it struck me all of a sudden , this unforgettable experience that i had in school,one that changed my character for ever..i guess u can call it what u want... a great learning experience, an embarrassing one, an unforgettable one.. i think it falls under all these categories... well lets have a drastic rewind .... say about 9 years............
VENUE:OOTY
DAY: MONDAY(yeah sure i even remember the day)
i was this very thin kid( believe it or not, its damn true....), very engrossed in studies , studies and only studies.. i find it very strange when i think of it now.. makes me feel stupid.. we used to play all sorts of stupid games.. one of them being the infamous "GIRL TOUCH" .. well in those days we believed a girl should be kept at some distance from oneself, even the accidental touch would initate the game... we had to get rid of the girl touch, so we touch any unsuspecting kid around to transfer it.. but here lies the catch... if the guy has his legs or fingers crossed.. the girl touch bounces off without doing any harm!!! i know ,it seems so ridiculous!!!
one thing i dont do know but something i did a lot of back then... was mugging.. in more simple terms.. learning something by heart.. i did an awful lot of that , i thought of it as this god given gift, which only the "SPECIAL" are previleged to have!!! everybody used to do it back then i guess , after all , it was only 5th class..teachers used to ask questions everyday in class and as u must have guessed , i would just blurt out all the answers like a puppet.. i even used to remember the order of the sentences...( strange i just try and understand the concept now.. the rest are my own creative language...)
well lets jump to the Day rite.. it was a monday which seemed very inconsequential... teachers would ask questions and i would be among the very few to answer them.. the others would look at me with this "i wish he's taught a lesson some day" expression stretched over their faces.. i was a very haughty kid back then.. everything got off to the same start, the teacher walked in(anita miss was her name), noted down the attendance and started her questions.. i dont exactly remember what the question was .. but i do know for certain that i knew the answer just like federer always knows how to WIN!!!
nobody answered , the chance came to me , i stood up with my chest held high, much like Nadal does his fist pumping ,, it was such a show of arrogance and contempt..i remember pausing after every sentence to have a look around the class , enjoying the sorry expression on their faces... i think anita miss must have noted it too, coz after i finished the answer, she gave me this big smirk as though she meant to say "Oh yeah, are u that good champ??"... out came the bullet, she asked me a question from the same topic, slightly twisting the concept...i dont remember what exactly she asked.. i ended up telling her "miss, thats not in the text book".. she smiled again and gave me the answer.. it was so very simple.. it was rite there in the answer that i had just blurted out before, only that it did not strike me...
Now came the painful part, she gave me a chalk and asked me to write on the blackboard exactly as she said.. i'd heard it before.. so i knew exactly what it meant..
"PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL"
i somehow managed to smile, though it was quite evident to everyone that i was shattered inside..the rest i dont remember.. i just remember burying my head in the pillow that night and crying ever so softly,lest anyone hear my misery...
i still remember it quite clearly... it was a dagger straight in the heart.. the wound has healed but some wounds dont heal compeletely, it can still prick u .. i cant understand how i could've been such an arrogant snob.. well i've chnaged now... i am a nice person i think...
As roger says "ITS NICE TO BE IMPORTANT , BUTS IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO BE NICE"
