Lessons Learnt the hard way!

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.” I can confidently say I am the best example for this Chinese proverb. I have a bad memory when it comes to names. "Hi!, I am Suguna", I say to the person I meet. The guy in front of me tells me, "Hi, I am so-and-so". The next moment, I am like was that guy’s name so-and-so or this-and-that? My brother used to take me on his bike around Bangalore and would show me this is KG Road, this is Minerva circle, THIS is town hall. Meanwhile behind him, the only things running in my head were, "Isn't it really hot today?", "Would I reaally reach home by 8?" "Would I miss that TV show I wanted to see all week?"

However I have learnt my lessons in life somewhat the hard way. Early in life I developed the art of investigation ;) I loved experimenting with new stuff, exploring the what ifs, seeking the unknown and improve my knowledge as I liked to believe back then.

One of the instances where I demonstrated my thirst for learning was at the age of 4. I had seen all these movies where the hero sheds his blood for his country/beloved whichever case was applicable. I was intrigued by this concept. I suddenly wondered if I had blood. And how better could I know that than to find it out myself. I found an old pencil sharpener lying on the ground uncared for. I picked it and inserted my tiny finger into it and BAM..I succeeded. Tiny droplets of blood started oozing out. Thank God I did have blood after all!!  By now my mom had found me in a corner of a room and driven some sense into my head and told me if I was so curious I could have just asked instead of all the trouble I went to.. But then it would not have been so wonderful would it? I learnt through this that curiosity kills a cat or atleast causes it to bleed.

Soon I set out to discover the what ifs. One day I was sitting by myself surrounded by a pool of toys. A strip of tablets had innocently crept in with my world of make believe. My mom who noticed it told me before she went for a bath, "Be careful with it.. Don’t put it in your ear or something. " Well that sounded like an awesome thing to do! I freed the tiny tablet from its covers and POP I put in my ear happily. By the time my mom was out, I could make out a voice far away asking me what I did with the missing tablet. My mom took me to the ear specialist who after removing the tiny tablet told me; "In future don’t put such tiny tablets in your ear." I quipped, "Next time will a bigger tablet do?" :P I realized that day that it is the small things in life that truly matter!

The next pearl of learning came in from a very public occasion. I was a very confident speaker as a kid. I was participating in a singing competition. I went up to the stage stood in front of the mike. Immediately I spotted my best friend sitting in the front row, smiling at me. I looked at her and started singing "Vijay Vishwa Tiranga  Pyara"  My friend unfortunately chose that very moment to turn and speak to the person next to her. And lo and behold I forgot what came next. I blanked out. I saw my teacher encouraging me to continue. Undeterred I started again.."Vijay Vishwa Tiranga Pyara"..and then it happened AGAIN. I had no clue what was next. I walked back stage midst the roaring laughter with misty eyes and a drawn face. My teacher however recognized what had happened. I had lost my confidence forever, I had vowed I would never step on the stage again. So the next time there was a recitation competition she enrolled me despite all my pleadings and requests. This time I went up to the stage like a defeated lion about to perform in front of a circus. I looked around me scared to the bones, then made up mind and started, "I had a little duckling and the little duckling died."  I don’t remember what I said next. No I did complete it, it was so fast I practically ran off the stage when I was done. To my utter surprise I was announced as the winner of the competition. This was a lesson in perseverance. Maybe I will be laughed at the first time, maybe I will never complete what I set put to do, but u cannot fail unless you give up.You are undefeated until you accept defeat. So try try till you succeed.

I am sure we have all had similar experiences in life. Some enlightening, some fascinating, some proud, some embarrassing.  What is important however is what we have learnt through these incidents.  I leave you with a quote to think about- “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do...Explore. Dream. Discover.”