The days after class ten results were out.......

“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”

The most awaited period of my life till now was the declaration of class ten results. After about two months of anxiety and excitement, the results were declared. I had got 87%. It was average marks comparing to what I have seen in Manipal today. Most of the people, here have got more than 90% in their 10th standard. But, those days I felt as if I had conquered the world. My father was happy, and more importantly I was happy. I felt as if there was nothing more to do in life. I had got more than most of my friends. I had gone crazy. I was proud of myself. I mean, proud in the superlative degree. I felt as if people who got below 75%, not worth talking. People, who are offended by my last statement, are not supposed to, because today, even I am one of them. I don’t feel the same way any more.

But back then, it was different. I thought whatever I do now, my parents wouldn’t scold me. I thought I belonged to the elite class, which is so not true. The admissions for class 11 opened up in our school. I knew I would easily make it to the merit list. And I finally did. But just making it to the merit list doesn’t guarantee you an admission in the school. For that, you got to pay up the admission fees to the school authorities to confirm your admission. This very basic fact I never knew or may be overlooked, or ignored. I had got 87% and that was it. I had started my tuitions for class eleven. One day, on my way to the tuitions, I met one of the principal or father as we say in the convent schools. He asked me whether I had taken admissions in the school. I simply said that my name had appeared in the merit list, thus I got admissions. He explained to me the facts.

I went back home. The date for admissions had already passed. It was three days since the admissions got over. Now, I have 87%, with no admissions for further studies, and most of the schools had finished their admission procedure. I went to the principal the very next day along with my mother. The first reply I got was to leave, as the school authorities had finished their admissions. In simple words, there was no place for me in my school “St. Paul’s”, which was my second home for the last eight years.

In one of the other schools I had applied, I was not even considered for admissions. That was the time I came to know, that I was mediocre in academics, or may be just good. It was then I realized that I don’t belong to the elite class. I finally got admissions in St. Paul’s school, my school, after crying and begging in front of the principal. It took three days to convince the principal, after which he granted me admissions.

The thing I wanted to point out is, we crave for success, and one day when we finally get that, most of us don’t know how to handle it. We got to learn it from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whom I truly admire. He is presently the Indian captain and the highest earner in the IPL. It will take me probably my lifetime to earn Six Crores. He is still so humble, his feet staying right on ground. As a proverb says, “success is a journey, not a destination.” You may be successful now, but who knows, what will happen tomorrow. So, always stay humble, polite and grateful like Dhoni……

“Try not to be a man of success, but rather to be a man of value.”