The Promising star

Public exam

    Kani soon entered into tenth standard. The students had public exam during that period and it was during this period where every Indian parent used to put restrictions to their children for watching TVs, playing outdoor games, etc. Usually, they cut TV cables for the sake of their children’s studies. They wake up their children even before the sun rises in the morning and ask them to study all the time. They even say after completing tenth they could be free. 

    the students fail to realize that life is never an easy job from there on. After tenth, they have to face another board exam at twelfth before entering into the college. It was during that time disputes were going on whether to follow the existing syllabus or the new syllabus. The Matric syllabus was quite vast and full of more information. It would be like a continuation to read it, before entering into the twelfth standard. On the other hand, the new syllabus was easy to study with limited number of facts and information in it. There were so many dilemmas going on here and there whether to go with new syllabus or proceed with the existing syllabus. But finally, after four months they were asked to study the new syllabus. 

    The school didn’t waste any time, and they carefully invested their time to educate the students with concepts that were commonly present in both the syllabus, when the syllabus to be followed was unknown. 

    It was the time most of the boys get matured and they always used to prove that every now and then whenever they get an opportunity. Also beard and moustache started growing for many of them in that period. It was the time when Kani started to give up his naughty behaviour in his school life. Many new toppers emerged at this stage who were far behind Kani at their previous standards. Many started to invade tuition centres on the account of getting more marks. Also, it was the time when many students started to copy in exams to satisfy their parents by earning more marks. Also, there were segregations like topper, middle learners and slow learners in the school at that time. Kani didn’t like those partitions but he practiced to get used with that as everyone did so. 

    Kani had a chance to sit near a boy named Nikhil Kula Sekaran. Nikhil was one of the tallest boys in the class and he was a Key board player in the KVS MAT Music orchestra. He was good at studies but sometimes he used to bully Kani when it comes to studies but he never crossed his limit. Kani used to take them as a challenge in a sportive way which paved him the way to concentrate upon his studies at that time. 

    Kani had a chance to play for representing his district in an under 16 category cricket tournaments. It was one of the remarkable achievements that he had achieved in his school life because getting selected in a district team was never an easy job. At first, he had a selection process at YRTV school, Sivakasi. Many came there for the selection. The players had to prove themselves either in batting or bowling to get selected in the team. Initially, Kani went with bowling but it didn’t work well. Though his length was good, his line was bad and as a result, he bowled so many wides. They rejected Kani on seeing his poor bowling performances. 

    But later on, Kani’s cricket coach Mr. Durai, fetched him one more chance to prove himself in his batting. This time Kani didn’t disappointed the coach and he played exceptionally well to ensure his place in the team. In this way, they selected 25 players each in both under 14 and under 16 categories. Kani came under 16 age categories. 

    Then, soon practice sessions started. Kani was not able to cope up with the practice timings allotted for under 16 students. So, he got permission from his coach to practice with the under 14 students. Kani used to travel with 2 other friends named P T Senthil and Siva Ganesh during the practice days. They accompanied Kani during the travel times in train. Also, they sometimes used to get the tickets for boarding the train even before Kani would come to the railway junction. But on Sundays, Kani always used to miss the train and he used to come by bus instead. 

    Kani improved his batting and bowling skills, during the due course of the training. During the practice session, he even knocked his ever best score 33*, which gave him a lot of confidence. His performance with under 16 category players was little poor. In spite of that, he managed to find a place in getting into the team due to his consistency and discipline. His selection was not liked by many people in the team but fortune favoured Kani, with the support he got from the coach. The district match was planned to held at Sankar Nagar, Tirunelveli. It was a knock out tournament and to enter in to the semis each team should get at least 2 wins against their opponents. Kani, then, got 5 days permission from the school to play in that cricket tournament. This was one of the greatest moments in Kani’s life. Even the bus fare, hotel charges and food expenses were arranged by the coach in a prioritized way, the players were exempted to spare their money. Also, for each day the player received Rs.100 from the coach as a fee, paid for playing in the tournament. 

    On the very first day, Virudhunagar district faced Dharmapuri district in the tournament. Kani couldn’t manage himself to find a place in main playing eleven during the first game. The coach said that the same team would be continued for the next match if they won that game. Kani’s team came to bat first and they put a score of 200 runs on the board, at the end of 50 overs. Then came, the Dharmapuri players to bat. They played exceptionally well and managed to win the game in 20 overs by 7 wickets. After the match was over, Kani’s team came to know that those Dharmapuri players belonged to academy schools where they used to have games all throughout the year and academics only for 2 months. Kani dreamt of how it would have been if he had studied in such a school in his imagination on hearing this. 

    The coach decided to change the team for the following match. This time Kani got a chance to get into the main playing eleven. The opponent team who played against them was Krishnagiri team. Krishnagiri team came to bat first and they scored 168 runs at the end of 50 overs. Kani’s team needed 169 runs in 50 overs to win the game. Kani’s team came to bat next. They lost their important wickets at the early phase of the match. Their only hope was a player named Suriya. But he too lost his wicket as he couldn’t keep his temperament and anticipation that day. Kani came to bat at number eighth position. Kani had no confidence at all because his favourite player in the team, Suriya had lost his wicket early on. Kani had a great breath before entering into the ground. Kani took someone’s bat from the dugout and came to bat. That was a spin over going on at the time when Kani came to bat. Kani played his first ball confidently with an off drive. He stepped out of the crease to play that shot. The wicket-keeper, then, boosted the bowler to keep bowling in the same length. The very next ball was a good length ball. Kani had a little hesitation to move out of the crease and play for that delivery, unlike the previous one. The ball gone past the bat and gloves and it went to hiss the stumps. Kani lost his wicket and he got disappointed himself for his poor performance. His team and the coach got very much disappointed on seeing his batting. But all the credits must go to the bowler who bowled an extraordinary delivery with good rhythm on a good wicket. Also, that was the very first time when Kani played in a trough wicket in his life time. 

    The last match was played against Tirunelveli. The home team was not tough enough. They were easily defeated by Kani’s team. Kani didn’t get a chance this time as his performance was not up to the level in the previous match. In that match, a player from Kani’s team scored a fantastic 31* score and he was praised by everyone in the team for his spectacular batting performance. Also, during the dame match one of the players from Kani’s team played a sweep shot which went for a six in long on direction. Kani who was sitting in the dugout, got admired on seeing such a cool performance from his team. Finally, Kani’s team came back to their hometown, with a consolation victory. Kani had an amazing experience from this tournament by which he managed to build his cricketing skills in his forth coming years to come. 

    In the meanwhile, the exam pressure started again as he came back to the school. Several cyclic tests, revision tests, and monthly tests were conducted periodically for the students. The mark statements were straight away posted to the home address of the students so that the parents were able to see the progression of their child after each and every test. There was maths teacher named Mr. L T P at that time, who used to be very strict in the class. He was a talented person and every time, when a maths test was conducted in the school, he used to finish of the paper correction within 20-30 minutes and he would be the first staff to distribute the answer papers to the students. He was a good teacher but Kani was not attentive in his classes most of the time as he couldn’t understand some of his concepts in a clear way at that time. Also, the teachers used to rush up in completing the portions quickly so that a greater number of tests could be conducted for the students. But Kani believed in this way that when the concepts were clearly taught in a way that each and every one of the students in the class could understand then there wouldn’t be a necessity to conduct more tests for the students. But different people have different prospective and have their own way of thinking. The school had also put the utmost efforts that they could, for the benefit of the students in getting good marks in the board exams. 

    During that time, Kani’s chemistry teacher was Mrs. Radhika, who was the same teacher who handled him in previous standards. One day, Kani asked for mark from the teacher to improve his score among the students. But the teacher gave a calm response to him by simply saying, “could you become class first if she puts the mark that he asked for?” Kani was stunned and speechless. He quietly went off to his place and soon realised his mistake. From that incident he understood the fact that Marks were not important; the knowledge that we gain from what we learn was the most important. 

    Kani’s class teacher, Mrs. Narmada was also quite important person that Kani had ever met in his life before. She often used to say, “Every one of you should have an identity”. One day, during her class she asked the students to mark some important questions and answers in the book. Almost she covered the entire book in this way. She noticed that one student named Nivash was not following her sayings. She asked him whether he had done marking, up to which she said or not. He said that he had done already and showed off his book to the teacher. But what he actually did was he simply marked from the first page till the last page of the book and kept his book closed. The moment made everyone to burst out in laughter. 

    Soon, the public exams arrived. Kani prepared for the exam not to a great extent but he did whatever he could to give his best. 

    But that was the time, Kani had a different love story. He had a little crush on a girl who lived in that area. Kani used to go up to the balcony to see her from his house when she crosses up his house. He never followed her on streets. But used to see her whenever he gets a chance. Also, he ensures that the girl he was watching was not watching him, the moment when he watches her. He had his own principles and integrity and he kept up that at every part of his life. 

    Kani didn’t had any crush on her before but, one day, he came to know from someone that the girl referred Kani’s name for being good one in their area among many other boys. Girls never know how the boys would mind when they spoke good about them. Maybe they might have said with a different aspect but boys take it in their own way. This is where problem starts! But this was not the case happened in the life of Kani. Kani had clear intentions in his mind and he only focused on his matters of concern. 

    The exams had so many holidays in between for preparation. Kani used to play cricket during these holiday-gaps and he goes for preparation only on the day of examination. He used to get up early morning, on the day of examination and prepare well for the exam. Also, Kani was little lazy in reading the contents of the text book and he sometimes wonder if he could have someone to help in him reading away the text books. But for Tamil exam, he had no worries at all. During the Tamil exam, Kani used to sit along with his mother, who reads the test book for him. She used to read and deliver the contents and concepts to the boy, in a story format. Kani used to gasp the things whatever she read and he delivers them in the exam in his own way. It often got good results for him. 

    Soon, the exams were over and results had arrived. Kani got a decent score in the exam. When Kani came to the school after the results came, he was informed by his social science teacher that he got school first in that subject. She was happy for him in achieving this feat. There was a small history behind this. 

    Few months ago, during a parents-teachers meeting, Kani’s mother came to the school that time. It was nothing but a meeting where parents and teachers exchange words with each other in complaining about the students for the sake of improving the academic performances of the students. The students used to meet the teachers along with their parents. Kani was very careful in choosing which teacher has to be approached first. He knew which teacher would give good comments and which teacher would not give good comments on him. The first person that Kani and his mother met was the Tamil sir, Mr. Chandrasekar. He was the person who used to praise every student in front of their parents with their achievements and positive attributes. When Kani’s mother asked the teacher, “How was Kani doing in the class?”, he started praising Kani by saying that he was good at the class. Kani’s mother then said him that he was always playful at the home and not studying at home most of the time. But the teacher replied that he was confident Kani would fulfil his parent’s expectations and get good marks in the public examination for sure. Kani’s mother was pleased to hear that but her happiness didn’t last for a long time. Soon, they came to meet the maths teacher next. He didn’t give any good comments on Kani. But whatever he said about the boy can’t be denied bluntly. The words spoken by him were rude but at the same time, they were absolute and true. 

    Kani and his mother had no words to speak. Kani’s mother worried a lot on hearing bad about her son. She went off crying and she refused to meet other teachers left out. Actually, the left-out teacher was none other than the social science teacher. Soon, Kani and his mother came back to home from the school. 

    On the very next day, the social science teacher enquired Kani that why his parents didn’t come and meet her the previous day. Kani had no answer to tell. She then instantly replied Kani, “Can you get school first in my subject? Are you a topper of the class right now?”. But fortune favoured and Kani fulfilled the teacher’s expectation. 

    Time has an answer for all problems that we faced in the past. Every wait has its worth. The teacher was happy and Kani was also happy at the end of the day. 

    After meeting the social science teacher, Kani had a chance to meet his English teacher. She asked him about his marks that he got in the public exam. Kani replied his marks to her. In return, she asked Kani whether he was satisfied with his marks. Kani didn’t know why she asked him that question at that time. he gave a reply that he was satisfied to some extent. She then asked him to put more efforts in future so that he could get more benefits in his life. Kani nodded his head with a positive response and went off. Soon admission for Class XI started.