As I grew older this picture started to fade. My exuberance was replaced with timidness, my leadership with conformity, my boldness with fear….
Lauren Weinstein – TEDxPaloAlto
The first time I ever got close to winning or acing at anything in my life was — an Intra School Essay Competition when I was studying at my high school,12th grade.
On the day of the contest, I also had to attend a serious cricket match between the two rivalry team (NrEST Cricket Club vs Passa Cricket Club) in our district.
I started as an opening batsman chasing for the score on the board, and gracefully, to my standard played a wonderful cricket there. I left the match as soon as I was taken out of the wicket and rushed to attend an impending essay competition. It’s still fresh in my mind how I ran off the field that day.
I had reached the venue a bit late. And, all I saw, were serious, … serious spectacle-guys and girls (meant no disrespect) individually seated on their respective tables — already writing!
As far as I can tell — in my head at that instant, I was relieved to see, for good one day that neither I was wearing my uniform, while few of them did but many none had their college uniforms on. I was like, this is cool! And, the only reason I can think of as to why I was attending that holy event after having depleted all my battery on the match was only and only because a friend had requested my participation. I had no fucking business there, no hopes of wining at all … at all.
So, I was given this blank piece of paper (as soon as I entered the hall), along with a pen and was quietly and quickly ushered towards my designated seat.
We were to write an 800 words essay on problems cum issues of our country on energy crisis.
[What the fat fuck do I know about our country, specially for a boy who’s spent most of his life, at barely a kilometer radius far from his home. ]
But anyways, I was determined to write about my fucking ‘load-shedding’ problem in our house.
Now, this is the funniest part: I was extremely thirsty, and sure, was sweating as pig, but without-a-shame and politely, requested for a glass of water. After few minutes, one of the good samaritan guy bought me one with his kind smile and confused eyes as he sneak-peeked into my neat, white papers. I haven’t written shits!
[haha]
This one alone; This epic scent of sweet reminiscence alone still brings me joy till the date. God!
And my holy, frecking god;- all I did .. all i did, in those entire 3 hours long period of the contest was drank that same served glass of water, pretending it’s a fucking whisky, and for real, and wrote the entire things which I didn’t even care to proof read for once.
Meaning, till this day, I still don’t know what i wrote!
[haha]
Now, I wasn’t the first one to submit my papers but most certainly I did.
That’s how.
That.is.how I got my first small, fancy trophy for my debut intellectual indulgence.
See this.
Oh! By the way, we won the match too.
Well, I’m that same Bijay Shrestha, somewhere, somehow!
Gist:
Accept your quirks.
Accept your weirdness.
And, in the language of my favorite actor, Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch, ‘make your uncool, cool!