Page 28 - Balvihar january 2024

From Disappointment

to Achievement

Harsh was very upset when he came home from school. His usual greeting of “Hi Patti, what’s
up?” to his grandmother was missing. He rushed to his room, sat at his desk and rested his head
on the table. “Hi Harsh! Where are you? Your favourite onion bhajiyas with tomato ketchup
are waiting for you. Eat while they are hot,” Kamala Patti called out. There was no response.

Patti shuffled up to Harsh’s room and knocked. She
could hear whimpering from within. She did not
hesitate and pushed the door open. Harsh was
miserable. When Patti tapped on his shoulder,
he buried his head deeper in his hands.
“Harsh, what happened? Fought with your
friends? Did your teacher punish you?
Come on, look at me.” Patti’s voice was
soft, but firm.
Harsh looked up at last. “Patti!” he cried.
His sobs grew louder. Patti waited. “Patti,
today I had trials for the interschool
athletics competition. I ran the 100- and
200-metre sprints. I clocked a few seconds
after the qualifying mark. The competition
is in less than a month. I don’t think I
stand a chance to represent my school!” He
choked over a sob. “This is my last chance
to compete in the under-12 category. I missed
out the last two
years; the first time I had an injury and the second time I had
a below-par participation. This year, I have been training hard
for the past six months! It is my dream to represent my school,
but see, I failed again!” Harsh let out a huge wail. Patti hugged
him tightly. She put his hands in the pallu of her saree and
gently guided him to the drawing room. She then pulled out an
article from the day’s newspaper.
She read the headline aloud. “After 23 flops, MP man masters
failure at maths.” Patti cleared her throat and said, “I want you
to go through this news article thoroughly. However, let me
brief you on what it says. This man, Rajkaran Baraua*, chased
his dream of obtaining a master’s degree in mathematics. He
failed no less than 23 times before he aced it. By night, he worked Rajkaran Baraua

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Balvihar - January 2024