Shall Rise Again

“You should have studied a little more. If you hadn't wasted those times playing outside instead of studying you would have cracked this level for sure,” said Tarif's father with the result sheet on his hand. Disappointment is clearly visible on his face.

“But I have given my best, I have completed all my homework and tasks on time, and that too properly.”

“Don't give explanations. If you had done so well then why didn’t you get this level cleared?”

“The competition was so intense, the ratio is only one out of twenty to get the chance.”

“No more explanations, go away.” said aggressively. Tarif got scared and went to his room.

Even after trying so hard, Tarif couldn’t secure a seat on that admission test that every child of the district aims to secure but the seats are very limited. It takes hard work as well as luck to clear this competition level.

Tarif is not sad that he couldn’t make it, he knows this is not the end, and life doesn’t end here. All he has complaints about is how everyone is reacting with him and letting the burden of his failure on his shoulders solely. Even his teacher called to ask for the results and blamed him that there were lackings in him and so he couldn’t do it properly. Yeah, he too accepts the fact that he might have left behind in some cases and so he couldn’t overtake the others in this unhealthy competition that everyone is so mad about achieving. But he did his best and left no stone unturned in his ability.
 

📸 Catherine Kay Greenup

Tarif walks out of home, towards the riverbank which is his one of the most desired places to sit for a moment in peace. No rush of people or anyone to poke him, none to judge him based on any success or failure, just him and nature. He believes in the healing power of nature. So he is just sitting there quietly.

“Here you go, my favorite student has got the highest mark in the final exam. My hard work towards him has been paid for by him. So happy to see him.” This was the caption of the social media status of the teacher on the last annual exam when Tarif got the highest mark.

His father was happy as well. Even his friends too, some even took credit for sharing their notes with him and because of that help he secured a good grade.

“During my success, everyone took credit for it but in my bad times all the blame is on me. No one shares the failure.” thinking so Tarif's eyes got wet. He didn’t even bother to wipe them as no one was beside him to notice or console him. He knows, that if today he had secured a seat in that admission test then there would have been endless celebrations, happy faces, tons of congratulations, smiley faces, and whatnot. Everyone loves to stay beside the winners, none to share the sadness of a failure.

As he knows that this is not the end, just an opportunity that has been missed, and many more are still ahead of him. He got home, and wrote a status on his social media for all, “If you can't stay by my side on my failure, please don't come to congratulate me on my success.“ saying so he got disconnected from the social media and all other distractions and devoted himself to study with a ton of anger and a willingness to come out victorious anyhow.

Whether he wins or loses the next time, a lesson is learnt and this strong determination shall serve him greatly in the long run.

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”
-Og Mandino