Is anything constant? Yes there are things which are constant. Go back in time and juggle through your memory to reach your 10th standard physics days where we always had to learn about two varying quantities — ‘x’ and ‘y’. Now that we have all grown up, we can see that these ‘x’ and ‘y’ are replaced by time and life. With each passing day of life, we learn ways to make our life better and regenerate our brain cells to make us wiser. This tale entails an ordinary school kid who resisted change with time.
He was happy, considering his successes. He was a believer for he possessed all the traits of being an achiever. The world perplexed him but he did choose his own religion. His religion was confined to that of Karma where there was no replacement for hard work, not even God. Smart work, according to him, was a short-cut to success. Success comes to those who toil hard and he sure did work a lot.
All through his building years he remained jolly and learnt his lessons whenever time demanded. He was different from the lot, during his school days. He was an above average student, was excellent when it came to debating, was an enthusiastic sports person and scored decent grades. Apart from possessing all of the above, he empathized with those students who were weak, both physically and mentally. He tried to be a Batman for those who were in need but the only exception was that this Batman lacked those various gadgets and got thrashed quite few times. His zeal of helping people was phenomenal. He used to share his notes with his fellow classmates in order to aid them in completing their work and this was a part of his daily routine. This attracted some of the spoilt kids of the school to become friends with him as parents always want their children to be friends with the brightest minds in school. His study hours therefore started to reduce and his performance started to deteriorate. His father had a transferrable job and the family landed in Mumbai. This 9th standard kid was happy to be there. He tried going back to his old Batman days but this was a city where people were way taller than he was. His 5’5’’ led him into a ditch and he thus resorted to peaceful means and got into the company of the brats of Mumbai. His studies suffered. He once used to secure a place in everyone’s heart owing to his several talents, which was not the case anymore. His dreams of scoring well in 10th standard were haunting him and in order to save himself, he started lying and making excuses. He believed that a lie which does not harm anyone is good. This became a habit. His friends turned into foes and he was alone, changed as a person and confused.
He went back to his hometown. With the 12th board exams round the corner, everyone had expectations from him to score well. He decided to start everything all over again and he did manage to do pretty well. He secured the second position in the home exams of the 11th standard. What lay next were the 12th standard exams and the set of expectations he had to meet. He joined coaching classes promising him an entry into the IIT. He was a believer. He believed in his fate and his hard work, but fate had different things in store for him. He worked for it and walked down all the alleys he could and finally met a pair of eyes that left him spell-bounded. He was trapped, as on side he wanted to score high marks and make it into a good college of engineering and on the other, stood a girl whom he was falling for. They had a mutual friend, George, with whom he shared everything. George was in constant contact with her since they attended the same coaching classes. He asked her out but she fled with George, who evidently betrayed him.
A guy stood there, cheated by his friend and enduring the pain of his first love. He always thought was it an infatuation, but the only thing he could he recall was her eyes when they first glanced at him. He was stranded. He left his coaching institute and the fear of not scoring well haunted him. Depression was the only resort. He shunned school and food and resorted to helping his friend George, who an orphan. George never knew how things were in his friend’s life. While he tried to motivate George to work hard for his exams and quit drinking, he himself never understood the value of time. As time flew, he got back to lying. He used to lie to everyone-his parents, teachers and friends. His life changed, he became weak, both emotionally and physically. During the last two months, which is considered to be the most important time for the preparation for one’s board exams, he got back on track. A saint sister, Sujitha who knew him very closely, taught him to live again. She taught him to be pious and prayed for him every morning. She taught him to view all these problems as stepping stones towards success and he therefore somehow managed to clear his 12th exams.
His life changed as beauty of prayers and the belief in the existence of God led him to become a normal man. He was back on his set of principles and the religion he called his own- Karma. After relishing a long association with shortcuts, he bid them goodbye. He changed and developed better relationships. He got into an eminent engineering college. He toiled hard and now works in one of the world’s top IT services and chip-making company.
Time is possessed by none and change is constant. Believe in this fact and if time turns against you, fight back and don’t lose hope. It is momentary and believers are certainly winners. If you ever fall back, don’t consider yourself stranded, get back and roar louder than ever. Learning is what life is all about. With each stone that bruises your leg, make sure it never hurts someone like you.