Success

It has been raining since the evening after scorching and rough days of summer. The trees which seemed to be weak and half dead, have revived again to welcome the first rainfall of monsoon. The dogs and the cats who use to hinder around the roads and roofs are hiding in the buildings. Many pedestrians have taken shelter under the shade of shops and houses for the unexpected arrival of rain. Some of them have covered their heads anyhow with clothes and plastics and are running to reach their destinations by any means. But intelligent people like Uncle Hari who never gets up from the bed without reading newspaper and always stucks to the news channels to find out his own voice, for them the rain cannot be unexpected. Rather, the umbrella which he has been carrying all day long has now become worthwhile. 

“Oh! What a relief! Hope the temperature will decrease soon.”- He smiles trickily at the poor faces under the shades.

“But I can’t agree with you Harida.”- All the curious eyes go to the balcony of Debdaru Apartment. Taking up the cloth which were shuffled in the afternoon, Kheyali boudi says angrily-“though it is quiet cool and pleasant weather in this evening, but when you will get up in the next morning there will be no trace of cool or pleasantness and the Sun will be found burning over head.”

“And whatever else you say Kheyali boudi ,a nice sleep is waiting for us to night.”- taking a big yawn uncle Hari steps forward to his home.

“No away Uncle side please”- suddenly shout comes from the back. When Uncle Hari turns over he looks that Pachu is rushing towards him riding on his bicycle. 

“Stop! I said stop now!”- Uncle Hari scolds him. Pachu has to pull break unnecessarily.

“Why are you riding on a bicycle on such a rainyday? Once if you get cold then you have to miss the school which is very bad.”

“Please rebuke him Hari da. He has gone out of my control. Pachu, come immediately to upstairs . Otherwise I will not let you to enter in this house further.”- Kheyali boudi shouted.

“If you have been more strict to him before, perhaps, he would not go out of your control today.”-Uncle Hari grieved in his mind.

By this time Anu comes in front of her apartment holding an umbrella covering her head and her coaching bag to save them from rain. Her dress has been completely wet. As she opens the gate Uncle Hari reminds-“ Anu, don’t you have your results of board examination tomorrow?”

Anu and her family have shifted in this lane a year ago. She has not talked to anyone in that way. Her mother uses to talk with some of the neighbours but never interferes in their business. So hearing such a sentence from Uncle Hari makes her feeling uncomfortable. But the question is not unnatural to her. Whenever she comes across such a question, her mother has given the perfect answer. “How was your exams? What number are you expecting? Your brother has done such a brilliant results. Can you keep the value of our family reputation? What will you get in each subject? When will be your result declared? Please inform us……”-every kinds of questions has made up her life intolerable. The questions which have started to pinch her before the exams would not stop before results. Rather, it will last till her death. From neighbours to close relative everyone has the same questions. Now a days, it makes her uneasy if someone does not question her any day.

She replies -“A few hours is left for the results to be declared. I hope you can wait just for some moment to be notified about it.” She smiles a little and goes upstairs.

“Let us see how well she’ll do.” Kheyali Boudi comments.

Anu is really quite tensed today. She has gracefully accepted the results of every exams of her life. Though she wept a little if the result was not satisfying, but in the next moment she has made up started to prepare herself for the next exams. Will she can? So long she has a fight with the help of her own creativity and individuality with her classmates who stood before her, use to memorize everything like a parrot and vomit all those in the exams. But today her fight is with the millions of students containing different talents. Can she prove her existence among the students being a seventh girl of class-X? What if she would dissolve into the millions of students?

“How many times have we approached you to take the tutor for first language and Physics. But, after all this vague, you have taken only two tutors over the whole year. And at this time there’s nothing to do. Now stop thinking and eat this.”- Mother puts the bowl of noodles on table and returns to the kitchen.

Anu had quarrel with her parents about this matter from the very beginning of the year. Even they once took her to the tutors trickily but had to give up for Anu's insistence.

No sooner has Anu picked up the bowl than her father says- “Khagenmeso has telephoned me. He was asking abut Anu’s result.”

“Khagenmeso? Who is he?” Anu asks surprisingly.

“Khagenmeso. You don’t know her.”

Anu is astonished. The person who is not known to her or never heard of, even never seen by her is asking about her result? She thinks. Really, we cannot find such relatives like that when we are in trouble.

“So, what have you told him.”- now voice is heard from the kitchen.

“I said that the results has not been out . But it will be declared tomorrow.”

Anu is now feeling very uneasy at home. Even she has never felt such uneasy in others home. She grieves if she could go to her imaginary world where everyone is close to her, everyone is dearest to her. Anu is the pride of the nation and everyons respects her. Why can the imaginations and dreams be true?

“……..and lastly, Shubhangsu Roy from Jadunath Vidyamandir, Kolkata, is holding the 10th place. The declaration of the names of successive students of board exams of this year ends here. Congratulations for all of them. Hope we will have better results next year. Stay well. Thank you.”

Keeping an eye on the screen mother says-“ Bravo! At last your school has got three ranks in the exams. But what about you Anu? Look at the T.V. The first ranker has got 689 out of 700! What a number have Dibya, Mitali, Shubhangsu got? 693 ! 692 ! 689 ! Do you understand now what is the results of attending the classes of fifteen to seventeen tutors? These have helped them to develop their strategy and to be perfectly ready for any kind of questions.

Anu looks at her mother with shame in eyes while it is buffering on the screen of the mobile. No sooner has the website flourished on the screen than she enters her roll number and date of birth. Again it begins buffering. Anu’s heart stands still for these few minute. 

She could not do well in her test examinations, an unconscious mind is bothering her. She got 60 in Bengali, 71 in English,67 in Physics, 73 in Life Science, 75 in Math, 79 in History and 75 in Geography. So she is quite afraid and tensed for last few months. Suddenly a light shines on the screen.

Name:- ANUSHMITA BANERJEE

Father's Name:- DEBDUTTA BANERJEE

Immediately her eyes go beyond.

Total:- 624

Percentage:-89%

Grade:- A+ 

Anu has become spell bounded. Silently she handovers the smart phone to her mother. Soon the lines of her mother's forehead become more intense. It seems like a fire will come out towards her from her mother’s third eye.

“I have said to take tutors. But you won’t listen. Now see what results do we have? You say your language is your pride, you love to write in it, but you have got only 75! 85 in English, 89 in Physical Science as same as Life Science , 93 in Geography, 95 in History. These are numbers? And why do you get only 98 in Math? Why can't you get 100? Every question paper was too easy to solve this year. There you get only 89%! Shame on you. How will we show our faces to the neighbours and relatives?”

Anu has no choice. She has to stay silent.

“How can she do well in such a way of study? I was just expecting a result like this by looking at her study method. I was sure that she can’t do anything.”-now father joins with mother.

The rebuke ceremony would go on if Mithumasi has not called. It stops there but does not end. Does this kind of ceremony end too early?

Anu goes to her room silently. Father also goes out for shopping. As he steps outside the gate, the neighbours surround him like reporters longing for the news.

Anu goes out for school with her father at around 11:30 a.m. She does not say single word in the whole way to school. Although Anu does not speak too much but today she appears to be speechless like a dumb for the pain of remorse and repentance.

When Anu reaches the school she finds another scenario. Many reporters have crowded the room of Head sir. All the teachers are standing there. As the Headmaster feeds sweets to the successive students the whole room is lightened with the flashes of cameras. Teachers do not blink an eye to he girl who used to stand on the staircase to wish them “Good Morning”, always ready to help them and used to stay at school after school periods to help the school. Anu takes an deep breathe and steps forward to the office room. She takes her report card. Now, she has no intention or curiosity to look at it.

“Congratulations, my girl. What a good results you have done!”- Pion Uncle praises.

Anu has been reading in this school for ten years. Sometimes she used to smile but most of the time she ignored this man who always stands at the entrance gate. But today, Anu feels touching and respect for this old fellow. She gives a Pranam to him.

“Hey, what are you doing? That's okay. May God bless you. May you live happily forever. My blessing is always with you.”-he says.

Anu moves towards her class. This is the place where she has learnt the lessons of the war of study with her competitor as classmates. There are hiding memories from the corner of the benches to every bricks of wall. Some years later today, they will find the memories as a pirate finds treasures. 

As she crosses the threshold of the class she becomes shocked. A girl is sitting at the corner of the first bench where she used to sit on. Glasses in the eyes, two long breads, chubby and fair face have made her unique. And her eyes? It seems that her eyes are full of dreams and expectations longing to be true. Suddenly a chill breeze goes up through her spine. 

“I know her! I look her everyday. Everyday the same figure flourishes in the mirror. Yes, in the mirror.”-she gasps.

“ Are you a looser?”-the figure speaks in a heavy voice with an unnatural smile.

Anu can not help from crying. Tears are dropping from her eyes just like the rainfall of yesterday. The tears which Anu was trying to hide from everyone after all the time comes out like a torrent river breaking the rocks of her heart in her path. But this river is aimless, it has no estuarine.

“Yes! Yes! I’m a looser. I have lost. I can’t defeat anyone. Anu rushes to the window weeping her eyes. The shadow of the figure fall on the glasses of the window.

“Is it true? Haven’t you really defeated none? No, you have. Obviously you have. You have defeated yourself. You have succeeded to climb higher than your best. You have done better than your best. Isn’t it your victory? And, if you give up to step forward grieving for your results in the previous step, I assure you that you are still not ready to fight and win. Remember, if there is an end there is a new beginning. If something bad happens in any step it doesn’t mean that there’s no success in the next step. If you don’t urge forward, how can you explore what is waiting for you in the next turn? How can you feel the joy and bliss of happiness if you haven’t experienced the curse of misery?”

Anu faces up. When she turn back she discovers the room to be empty. Only her big shadow was accompanying with her.

“Imaginations! Dreams! Thoughts! Everything was just a imagination. But these are substances which gives us energy to live, the willpower to earn and to do everything.” While thinking ,Anu reaches the school gate. There she finds Rohan standing with his mother. He belongs to a very poor family. He used to study in such misery and troubles. School in the morning work at night-this was his daily routine. He has passed the test examination with a very poor marks below 48%.Anu have help him in his studies for several times. But he has a sharp brain in electrical matters. Once when the Headmaster's computer was not working properly, Rohan was the boy who fixed it up right away. None can defeat him in this subject. As he sees Anu he comes to her and says in joy-“Anusmita, I have passed the exams. I’ve got 65% marks.”

“Great! Won't you treat me feed me sweets?”-Anu replies.

Rohan smiles shyly, puts out a toffee from his pocket and gives it to Anu .His mother is looking very happy and kisses on his chick.

While returning to home Anu starts to think-“which is more satisfying? First boys and girls getting 10th rank or a poor student getting 65% marks? Who does gain knowledge in the end of the day? The student who memorized the notes of the tutors or the student who gives the examination with her individuality and creativity? Our knowledge is worthwhile when we can transfer it into the next generations. Will these students can do it?”

Interviews of the successive students are being in the TVs of the shop on the road. Anu pauses there looking at them. She commits to herself-“No. I have to do something in this life. Not with numbers, I have to enrich myself with knowledge. I have to prepare myself to be a precious jewel of our country in future. Not just for one day, people will remember me for years after years. Not the others ,I have to win myself with self satisfaction. That's mankind worth for. That’s knowledge and study worth for. And that day our imaginations and dreams will become true.”

                                                                                 -Asmita Bagchi.