Gems Amidst Stones

“Dunno what I am gonna do tomorrow!”

That is the standard dialogue of every student one day before the exam. No matter how much they study and work hard, the dialogue remains.

“You will do well! Don’t worry so much! Just study well,” replied Gina.

“I am. I have been studying for 2 days for this lousy lab external but I am still not confident,” said Nate.

“That is fine. That feeling comes with the exam tension. You’ll do fine. All the best!”

“Okay.”

- After the exam –

Beep! Gina’s phone said.

She checked who the text was from.

‘Text Message from Nate.’

She opened it apprehensively.

“:(“ showed the text.

“Hey,” she replied. “How did the exam go?” she added even though she had figured it out.

“I’ll be happy if I scrape out a pass. I could only do one program right and the viva was an absolute disaster.”

“Aww! Vivas are meant to go bad. Don’t worry about that. But you had studied the programs well, right? What happened?”

“Remember I told you I wouldn’t study two because I was short on time? Remember I said I’d exchange if either of them came?”

“Yes, I do. You couldn’t exchange?”

“No, we weren’t allowed to this time. My rotten luck!”

 “Oh no! That is awful.”

“Yeah. You know? Everyone copied. Everyone! Except me.”

“You don’t copy?”

“I do at times. But for today I had studied well and worked very hard and I wanted to be honest with myself. Even though I could copy, I didn’t. Everyone else did.”

Gina’s chest swelled with pride. She was so overwhelmed. She was so happy to know that even at such troubled and nasty times there were guys like Nate who chose being truthful over cheating; chose honesty over undeserving marks. It is very easy to get tempted and copy or cheat during exams. But in the long run it is not the marks but the values imbibed in you that matter. However, that seemed like a lost value. That is why, as she heard Nate’s pained voice she felt very proud.

“I am so proud of you,” she told him.

He was befuddled.

“What? Why? My exam sucked!”

“Exams don’t matter, Nate. You are a beautiful person. Don’t let low marks or badly written exams tell you otherwise. Ever. Okay?”

“Okay. But..”

“Shh. No buts. Take some rest and text me once you wake up. You must be tired.”

“Yeah, I am,” he replied, still confused.

She smiled.

“Bye. You are a gem!”

“Bye! I am not.”

“Shh. Sleep.”

Indeed these small things make a person stand out from the crowd. Such small flashes of beautiful character make a person special. The world is not messed up yet. There are still many out there in this bad world that are so tender and pure that they can’t do bad even if they want to. There are so many such people; in fact each of us has one such character that makes us human. One such feeling or emotion that we feel makes us good; it makes us good people. We may have a hundred bads but one such good is enough to overshadow all of them.

Each person is special and ‘good’. You just have to be patient enough to realize it.