Broken down
I still remember the day when I first got the idea for this article; I was in a mall selecting a shirt from among a wide range of apparel. I was puzzled over which one I liked and which one looked marvellous on me. Finally, I decided on a shirt that had “Broken Down” printed on it. I guess some divine spirit had decided to remind me of my current situation. I was, to be honest, in a fix. It was exam time and my mind and body were gearing up for it. Exams were never a big deal for me when I was younger, but after suffering huge setbacks in my current academic year, it had become a herculean task just to get through it. A daunting challenge awaited me.
People always say that a person who accepts defeats and failures is truly a brave individual. But accepting failure is not an easy task and not all have the courage to get up after having suffered a fall. For a person like me who has always aimed for and succeeded in staying at the top, a series of setbacks and blows left a bad taste in my mouth. Though the test I was facing was not of a high level, it was still a daunting task — the annual examination that you needed to clear to move on to the next grade.
Everything starts with you. If you think you are capable of doing something then have faith in yourself and do not be discouraged by disappointments in your life. There is no power in the world that can chain you and no obstacle that can impede your progress.
In the midst of mounting pressure, I was suddenly reminded about a burning issue during the exam season, i.e., suicides. This is the time when it is common to see newspapers and news channels reporting on suicides before the exams or before the results. The tragic thing is that many of these students who committed suicide did eventually secure good marks, but they ended their lives because fear of failure got the better of them.
The alarming increase in the number of suicides due to examination stress is a matter of serious concern. Is life so cheap that just one failure means the end of all things good? Is it such a big deal that if you fail to clear entrance exams or board exams your life has no meaning and you will lose everything? We don’t give a single thought to the people we leave behind, especially our parents, burdening them with endless pain and regret.
This is the bitter pill we need to swallow that today’s generation has this defeatist mindset. Being a student myself, I have firsthand experience that our lives have become so stressful that we just study to score good marks and not to learn something new. Our daily routines now revolve around tuitions and coaching classes and learning is no longer fun.
I believe that suicide is never an option because nothing in life is impossible. A close look at the lives of business tycoons and great personalities reveals an astonishing fact — that many of them either lost their jobs or were even dropouts! If they had lost faith in themselves and taken extreme steps, they would not be where they are now and the world would never have known about them.
Everything starts with you. If you think you are capable of doing something then have faith in yourself and do not be discouraged by disappointments in your life. There is no power in the world that can chain you and no obstacle that can impede your progress.