Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail – It’s all about loving your results

  •   Fri, Jul 02 2010
  •   by Robin Dyson Almeida

Jul 3, 2010

“Who is roll number 3? Is it Robin Almeida?” shouted the teacher and with that all my friends pointed towards me. “Is it 5 or 50 marks that you have scored out of 75 in Geometry?” the teacher asked. “Miss it’s 0.5 (half)” I said and the whole class giggled. Our school policy was such that the half mark gets converted into one. So in short, I had scored just 1 out of 75 in geometry. The whole class except my best friend Mitesh giggled because Mitesh was also closest to my score. He had scored 8 times my original score i.e. 4 out of 75.

 Mitesh and I had never known the value of a single digit until we started scoring that figure. The days of our results were mourning days for us. We would observe a minute’s silence in memory of our results which was followed by a week’s silence at our homes. The moment I entered my house, my mom would ask me “Did u get your results?” and before I could lie, my sister would answer “Yes mom we all got our results” as she was two years younger to my batch in the same school. So there was no escape for me. I would answer “Yes mom” and then the one digit figures would follow in a slow and quiet tone. The same scenes were also experienced at Mitesh’s home. We were weak in Algebra and Geometry but we always made the passing marks in Science as we had a crush on our science teacher and we did not want to be in her bad books  Well that was way back then during the good old school days.

The look on our faces was somehow as represented below.
 

Despite this, our parents never forced us for merit results, but they always encouraged us to turn those single digit marks into double digits.  We never realized the level of understanding that they had as school life was full of fun and with our carefree attitude we could reach nowhere.  

Today when we read the newspapers and watch television news we come across many instances of students committing suicide and harming themselves, before or after the results in the fear that they might not be able to face the world because of their poor results. What’s more shocking is that it is not just the weak students who resort to committing this act.  Even intelligent and smart students who perform exceptionally well in exams resort to such acts. If this has to be the order of failure, then Mithesh; and I  would have finished our quota of our 7 births before passing our 10th standard as our every failure would have resulted in a suicide 

SERIOUSLY, What drives students to take this ghastly step? Is it pressure from home I mean parents and relatives? Is it peer pressure? Is it the pressure from Society? Or any other reason? Whatever the reason might be, the point here is that one has to realize that all five fingers are not the same. Every child is special and unique in his/her own way and we need to understand that. This is best shown in the Hindi movie “Taare Zameen par”. Students need extra care, attention and encouragement and not pressure and force to perform well.
 

On a lighter note,  I would like to recall one instance of my college during my HSC (12th standard) days. My father proudly told me one day “Son, if you clear the exam with flying colors I’ll get you a two wheeler and if you don’t, I’ll get you a three wheeler. The same followed for Mitesh as well. His father told him “Son, if you clear the exam with flying colors, I’ll enroll you for CA (Chartered Accountancy) and if you don’t I’ll still make you CA (Complete Aaram). We both passed with average marks and we got neither of it.

The point here is that student can be best heard and understood by their parents, elders and teachers. The intelligent student shouldn’t be separated from the less-intelligent ones. Every student has the potential to be “THE BEST” …it’s just the time frame to achieve this that differs from one student to another.

A little encouragement, a little extra attention, a little humor and love from parents, teachers, and our society can make the impossible possible for our students. Students on the other hand, should realize that exam performance is not the end of the world and there is always a second chance. If this happens, then there will be a drastic reduction in the number of suicides and with that we will be saving many precious lives before they get wilted due to insurmountable pressure from all quarters.  It is our duty to ensure that our youngsters do not turn weaklings bowing to uncalled for expectations.

Remember, ROME wasn’t built in a day !

Robin Almeida - Archives:

 
by Robin Dyson Almeida
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • Flona, Mangalore

    Tue, Aug 24 2010

    Nice article sir, keep writing. God bless!!

  • james, mangalore

    Thu, Aug 05 2010

    hatsoff to you robin

  • Reena , Dubai- UAE

    Wed, Jul 07 2010

    So true...In our time Schools n colleges was so much fun...but now its simply different.....i think ur article is an eye opener to all....Well written!!!

  • Ivan, Mumbai/Mangalore

    Wed, Jul 07 2010

    very nice Robbie....

  • Ivan, Mumbai/Mangalore

    Thu, Jul 08 2010

    Well written Robbie... that's awesome

  • Ronald, Mangalore

    Mon, Jul 05 2010

    Well written, If the exam score is not good or you failed the exam then it does not mean that you will not succeed. Everyone is tallented in one or the other area. Find what is your interest and explore the oprtunities. Sometime luck will take you to required place to give success. Killing yourself is a big failure. Parents please understand your children. Do not push too much for something. Give prefference to their interests.

  • Meera, Mangalore

    Mon, Jul 05 2010

    Every child is special and unique in his/her own way and we need to understand that in "Taare Za meen par" the hindi film but in real life we still face problems with those children who have opposition defeant disorder. CBSC has taken significant step towards offering equal opportunity to all children seeking education, including those with special needs. Schools have been told to allow a parent or aide to sit with the child in the class and motivate him to move along with others. and the school can't deny admission to such student.

  • Rayan Ferns, Mangalore

    Sun, Jul 04 2010

    Nice article Robin.. Today's Parents should think in this way instead of burdening their children with studies...Nice one...

  • Ann, Mangalore / KSA

    Sun, Jul 04 2010

    Your article was humorous to read. You are a very good writer. What did you finally study to be so creative ?
    Some personal tips would be useful.

  • Aun, Belvai

    Sun, Jul 04 2010

    wonderful article.. wish every parent should have a thinking like u

  • Clair Lewis, Kemmannu/Dubai

    Sat, Jul 03 2010

    Back then people lived simple life, not given much importance to education,job opportunities were very less,most of the people worked in their own fields and lived happily with less commodities.Now high standard of living make people to compete with each other.

  • Bulsam, Mangalore

    Sat, Jul 03 2010

    Most of those axceptionally successful people in the world are either school or college outs. Most of us, except a very few, are average intelligent people still all of us don't achieve our goals successfully. There are four factors to blame for this situation.

    1) Right choice strudies or profession which interests you the most

    2) Active mind & body, for studies the mind should be active and for running around your work the body should be active. If any one is less average or lazy …

    3) Intelligent mind for quick grasping and to find a solution or judgement and finally

    4) Luck means a right aportunity in a right time. If one gets a right combine in right proportion he will get an excellent result.


    Parents should give a schedule or limit to their ward so that they know their limits. Aptitude test is a must from eighth standard onwards for right subjects. Early to bed at night and early from bed in the morning will create lot of extra mental time to do their never ending loads of work. Failure creates stronger foundation for excellence. Some prefer repeating the same class for better performance which is not a waste of time or a year instead brings lots of confidence in you. One should realise that life span is limited and one need not slog so much that a fine morning you will realise that your fruitful years are over. In the end of the day, you will get what is destined for you and failure is not the end of your world.

  • veena, mumbai

    Sat, Jul 03 2010

    good article.just kept on laughing for "I would have finished our quota of our 7 births before passing our 10th standard as our every failure would have resulted in a suicide"what a great joke.enjoyed reading it.In our times nobody used to bother about our studies.we indeed used to throw our bag and run away to play.but now a days our kids never enjoy.they dont have time to play.hectic studies.good article


Leave a Comment

Title: Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail – It’s all about loving your results



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.