Born innocent, messed by the world

Did it happen when you were in school, our parents would advise us to sit with the bright students in the class, who were supposedly toppers, and not with the ones who were poor in studies. Their concern seems legit because they assumed that the student who didn't score well in tests and exams didn't study and would distract us from the same. Not only parents, but teachers entertained this view too. 

So, did school teach us to treat people as outcasts when they were not one of the crowd?   

In my Junior school, there were 2 boys who always sat together. one was the topper of our class, and the other was the lowest-scoring guy. He hardly passed any test. As a kid, I always thought how did they work it out? No, it wasn't that they were made to sit together by the teachers so the bright one helped the other. They were friends and bench mates by choice. They shared a great rapport. Numbers did not matter to them. 

In my high school, I had to change places and hence joined a new school. I made some great friends, among them were two of my best friends. When our 12th board's results were announced, my father asked me how much did the other two score. He heard my answer and scoffed at me. Both of my best friends had scored 92% and 93% whereas I scored an 80%. He scoffed at me saying how can I be their friend and yet score this bad. On top of that, what was more surprising for him was that when I told him their scores I had no resentment in my tone. I was evidently proud of them, And that was not normal? Why am I supposed to be Jealous? It wasn't only just him, I faced this backlash in school too. The teachers would always look down at me with the look that said, "what is this girl doing with these bright girls".

It would have been easy for my friends to abandon me and find someone "like them", but they didn't, they stuck by me, helped me, pushed me. And they still do. 

I was genuinely proud of my friends, I cheered for them when they got felicitated by the school, they cheered for me when I got into the college I wanted to get in. They cheered for me when I scored well in college. They pushed me on when I published my first blog. Today, we three are at different places, pursuing different careers, doing really good in our respective fields, and are always the cheerleaders for each other. 

These are the relations I made in school, that meant more than numbers. I am not saying that numbers don't matter. They do, but they do in careers and not in relationships. Why are kids asked to choose friends "correctly"? Friendship is the most organic, human, and selfless thing that we do. The founding of almost all relationships is friendship. Why do adults unknowingly, tarnish this sometimes.

Just before I sat down to write this blog, I had a 90-minute call with these two friends of mine. We didn't talk of marks, we talked about problems, not of Math, but of life. They didn't scoff at me when I helped them with their problems (I was a low scorer right? and hence not at par with them), I didn't feel inferior when they helped me with my life. We never felt this earlier we don't feel this now. It's just love and genuine concern for each other. And that should be the sole criteria for friendship. 

Being a Book Lover, I was reminded of this Book Series that touched the epitome of Friendship, while writing this, so sharing - Click Here to Know

Trust me when I say that you won't regret reading this.

PICTURE ~ via Google

Sanskruti