“A pessimist sees the difficulty
in every opportunity; an opportunist sees opportunity in every difficulty.”
I
wonder how Winston Churchill came up with these inspirational words!!! Whenever
I hear the word optimism it reminds me of people like Anne Frank, Abraham Lincoln,
Mahatma Gandhi, etc. but you must be thinking how I relate all of this with my
life. Right? Don’t worry. They don’t, but an unknown boy does. Who I never
knew. And will never get a chance to know. The saddest part is I don’t even
know his name. I know absolutely nothing about him. Except for one thing, of how
he died. And that is a story I shall
never forget. It is something that changed my way of thinking completely, from inside
out.
I was in 9th standard. Our class teacher was
teaching us a chapter. I don’t remember the exact details of that lecture
except for that story. In fact I don’t even remember why she shared that story
that with us.
She said, “The story
is about a boy who was in 10 this year, just a year older than you all. 6 months
before his board exams he was diagnosed with blood cancer, last stage. The Doctor
said he just had last 6 months of his life remaining. And that he needed
complete bed rest. His entire family was devastated. The boy knew that there
was no point in giving board exams but he was adamant to appear. To fulfill his
dying son’s last wish, his mother ran here and there and somehow arranged for
notes so that he could study. He gave his exams. And soon he breathed his last……
he didn’t even live to see his results. But he scored around 77% and that his
mother proudly showed the result to all with tears in her eyes.”
The moral was not how much he scored, but was the spirit of
that dying boy. He knew that his death was eminent but his optimism knew no
bounds. There was a brief moment of silence
in class at that time.
And today, when I feel low, broken or shattered, I always remember
that boy. He may be physically absent today but in my memory, he shall forever
remain. He is my symbol of optimism. I never knew him but when I am about to
give up, his memory guides me.
I am not a very big Harry Potter fan but I’m awed by J.K. Rowling.
She too sometimes becomes my symbol of optimism. Unlike her if it were me, 12 rejections would
have made me given up forever. But she didn’t she strived hard, didn’t lose
hope and treaded the dark to finally find light.
Courtesy my sister who’s a big HP fan, I’ve seen all Harry Potter
movies and read the novels, and that reminds me of a quote that is now one of
my favorites.
They are the wise words by Albus Dumbledore, “Happiness can be found even in the darkest
of times if only one remembers to turn on the light.”
And that boy is my light, my source of optimism someone I
look up to.
