we embark on the expedition. This is where the beauty of Man’s indefatigable spirit resides. Yes, Almighty chose this way of showing me the path. I love you God.
