Watch Your Step!

"Hey, don't ever teach me what is right and what is wrong. I know how to lead my life. Don't poke your nose in my matters. This is the last warning!" yelled frustrated Anil.

"Anil! I am your best friend. Try to understand me. Don't push your luck all the time. If you get caught, you will be debarred. Every time you can't cheat and top in the exam. Watch every step you take in life and self-evaluate as it will turn into the reason for your success or failure" said Sunil, holding his best friend shoulder dearly.

Shaking him off at once, Anil furrowed his brows and said "Are you challenging me that I can't cheat without getting caught?"

"I am saying that Cheating is a bad habit. There is no short path in the journey towards success. You can't let go of your moral values. Success can never be achieved without putting in your efforts" he dropped his shoulders helplessly.

"Sunil! Don't irritate me. Just go and mind your own business. Let me focus on writing these chits to copy during the exam. If you blabber somewhere about this, then I will throw you out of this room and hostel" Anil warned, behaving aggressively.

"Hmmm," Sunil nodded and carried out his work.

Anil pulled off the toughest task of not getting caught during copying. Slowly, he got habituated to cheating in exams. Despite Sunil's warnings, Anil didn't mend his ways.

When his final exam's last subject question paper was distributed, the squads suddenly barged into the examination hall and started observing everyone with hawk eyes. Anil became nervous as he saw the squad approaching him.

"Oh no! If I get caught, I will be debarred for three years. I must do something but what can I do to not get caught!" Anil's mind was clouded with thoughts. He heard a tap on his bench.

"You! Get up" said one of the squad while the other checked his pockets thoroughly as he stood up panting heavily. They asked him to remove his shoes and belt. He did so! After checking, "Sit down. You can continue writing" said the squad and walked away.

Anil was overwhelmed to find there was no chit in his shoe. He wondered "How did this happen?" but kept mum as the situation has turned in his favour.

He struggled to write the answers and tried recollecting the lecturer's lessons. Somehow, he managed to finish the paper and unhappily returned to the hostel room.

"How was your exam?" Sunil asked politely.

Anil shared the incident and flinched as he remembered the squad checking his shoes too.

Sunil gulped and bent his head low confessing that it was he who removed the chits from his shoe.

Anil averted his gaze for a moment and then held his shoulders.

"Thank you. If you wouldn't have removed them, my studies would have come to a halt. I have faced near-death like situations when that squad checked me. What if I would have been caught and sent out of the hall in front of my friends? What if I was been debarred and humiliated? The thought itself completely shook me inside out. I must not have committed this grave mistake. You always tried to correct me but I didn't pay heed to your valuable advice. I am sorry" Anil said honestly.

Sunil smiled broadly and hugged him.

"I not only realised not to cheat but also to use my brain. I didn't know that I had good memory power. I managed to write the exam well. I will pass for sure. I must put little effort to score top rank and highest marks. Today, you helped me understand myself in a better way. I was relying on chits unnecessarily while I can use my brain and write the exams. When I used chits, I always feared the wrath of the invigilator and my conscience pricked me badly. But today when I relied on my brain and myself, I felt a sense of self-satisfaction, achievement and happiness. Hard work gives us satisfaction while cheating instils unexplainable fears within ourselves. Thank you for making me realise this!" Anil chuckled.

"Welcome my friend to your right path!" Sunil puffed his chest with pride.

************

The End.