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Board exams and results are not the most important thing in life, though it doesn't feel like that at the moment. How do you stay calm at such times?
Board exams and results are not the most important thing in life, though it doesn’t feel like that at the moment. How do you stay calm at such times?
I asked myself several times if I should pen this to you, and finally I decided I should. Hope you spare a moment to read…
Ten years down the line, no one is going to remember your ‘score’ from the board exams. It is important, I won’t tell you otherwise. But, those numbers are not going to ‘irrefutably’ determine the course of who you finally evolve into.
Remember, it is diversity that makes the Earth beautiful. We need the grass as much as we need the tall oaks. Else, Earth and its sentient beings would’ve been assembly line products, not part of an amazing evolutionary process! Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.
A great maxim to live by. You may have parents who understand that or you may have parents who pressurize, I understand. But ultimately, it is you who has been given the responsibility and the honour of taking care of ‘You’ – this unique combination of strengths and weaknesses.
Do not allow scathing remarks by the significant adults in your life undermine you. Of course, if you are not giving it your best for your board exams, not using your strengths, then you definitely need some speaking to! But, if you are, then never mind the rest.
It is perfectly alright to feel overwhelmed at times. The best among us experiences it too. For, who ever promised life will be a boring straight line?
It is perfectly okay to feel sad at times. But, deliberately counter it with a beautiful moment or memory. It can be simple, just go and hug your equally tense parent/ significant adult (even if they are grouchy), or look up at the skies, or go out and treat yourself to an ice cream, or just close your eyes and breathe deep, pat yourself and whisper, ‘I’m there for you, no worries’… just do something to let the ‘moment’ pass, be it anything!
And, if you can’t beat those blues by yourself, reach out to someone who will listen. If you need help, do not hesitate, ask! Tell your significant adult that your ‘sadness’ threatens to overwhelm and you need help. When faced with bare facts, people do help. I repeat, do not hesitate.
You might be the straight ‘A+’ scorer or you might score other grades, but whatever it is, decide that you will be there for all your peers. Decide that apart from your significant adults and the higher education forms you fill, no one ‘needs’ to hear your percentile. If they don’t know, they can’t compare. Remember, in life very few people question because they really care. Plus, do you know what your parent/your head teacher scored in 1961; who scored more and who scored less? Does it matter now?
Life gives you choices and chances, don’t be convinced otherwise. Remember, it is perseverance that paid off in the ‘Hare & Tortoise’ race.
All the very best to you, my dear.
First published here.
I write about Life, as I see it... It is my lifeline to sanity. A psychiatric social worker by training, an erst while journalist by chance, technical writer by plan and now, a home maker read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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