Success is the best revenge

I as academically a very strong student till 7th standard. Every year, every semester, every exam- I was always the topper in the batch. I even participated couple of national level quizzes/tests and had above 90 percentile.

As I entered 8th standard, I was made captain of my house even though I was athletically challenged. I was touted to be the next 'Head boy'. Things were all rosy and amazing till then, and I was enjoying every moment of it; especially the attention i was getting from the opposite sex. This made me overconfident and cocky and that's when my cocoon started to break.

I started hanging out with the people who were considered bad influence. I was caught in couple of mischievous incidents and my image took a hit. I was suddenly the 'bad boy'. Even,though I didn't mind the new tag and image, it somehow affected my studies and for the first time in my life I stood 'second' in my class/batch. I didn't mind it either (although my parents did but that's another topic).

Anyway, after that things just started going downhill. Even though I tried picking up things, I was now looked down by my teachers and it further affected my studies.

For the next one and half years, till 9th standard ended, I remained above average performer academically (always among top 10) but never the eye candy for the teachers. Meanwhile I didn't give up on my friends who were considered as bad influence on me.

10th standard began and as any Indian student will tell you, its supposed to be the first true test and deciding factor of your future life. I was completely ignored while selecting the head boy and for the first time I felt bad. I truly felt that I deserved that position. But I couldn't do anything about it. Things remained the same for me in 10th standard as well; in fact they got a bit worse.

Not many teachers will accept this but they always have few favourite students whom they favor more as compared to others. Maths was my favourite subject (still is) and thus I always had many doubts in it. My principal was also my geometry teacher and whenever I asked doubts or questions she had a look in her eyes as if she wants to say "why do you even bother asking things when you are not going to succeed anyway". This hurt me bad. I felt worse than what I felt for not being selected the head boy. Again I gathered myself and started preparing for the final board exams. I helped my friends (the same people who were considered as bad influence) study as I have always believed that teaching is the best way of relearning something.

In the prelims before board exams I underperformed but was again 7th/8th in the whole batch. This led to lot of open discussions among teachers and students alike about who will be the topper that year and well my name wasn't spoken by a single soul.

Now it would be a lie if I said that I studied very hard and day night for my boards. To be honest, I put in normal amount of effort but I had a very clear state of mind- unaffected by the pressure or the situation.

Exams went by and the day of the results arrived. Every student was there with their parent(s) and we were made to stand out in the assembly hall where the principal would be declaring and distributing the results. Rumor had started that the topper had scored 88 percent and everyone was amazed but no one knew who it was. (88 might not seem that great by today's standard but back in 2005 this was a huge deal for a school/student in the not so good to do suburb region of Mumbai. To put things into perspective the highest score before this, in the area I lived in, was 85 and only once there had been a student from my school to score more than 88, back in the year 2000 or something)

Coming back to the story, we also heard the rumor that all but one have cleared the boards this time. We knew who that one was as he had missed out on couple of papers due to bad health. This was a moral victory for me as this meant that all my friends had passed too.

The principal arrived and started calling out names and handing them their results. Few people who were touted to be the toppers went with excitement to collect the result but everyone could see the disappointment on their face when they found out they weren't the toppers.

Finally my turn arrived and I casually walked towards the podium not expecting what was about to happen. The principal took a glance at my result and handed it out to,me. Within a second she pulled it back and this time was staring at it for a more than a few seconds. She then managed a half smile and finally gave it to,me and said 'Congratulations'. Nit knowing what was happening and shocked to see the principal smile at me, I walked towards my parents. It was while walking I saw the marks column '87.60%'. My parents enquired and I said '88 hai, shayad mai hi topper hu'. (its 88, I think I am the topper). All my friends and their parents started gathering around and congratulating me. Few teachers came over as well. After being looked down on, I had risen from the ashes. I will never forget that look on my principal's face. Although this wasn't a revenge, the satisfaction was much more.