A PERFECT MORNING

DISCLAIMER: All the actions involved in this article are performed by a highly skilled individual with years of experience. So please DO NOT try these at college or at work place or anywhere else, as it could result in serious Mental or physical injuries.



Its 6:45 in the morning already; And I have exactly 15 minutes to get myself out of bed, get ready and board the college bus. An exceedingly punctual driver, with an exceptionally sharp watch, unfortunately, leaves me with very little margin for error; which means each and every action of mine should be completely immaculate and planned to perfection. Even dropping the toothbrush for a second could be 'fatal'. So, fighting against all odds, I get out of bed and with bloated determination, begin my race against time. I'm not describing the next 15 minutes that follows; I'm sure there would be 'kids' and 'heart patients' reading this and I do not wish to account for any mental damage.


Its 7:00 AM and I find myself running along the East Coast Road with my bag attached to my shoulder, ID card on one hand and wallet on the other. I'm about 50 meters away from the bus now, and at exactly this point I can see the wheels of the bus slowly starting to move. A very familiar sight indeed! I wave my hands frantically at the driver. It's a way of saying – "I'm coming, I'm coming!!...hold on!!" I sprint to cover the rest of the distance and finally I'm there! The driver looks at me, looks at his watch and then looks at me again. I ignore him and board the bus. Now I find myself standing inside a jam packed bus. No empty seats! Hardly any place to even stand. Guess there are apparently a lot of people who wake up a lot earlier than I do. Still breathing hard from my 50 meter sprint, I try my best to balance myself in the moving bus, and struggle my way through the crowd slowly towards my friend who is comfortably settled near the window seat. He looks at me woefully and offers to hold my bag. After a great struggle, I remove my bag and place it on his lap.


It's a 30 minute ride to college and believe me, it's quite a ride! Our college drivers (who would surely give Michael Schumacher a run for his money) and our city roads make a wonderful combo! End result – Swashbuckling, adrenal pumping adventure. Sadly for me, in the middle of all the adventure, I felt my head hit something hard. The bus was so fully packed that I dint even have room to take my hands up and feel my head. The pain was excruciating. I was feeling helpless. I just close my eyes, and start counting. By the time I reached 600, I could sense the bus coming to a halt. Sound of footsteps confirming my conclusion. Yes! I've made it! And I've made it alive!


It's 7:30AM and I find myself struggling past the crowded college gates. My head doesn't hurt anymore! Class starts at 7:50 AM. I have exactly 20 minutes to finish my breakfast and submit my record (Yes! You guessed it. Today is the last day for submission!). For some reason, I decide that I would submit the record first and then have breakfast. I scramble across the huge crowd having breakfast near the entrance and walk as fast as I could towards the staff room. It is 7:40AM by the time I reach the department staff room; I enter the staff room, rush to my teacher's table, remove my bag and open it, only to find the record missing. Now I remember! It was on my computer table. I was supposed to have placed it my bag while leaving home. Just that I didn't.


It's 7:45AM. Heart broken, I try to put myself together and I leave the staff room. For some weird reason, my head starts to ache again. I rush to the place where they serve breakfast, only to find the man cleaning the vessels. Perfect! I turn back, rush to the water cooler and gulp down two whole glasses of water. I look at my watch; I have a minute. If I don't make it to class in a minute, I will have to stand out the whole hour. I take a couple of seconds, take a deep breath, gather all my energy and run. My class is located on the 2nd floor which means, I have to climb 2 floors running. Don't know where I got all my energy from, but I finally made it!


It's 7:50AM. With messy hair, tucked out shirt completely soaked with sweat and a heavy breath, I enter my class. Greeted by weird stares and subtle giggles, I make my way slowly towards the last row, where I sit (which by now you would have guessed!). I pull my chair, place my bag on the desk, get myself seated and take a huge sigh of relief. My friend sitting in front turns back, looks at me from top to bottom, yawns and says….

"Good morning!"

I smile back at him, and reply – "PERFECT MORNING!"

You've got to be KIDDING!

"When He can do it, why cant you?!"
– was the initial reaction of my friend's father when he came to know that his son only managed a mere 75 while his neighbor's son secured a 100. An average parent reading this would say, "Now what's wrong in that reaction?" well, that's precisely why I term them "average". No offence people. What if the kid questions back – "Dad, my friend's father just bought him a brand new BMW…when he can do it, why cant you?!" Poor kid would probably be spending the rest of the day crying in his room with a wounded cheek. We are all humans, and the basic laws of life apply to everyone. If it is OK for parents to compare their kid with another kid, then I guess kids can do the same too with their parents. Don't you think so? Just because the kid doesn't slap you back when you slap him/her, doesn't mean that he/she doesn't have any feelings.


Some people claim that God has blessed everyone with "equal amounts" of Brains. Well, Firstly, God isn't that jobless to weigh and make sure that every human is designed with equal amounts of brains. Secondly, Osama Bin Laden hasn't been captured yet. Thirdly, there was only one Albert Einstein. So, that unfortunately proves that God hasn't blessed us all with equal amounts of brains. Agreed? Fortunately though, god has blessed us all in his own ways. If Sachin Tendulkar wasn't blessed, then India wouldn't have a legendry cricketer today. If A.R.Rahman wasn't blessed, India wouldn't have a musical maestro today. If Mahatma Gandhi wasn't blessed, India wouldn't be an Independent country today.


Well, we are all blessed in one way or the other. Someone who doesn't do well in studies is not a failure in life by any stretch of imagination. We are all talented in our own ways. Forcing kids to do something they aren't interested in is an insult to the talent that they possess. No Kidding! Well, yes, education does play a vital role in ones life. But parents have to understand that there can be only ONE First rank holder in a class. Pushing kids beyond their capacity isn't going to do anyone any good. For all the parents reading this, your kid might very well be a "Sachin Tendulkar" or a "A.R.Rahman" in the making. It's just a question of identifying talents and nourishing them (Remember, Sachin Tendulkar wasn't born with a bat). Support and encouragement is all the kid expects from a parent. I'm not asking all you parents out there to dance to your kid's tunes. All I ask of you is to please be fair and treat your kids the way you would have liked to be treated when you were kids. Don't strive for respect. Earn it. Remember - What goes around, comes around. Well, I'm sure many parents out there would be cursing this article right now. I don't really blame them though. After all, God hasn't blessed us all with equal amounts of brains.