Most probably inspired by the outcome of some sporting event, is a celebration of success. The beaming smile of the winner, the applauding crowd—such are life’s greatest moments.
Lonely is the man who is declared to be a loser by his own parents. Looking back at the years gone by, a deep sense of loneliness engulfs me when I think about my years in school. My teachers had high expectations of me and on some odd occasions, I did manage to more than live up to their expectations. My mother, however, never respected my potential. I do not blame her.
She was too influenced by the contemporary thought current which glorified science as a god and believed that science meant a secure future for students. I firmly believed that a student should, only study a subject he has a natural liking for. I was never really known for my ability as a science student. I was very good at creative writing. This brings to my mind the memory of the first national level award I had won as a Class 9 student.
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I remember taking the examination on a rainy August morning at Kendriya Vidyalaya Command Hospital School at Kolkata. I had a major argument with my mother over my lackadaisical attitude towards the science subjects because I paid scant regard to the IIT tuitions she was forcing me into.
I knew that she wanted me to succeed and make it big but I could hardly respect the fact that she never cared to glance at the things I really delighted in. At Class 9, I had enough problems with the school syllabus and I could never have managed to prepare for the IITs along with that.
All my philosophy about childhood, growing up, studies and the joy of learning found their way into the composition on the ‘New Child in the New Millennium’. I was informed about a month later that my essay had won the award for the ‘Best Creative Writing’ at the National Level. It was a pleasant surprise. My achievement was the cause of much excitement in my school and theories flew in the air about how I managed to achieve this enviable feat and whose help I had taken.
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The Principal honoured me about two weeks later in the Assembly by handing me my certificate. The certificate was sent by post a few days ago because I had not been allowed to go to Delhi to get my prize. My mother thought it would affect my science and mathematics tuitions. I still find it difficult to excuse her for this.
The Principal hailed me as an example for other boys to follow and asked me to share with the students the ‘science’ behind my success. I struggled to explain to the students that my success had no ‘science’ behind it. In fact it was my hatred for being forced into ‘science’ that brought forward the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. The creativity that the concerned authorities had appreciated was born out of the injured pride of a young boy and his faith in his own ideas.