It was mid march and I had the same nostalgic feeling as if I had my exams the next day . The whole
atmosphere in India around this time of the year is like this . Heat , tuitions , tests , exams and the never ending thirst for getting the
ranks or atleast the coveted 90’s. The pressure as they say is at its peak ,
When every family wants their sons or daughters to be the rank holders .
Because this is what will decide your entire life in this country .
I was at my home enjoying my vacations. The kid next door
had his exams and I could clearly feel the chaotic calls , shouts and all
warning sounds . Some years back It was me in his place . The whole family
preparing on war footing for the D-day .
Everything would be arranged and taken care of . The only expectation from this whole
tantrum was the double digit number which could be proudly bragged of ,when
talking to friends and family . Anyways let me not get too much of a critic
about this prevalent ritual in our country.
The D-Day came and the kid was all set , His mother came out
reiterating If he had kept everything for the exam as if He was a US marine
assigned to Afghanistan . This was like a full kit checkup before going to the
front . The routine ended with an arti and offering of sweet curd , which was
the only difference with the checks done by those Marines . It
was already time and then came the swanky air conditioned sedan to escort him
to the battlefield. The whole rush ended with the vehicle disappearing in the next corner . I was just about to enter
when a young kid of about 15 years came
to the main gate of our house . He was looking for some work and we wanted to
get some garden work done. So the deal was made and he quickly cleaned up the
whole area ,watered the plants, dumped the waste and asked me for the money . I asked him casually
if he was attending school , the answer was yes . He was studying in the 9th grade in the local
government school . The whole morning
episode prompted me to ask about his exams and like our little marine he too
had his exams . There was a 2 day break
in between the papers and his family asked him to get some cash . I was glued
to where I was standing literally frozen in time . I wanted to talk to him and
ask about this whole little adventure that he and his family was doing . His
name was Lucky and he was very keen in studying further and wanted to get into
a stable bank job in future . His smile
and the glow on the face was concealing
the sheer compulsion that he had . His next paper was social sciences and he
was more than confident of scoring high . In fact he had planned to work the
next day too . I handed him the money and gifted him a pen too , that was the
only thing that was coming to my mind at that point of time. He promised to do
well in his next paper and went on for his next assignment.
Our little marine returned home in some time , I was roaming outside only and the look on
his face suggested that the battle was not won today . I asked him about his exam , he was
disheartened and told me that today was not this day , All the topics that he
had practiced did not come . He said “I am not lucky enough” .The line
immediately rang some bells in my brain . I consoled him for the next exam
but somewhere inside I agreed with his line
, He was not lucky just could not be ‘lucky’ enough ever and probably won’t realize how it feels to be lucky.
Next time when somebody tells me that he or she was not
lucky , I am sure I would have to admit
that they actually are not and can never be….
No comments:
Post a Comment