The Exam season is here and pressure has started building in the minds of all young individuals. They must get good grades; all relatives would want to know. And once the results are out, every child would be assessed. Relatives will decide, on spot, how far he would go in life compared to every child in the family. Result declaration day is a festival for all nosy relatives.
As societies start giving certificates of a persons credibility, I wonder who is qualified to certify who I am. I wonder who can define me in one numerical and why. And I wonder how many important facets of my life would become futile if I let that happen. What would become of all those happy and sad things that I lived through in my life, if a mere verdictbased on a few ridiculous questions is slapped on my face? And as I wonder about all this, my conviction is strengthened so much so that I refuse to let a piece of paper become my biography!
I am not the percentage I achieve in any one exam of my life. I neither am the top rank that I achieved sometime in my life, nor am I the low marks from yet another test. I am that warrior who learnt and strived. I am a bundle of experiences that are unique to only me. I am the tears that I shed in kinder garden, refusing with all my might to go to school. I am that triumph which lit my face on returning home. I am all the loneliness I felt on being separated from my family then and all the joy that filled my heart on my return. I am the loud clatter of the classroom and the silence of the assembly hall. I am the guilt that I felt for every folly and the misery of every punishment. I am that uplifting pride of my victories and the jubilance of applause. I am the laughter of that happy hour and the prayer on the prayer mat. I am that strong bond of friendship with people I love. I am the love that binds me to them. I am apprehension and anticipation of many long waits. I am every feeling that I ever felt.
I am an explorer, a seeker, an adventurer through life. My life is my unique experience which is full of all kinds of stuff. I am living a life rich in bounties and colors. If someone tries to convert all this into a racing track wherein I am expected to race like a horse while people all around bet on my chances at success and then judge me based on how many horses I can beat, I would have to put my foot down.
I would not allow people to rank me based on my resemblance to an equine. To have acquired a life is in itself a success and everything that happens within that life is a part of that big success. That is my definition of success for I no longer see life through a narrow tube. The world has become a global village and everybody can succeed at something or the other.
So if someone tags you as good or bad, based on a sheet of paper, they call the report card, let them waste their lives spying on yours. Their business is not your business.Do not let the opinions of others spoil your opinion of yourself. You are meant to spread those wings of yours and take flight.
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