I 'inherited' Arindam's friendship through by elder brother. Dadamoni and Anupam (Arindam's elder brother) were class friends and me and Arindam got introduced to each other when we joined class 1 in Xavier's. We were good friends till class 6 and even though we were in the same class right till class 12, that childhood bonding faded away by the time i was 14.
Arindam was the first boy in class throughout. He was brilliant in the arts subjects, was a good orator and a fantastic footballer. I personally believe that if he had gone pro all football lovers in India would have heard of him. But..this is what finally happenned to him.
He was always shaky in maths. Till class 10 it doesnt really matter as the science and maths syllabus are quite easy. Then there is a quantum leap in the higher secondary syllabus. He scored 85% in 10th (a lot in west bengal board standard) and expectedly was instructed by his parents to take up Science (all good bong students have to take up science and then become docs or engineers..its the law of the land). He somehow scraped through the board exams but did not crack any of the competitive exams. His family still were unable to reconcile the fact that their topper son was not cut out to be a science student, and he was forced to sit at home for a year and prepare for the next years entrance exams. He failed again and tried to commit suicide. I lost track of him after that. Then a couple of years back i heard that he has become a drug addict.
To all of you who have children please let this incident be a lesson. Please identity the inclinations and strengths of your children and help them pursue their dreams. Let us make sure that there are no more Arindams.
8 comments:
Well the story is very similar to mine except that I wasnt a class topper. But nobody forced me into science in my XIth Standard I just kind of flowed in.
In India there is hardly any career counselling that happens which ideally should start at class VII if not earlier.
It is in Class X I lost my way and am still trying to find my way out..
I can fully empathise with Arindam
This story sounds so familiar that it is almost scary. I can recall at least one "Arindam" right away. It is beyond sad that West Bengal has so little scope for people who pursue a degree that is not related to technology. Makes you wonder why they are continuing to offer courses at Universities if those can't lead to jobs.
jhimli: scary is right..and i was on my way to becoming a similar story after my 12th exam..i will always be thankful to kakamoni who had sat with me and brought back some sense to my swollen head at that time.
koushik: you will find the way out on 21st..the countdown starts now.
ek pondy wala blog kholta hu tere liye
same experience here. only i did not take up drugs. i got hooked to cigarrettes and started savouring patiala pegs. i have no regrets though. fags are nice.
arindam was the only guy who got through the NDA exams,but after a year he got expelled....for wooing his senior's daughter!!!can u believe arindam wooing a girl!!
Well since mail is blocked and there is not gtalk I can only wait for the 21st with bated breath...
ghetu: fags are more than nice man! why do all the nice things in life just HAVE to be bad for you?
anon: are you soumya? why are u so shy my lojjaboti lota?
loky: yeah..even i was lucky in that respect..but even then we almost managed to fuck things up..we really are incredible, arent we?
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