All you need is...

It is been almost two months since I had attended PGEE, the entrance examination for post graduation at the International Institute of Information Technology. Like me, all aspirants were frustrated that they’ve not published the results yet. Every time one of us called them, they had a lady who spoke the same thing, that the results would be announced in the coming week. Huh! At least tell me, I haven’t qualified was the woe of many of us. Finally, unexpectedly, tonight, I opened my mailbox, and the spam folder, to delete mails without even looking at them, like I usually do. But, there was only one mail, and it caught my attention. It was from Admissions, IIIT, Hyderabad. I opened the result link mentioned in the mail, and it asked me for my application number and password, and the website said it in red: You’re not qualified for the interview. Well, OK, I said, although there was a feeling of failure running somewhere inside my tummy.

I was not in the best of my moods, all the evening. A bad feeling that I’ve failed, and that I’m a loser had already crept in my mind. Well, that must be normal. Every one who has failed would feel that. But, back to back failures are what make you too weak to face things. You feel cowardice. I failed miserably in GATE, then in IIIT, Bangalore and now I realise, even Hyderabad is not in my fate. Does it all stop there? Academic  failures? There’s a bigger thing you would be facing. A bitch called life! May be, if you’re as unlucky as me, you might be failing there too. You may even feel, Life seems like a ghostly apparition to live with. Too many failures, and only you can take. None of your colleagues, not your parents, not your girl friend, not even the best of the best of your friends can understand your feelings. You feel lost. You feel lonely. You feel inferior. You might as well feel, may be this is all I can do. You lose hope! Most of us do a common mistake, at such a time, Give up! May be, that solution may even seem good for the moment, given your situation. But, you forget to make justice to the real you. Most of the times, the real you, is always better than what you think you are. At such a point of time, you don’t actually need a miracle to come up like a phoenix. All you need is a little hope. A small story to illustrate…

There was a guy from Karnataka who was at the ebbs of his life. A critical age to shape life, 17, was his age. Twelfth exams were nearing! There were only two months left. He was totally into this girl in his class. Also, spent a mighty week at the police station for various things. Not an age to see the police station, you might say. He failed in all the subjects in his preparatory exams. No hope left! He really wanted to do something about it. He really wanted to study. He wanted to support his parents. He came for a below poverty line family. God knows where he got the determination from. He prepared as much as he could. He wrote his exams. And he rocked the results. He was one of the top ten percent in the state. He couldn’t believe the results himself. Well, the story is not over. AIEEE results came after that. He had an AIR of 129. JEE results were out too. He was AIR 88. He graduated out of IIT Kanpur, and works for Apple now, as an architect. The story, is still not over. He married the girl he loved when he was seventeen. They live at Sunnyvale, CA. One of the greatest love stories, I’ve seen. The greatest success story I’ve ever witnessed. He was just like us. The same brain, the same hands, the same features. Yet, he excelled. He did things, which most of us couldn’t even dream of. What drove him? It’s the determination, which most of us lack.

Write yourself a letter today. Tell yourself, that you should open that letter whenever you feel lost, and need directions. Today’s saner you, will drive your determination tomorrow and remind you of how you should live. It’s a great idea. Try it!

An excerpt from some inspirational video, a video named “Famous Failures”. Just felt, it might fit this post. Go through, if you’ve time!

1.       Dismissed from drama school, because she was too shy and she couldn’t put her best foot forward – Lucille Ball

2.       Turned down by the recording company, who said, they don’t like the sound and the guitar music is too outdated – The Beatles

3.       Failed soldier, farmer and real estate agent, and at 38 years of age went to work with his father – Ulysses Grant

4.       Cut from the high school basketball team, he went home, locked himself in his room and cried – Michael Jordan

5.       Deaf. A teacher told him, he was too stupid to learn anything and he should be opting a field where he might succeed because of his pleasant personality – Thomas Alva Edison

6.       Fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and original ideas – Walt Disney

7.       His fiancé died, he failed in business twice, had a nervous breakdown, and he was defeated in eight elections – Abraham Lincoln

If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived.

Determine tonight, to do what you always wanted to do. And keep it burning, till you reach it.

Good night!