It's fine to slow down

  You know, throughout my life I have seen people chasing after something. Every peer group chases after something and they won't slow down until they didn't achieve what they want.

  I can explain this by giving an instance in my life. When I was in college, certain friends in my circle were studious. Most of my friends in the group possessed the same level of intellect. They were often career-oriented. But I was completely different from them. I was a spoilt brat who didn't like studies and also didn't had an aim. So you can say I had nerdy friends in my friend circle. They were actually over conscious; like they were the ones who used to submit assignment first, they rushed towards the library after lunch period to study, they used to study for the semester exams very sooner (two days before for the internals and one month before for the semesters), during a free period they would write folders for the practicals and so on. I often felt tense because I wasn't like them in any aspect. And to be honest, I am a weak student and I lack intellectual skills due to which they called me 'dumbass'. Now coming towards my close friend in college. He was a close friend of mine among others in our group. He was often studious. When I used to ask him for wandering here and there inside the college campus, he hesitated and moved along his way to the library for studying. I got annoyed whenever he rebuffed and so when I forced him to come and hang out with me, he used to give a grim expression and threw tantrums by saying, " you are dumbass so you go and roam here and there". I felt down in the dumps every time whenever he said it like that.

   Well, it was the fifth semester when I started accepting myself. I didn't care who befriended me or not –at least I didn't approach anyone from my side. I just didn't bother what anyone said about me. If people think I am a dumbass then that's just fine! At least I accepted myself for what I was! So, that close friend of mine of whom I was talking about–when he hesitated for hanging around the college campus after lunchtime or during the free period, I didn't bother and walked on my way. He often noted I was becoming carefree and so he started giving attention to me and eventually we became amusing partners. We used to banter during classes and have casual fights for fun.

The funny part was that we sat on the front bench and had loads of fun than any backbenchers. Well, gradually, all the semesters were over and we graduated despite the pandemic featuring lockdown and post lockdown scenarios. So I and my close friend were having a conversation on phone and we dipped with acute nostalgia. With the flow of conversation, he revealed why he wasn't eligible for the first placement drive named 'CoreEl' that came to our college. He told that he secured 64% in 12 class and for that, he wasn't eligible for that campus drive. And during the time after his 12th class results came out, his father and sister scolded him for being so careless in his studies. So he started becoming cautious in his studies after then. He also confessed that he was getting hard on himself and he wanted to prove to everyone that he is not a loser.

Well, he told regarding the scolding that he got from his father and sister before but never said that he got 64% in class 12. For him, 64% was a very embarrassing grade and so he couldn't say it to anyone (I hope he won't throw tantrum on me as I am mentioning everything over here). He often mocked himself by saying, "who the hell brags his studies in the first year?". Well, those post-graduation talks which we had were damn hilarious. It's just like the quote, " 5 years later you will laugh at the things for which you are crying today. Time heals everything". The same happened to us while we were talking over the phone, the only differences were that the memories weren't 5 years older ( as our BTech was for 4 years).

  Well, the point is he ( my close friend) tried to be something else in order to prove that he was not a loser. I mean all those arduous studying he did at what costs? I didn't realize how fun-oriented guy he is until 5th semester. So, he just lost a part of himself back then. That doesn't mean I am not like him in any aspect. See, I am really an inquisitive guy and so I have a keen interest in learning things that is new to me but the problem is I lack intellectual skills for which I just fail in capturing the concepts behind the things that I want to learn or know. Above all, one thing I can proudly say that I study for gaining knowledge and learning new things, unlike others who study only for marks. Now my B.tech life is over and I am sustaining in my home and preparing for the placement examinations as I haven't placed yet and so I am applying for the placement drives whatever is coming. I had backlogs which's why I wasn't eligible for any on-campus drives that came during the final year. I am practising aptitude, reasoning, verbal ability etc on a daily basis and I am getting to learn new things from those concepts. Apart from aptitude, I studied some subjects which were in our core branch and those subjects were part of the syllabus for the admission test of a training institution. Surely I could able to learn a lot of things. yes!! The priority should always be given to learning. A clear message I want to give everyone that whatever job you are doing or whatever you aspiring to become, just go through the learning process. If you aim to learn; only then you can make yourself useful and succeed in life. 

Now forget about having success and failure for a minute. Well, do you think life is all about success and failure? Yes, you can reminiscent 'chichoore ' movie dialogue which was given by our beloved Sushant Singh Rajput that we are sandwiched between success and failures in life that we forget to live the wonderful life itself. If you ask me I have heard many absurd suggestions given by my parents and relatives since childhood. Like when I was in class 10, my parents said to me, " Son, study as much hard for this one year, then rest of the year you would enjoy your life. Then I came to +2 and they said," Son, this is the most important phase of your life. So, do hard work now and you will enjoy the rest of your life". Again I did engineering but this time my uncle said to me, "Do study well for these four years and you can achieve forty of happiness". I bet everyone must have experienced these things in their lives. If you keenly observe, you can depict that we have been taught to be immensely serious in our lives from an early age due to which we have been chasing after pretentious success from our juvenile stage to adulthood. 

  See, life is unpredictable!! What happens in our lives the next moment, we can't just predict. If we go chasing after something then we might not able to live our life. Sometimes it's just fine to slow down because if you go on chasing this way, then you will end up being vigorously exhausted. So, start living your life before it's too late!!