Scar 2

‘The accident had given me two scars, one might eventually fade away, but the other had no intention of going away. I said to myself sitting on the hospital bed and staring blankly at the wall ahead.’ 

Various schools, media channels and newspapers had approached Laila to know the process of her becoming a successful researcher. Her discoveries and inventions had gained her world wide recognition. 

 Laila was moving around on the stage and using her hands to give her speech a visual effect. She was wearing a white shirt topped off with a black suit set. Her dangling earrings reflected the light in rainbow colours. You could see her nervousness go away when she stopped fidgeting with her pearl bracelet. It couldn’t be determined whether her face lit due to the bright light aimed at the stage of the auditorium or due to the happiness she felt talking to the young children. 

‘Let me tell you about the miracle that happened later. I returned to my studies and got admission in the well-known IIT. I still had plaster around my hand. Apart from that I was fully recovered.’ She said as she conveyed her story of ups and downs to the children and the interviewers sitting in that auditorium.

She stopped moving and the smile vanished from her lips. ‘My field was of computer science. Although it were the formulas and concepts of physics that made me smile and happy. Sometimes I engrossed myself in some problems so much that I did not realise when the day turned to night and the night into day.’ 

She took a pause and sighed and then continued, ‘I was working on one of my invention while in college and therefore I skipped a lot of my classes. The authorities informed my parents and they were worried. I told them that I already knew what they were going to teach me and so I intended on not wasting my time on things I already knew.’

‘After about three to four weeks I completed it and went on to present my invention to the professors. I hadn’t attended classes for almost a month. Moreover, for the time that I did attend, I intended on outsmarting them. Which worked most of the time. Ahh! Who ‘m I kidding; It worked all the time. And therefore all the professors were angry and felt disrespected. I asked them to give me a chance to prove that what I did was worth it. And so I demonstrated the invention.’

She took a deep breath and a smile appeared other face. ‘It failed terribly!!’  There was a round of subtle laughter. The audience was confused whether to laugh or not. Laila’s words were not funny but her voice and expression were designed to lighten the mood. 

‘No one was as disappointed as I was. Instead none of them thought of it to work in the first place. Some of them smirked, others gave me a look of pity and one by one they left the room.’

‘My eyes showed the shock that my heart felt. I wanted to cry and scream, but no tears came from my eyes and throat seemed too tired to let out any voice. I was standing there in dismay when I felt a pat on my head. I turned around and saw one of the professors. She was the head of the physics department of the college. I did remember her from one of the orientations that was arranged in the beginning of the year at college. She was an old woman, maybe in her forties. I never asked her her age. Anyways, she made me sit on the bench, calmed me down and said “I knew you were a smart kid right from the moment I saw you. I knew you could outsmart us all and you surely did so. However, I am disappointed because you thought that you didn’t need us. You took too much pride in yourself and looked down upon others.”’ 

She stopped. She looked down at her feet and said, ‘That day she made me realise something. I might be the smartest person in a room, but there might be someone smarter than me in some other room. An 11 year old boy, Arnav Sharma, was found to have an IQ greater than that of Einstein.’

‘The lesson that you should learn is that one should never give up trying. If someone or something pushes you down, push back up harder. Have faith in yourself. It sure is truly said that if one door closes many others open. Moreover, this is not just applicable to studies but to anything that interests you. My parents always say that no matter what you do, just make sure to give it all that you have. So guys find, what brings out the best in you and master it.’