Believe in Yourself

Anu enjoys the journey to her school. She smiles at the flowers on her path, loves the sun shine on the waters of the lake, listens to the songs of the frogs, and greets all the shopkeepers, autowallas, and kids who she’s acquainted with.

One fine day, as she was on her way to school enjoying the breeze of the spring, she came across her friend Jaya, who was also going to school.

‘Hi, Jaya, good morning’, said Anu with a bright smile.

‘Hi, Anu, a very good morning to you’, greeted Jaya. But, instantly, her forehead frowned as she examined Anu. ‘What’s the matter? Why do you look dull today?’ asked Jaya.

Anu was surprised at this remark. ‘I’m the same as I am every day. Anyways, let’s head to school. We might get late. I have to buy a couple of things at the Krishna stores’, answered Anu. Krishna stores is a stationary shop close to their school.

And together they walked for another couple of minutes to reach Krishna stores. It is their usual hangout place.

‘Hi, Uncle, how are you?’ enquired Anu, looking at the shopkeeper.

‘I’m fine, dear, how are you both?’, he replied with a smile.

‘We are fine’, said both of them. ‘Please give me a black pen and a long notebook with white pages’, said Anu.

The shopkeeper handed over the same and collected the amount from Anu. As the girls were about to leave, the shopkeeper remarked ‘Anu, what’s the matter with you? Why do you look dull today? Are you not well?’

Anu was surprised again. ‘No, Uncle, I’m fine. Got to hurry up now. Catch you later. Bye’, said Anu. And they both left for school.

They reached the school gate, and to their relief, they were just in time. The watchman, a grey-haired person with a thick moustache, greeted both of them. To Anu’s surprise, the watchman, too, made the same remark, that Anu was looking dull.

Anu, now, started to believe that she was, indeed, looking dull. The smile on her face faded a little, as she entered the classroom. She was lost in thought, when her mathematics teacher entered. All the students stood up to greet the teacher. When they all sat down, the teacher announced ‘Today I am going to make you solve a few numericals that I taught you yesterday’.

A few students did not like the idea as they were cautious whether they would be able to solve. Few others were excited to show off their talent to the rest of the class. Anu was always interested in mathematics. She would have loved to solve any kind of problem that the teacher might ask. Besides, she was his favorite student. But that day she was lost in thought as to why she looked dull.

When it was Anu’s turn to solve a problem, Anu politely rejected, saying, ‘Sir, I’m not feeling well today. Please let me rest for a while’.

The teacher did not find anything wrong with Anu’s appearance. So, he replied ‘You look perfectly alright, Anu. However, if you still wish to take rest, you may head to the sick room. Let me know if you need help’.

Anu thanked the teacher and left for the sick room.

 

With that we come to the end of the story. What have we learnt from this?

1. Negative comments on your personality can easily effect you. You underestimate your strengths. In this case, Anu felt that she looked dull, although she started the day as usual.
2. Once you lose confidence in yourself, positive remarks might not help you build your personality. In this case, when the teacher told Anu that she looked alright, Anu did not believe him.

So, a note of caution to all my friends: Do not go by anybody’s words that belittle you, or lower your self-esteem. Just believe in yourself. Impossible is nothing.