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I was in school, in a class of around 32 students. A mischievous "academically challenged" student. Every year my rank would be somewhere in the bottom 10 of the 32. If Maths was the killer in a slasher horror movie, I was the perpetual victim. The "love" my Maths teachers and I shared was the stuff of legends. Even the desperate act of copying for unit tests & exams couldn't get me beyond the 16th rank in class(though I was mighty pleased with myself at getting at least that far).
As in the case of almost all students, especially bad students, I had an almost fanatic belief in God and divine intervention(since there didn't seem any other rational explanation for how I managed to pass the final exam every year). Exam days especially were always preceded by deep heartfelt prayers to the Gods & Goddesses(irrespective of what religion owned them). The prayer was usually to just get me "good marks" and let me pass that year.
Sometime I think in the 6th standard, all my classmates got bicycles from their parents. I submitted an application to my parents as well. They were very smart. Told me that if I got the 1st Rank in class, they would buy me one. That should have settled the matter, for I knew and they knew, that there was a better chance of "the crow flying upside down" as the saying goes, than me getting anywhere close to unseating the smug "teacher's pet"(all backbenchers hold the same view of class toppers). So I changed my daily prayer.
I started praying that all the students in my class should fail in the final exam and only 1 student should pass-me.
Cruel, I know. But desperate situations call for desperate measures. If I was the only kid who passed, then obviously who do you think they would have to give the title of "1st Rank holder"?
Even if everyone failed, I would get my cycle wouldn't I?
This was in the 6th standard.
I got my bicycle when I was in the 10th standard I think(only when I had to walk 5 km everyday for Maths tuition) A rebellion and threat of not going for Maths tuition and failing in the Maths exam worked.
Bhagwaan ke ghar me der hain, andher nahin(Deivathinte karyathil kurachu adhikam samayam eduthitt aanu theerumaanam aakuka)
Just like me, my Gods, Goddesses and Guardian angels are always late in doing stuff. Because of this my school classmates escaped divine fury and didn't fail in their final exams.
But like a long delayed train, my prayers in school came true during my degree exams. Just 2 of us from the 12 students in my batch were the only ones who passed that year in my English Literature batch. Actually 3 of us passed, but one chap cancelled his result because he wanted to write the exam again and improve his marks. Effectively only 2 passed in my degree batch of around 12 students.
Didn't think of it from the Divine angle till today.
So, God or somebody upstairs listened to my prayer and acted on it.
Oh my God! I am dangerous!
