Yesterday, the NIOS results were out and my student did not clear all his subjects. He called me up yesterday to tell me that out of the five subjects that he had appeared for, he had cleared three. He sounded a bit stressed but we did not have the time to address any emotions (both our numbers are on roaming) and we only exchanged as much information as possible. I was, strangely, not upset but calmly listened to him quickly assessing all the options we had left. (For someone who studied like a maniac for all examinations in school/college/ university and would be upset if she would not ‘top’- that is a big deal!) Now, I have been thinking, what about this situation has been working in my favour? Why did I not make frantic calls asking people for solutions and why did I not, even once, blame him and his excess interest in cricket for this inability to clear all his papers? In fact, I ended the conversation congratulating him on clearing three subjects. He asked me if I was sure
The question I constantly find myself asking (and would like to ask more often) is how can I rise above everything ? I came across this exhortation, 'rise above it all', when I was pursuing my masters course. At that point, I did not know what it meant to rise above everything. In particular Satishchandra Kumar, my professor, spoke of how one might need to go above and beyond one’s job description to get something done. Hence, a government employee who might strictly follow the bureaucratic process might, for once go out of his or her way to help some hapless person. Or, it might include, an executive doing a little extra for another colleague or a project or one's company- going beyond what the stated requirements of one's job role are. When I heard Jo Chopra speak at the Achieve Together Conference, in Delhi in 2014, she shared a story about how there are two wolves inside us- one being a ‘good’ wolf and the other being the ‘bad’ one. What we become at the