Suresh was dark, thin and looked pale. He did not fit well in his family, which consisted of fair, good looking people. He was not just a misfit in terms of his looks. He did not belong there because of his brain. He was neither intelligent nor smart enough to compete with his elder IIT brother. His parents were always proud of his brother who finished his Bachelors at IIT and was now all set to join IIT for doing his M.Tech. His mother who happened to be a college principal enforced the same amount of strictness at home, as she did at the college. It was not that Suresh did not study well. He put all the required efforts but somehow he could never remember the lessons that he read.
He had failed once in his 6th grade and had tried hard to hide it from his mother. But their class teacher had insisted on getting a signature from his parents. He silently handed it to his father, knowing that there might be a slight chance of success there. His mother happened to enter the room just then and upon knowing that he failed in his exams, she brought the same belt which he had seen plenty of times in his life.
“Mom, I am really sorry for failing. Please don’t beat me with that”, he begged.
But his mom showed no mercy and after 5-6 lashes, he was crying sitting in a corner, all alone. His brother entered the house with a trophy in hand which he had won at an inter school quiz contest.
“Just look at your brother. He wins every contest that he takes part in. He excels in every exam he writes. And you?!! You are just plain lazy and you will never succeed in life, if you are like this”, his mom yelled at him.
It was that day and this day, the situation had not changed a bit. He was a loser in life and he knew that he would not be able to make his mother happy. He could not give her the happiness which his brother gave her all the time.
He had to pass in his exams, if he wished to escape from getting beaten with the leather belt. He could not excel but he at least made sure that he passed. And how did he do that? He resorted to copying in the exams. He cheated. He knew it was wrong to cheat but did he have any other choice left? If copying was termed evil, was getting beaten with a belt considered good?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today was his final exam for second year Bachelors and he had prepared some chits for himself which he wanted to copy from. He hid the chits well beneath his sleeves so that the examiner cannot spot it. The examiner was an old lady who kept sleeping on her desk. He really liked this examiner since she hardly came around their desks, thus allowing them to peacefully copy. The clock was ticking and it was almost time for the exam to end.
Suresh was stuck at a difficult question and now had to open a new chit from under his sleeve in order to answer. As he removed the chit, a male examiner from the next room entered suddenly and he caught Suresh in this act. The male examiner who was one of the very strict professors in college, Mr. Shivram pounced upon Suresh.
“What do you think you are doing? Give me those chits here. Come with me to the principal’s office right now”
“Sir, I am really sorry. Please don’t take me to the principal”, Suresh begged.
Shivram did not let him go even though he kept begging for a while. Suresh had no choice but to follow Shivram. It was not the principal that he was scared of. He was scared of his mother. How was she going to react if she knew that her unworthy son was copying in exams? That only because he copied, he never failed in the exams? There was no escaping the belt this time. She might even kill him this time for the humiliation that he had inflicted upon her.
As they reached Principal’s office, Principal was nowhere to be found. He was not in his office. Shivram made Suresh sit in front of the Principal’s office. He had to collect the answer papers since he was invigilating a room full of students. He called another professor Mr. Girish and asked him to look after Suresh until he was back. As soon as Shivram left, Suresh got an idea. He ran as fast as he could towards the front gate and then ran away, without turning back once.
Mr.Girish shouted at him “Don’t do this son. You will ruin your life. Come back and face it”. Suresh knew that he could never set things right now. He escaped from everything and would now lead a guiltless peaceful life alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We are really sorry ma’am. We were unable to trace your son”, said inspector Pandey.
“But any clue about him? I cannot live without him”, Suresh’s mom had been crying without stopping from past 48 hours. “Why did he do that? Why did he not come home and inform us? We would have done something about it. Where would he be now?”
“Are you sure you would have done that? Would you forgive him? If you had not put pressure on him, he wouldn’t have thought of running away like this. Wish you had told him at least once that you loved him”, Suresh’s father finally found the strength to raise his voice in front of his wife, after 25 years of marriage.
But he was too late. And Suresh was gone forever and never found again.
P.S: Based on a true story. But have changed the names to maintain anonymity.
Loved it. However I may wish to be part of this, it scares me .. I am confused about posting. loved the story. It will stay in my mind for a long time.
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Thanks 🙂
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tragic, and frustrating isn’t it..these incidents still keep happening… nice post.
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Yeah to see such things happen to people you know is even more sad 😦 Thanks GB 🙂
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i could sense the reality in every sentence you wrote…..i liked the honest and sincere attempt you made to bring this out in a quite flowing manner….
it did rake my past and made me nostalgic…
i could connect to the story in most occasions and the escape here talks of many unsaid things…..
liked your real escape…reality escape…
keep up d gud work buddy…
will consider this for voting
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Thanks so much Mahesh 🙂
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Funny how sometimes parents can wreck life by making one live in fear for life, not showing the love for their child and then regretting when the child takes the “extreme” step
One thing that I noticed is that most of the parents know how to bear a child but not how to raise them.
PS: They never heard from him again?
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Yeah parents dont realize what they are doing until their children take such extreme steps. I agree with you about the raising part. That is where they lack.
They never heard from him again 😦 My worst fear is that he gave up his life that day 😦 Hope he has not.
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thats a touching story… there’s so much pressure on students… specially by parents to excel in all fields…
well narrated…
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Yeah parents pressurize their children so much. Thanks 🙂
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i no like sad endings..so me skipping this 😦 post a comedy story to cover up for this 😦
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🙂 Okay gils.. my next one will be a comedy story 😀
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Nice one. Reminded me of the movie Taare Zamin par. That had a happy ending. This one was sad.
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Thanks 🙂 Yeah but I guess in real life, we hardly see happy ending 😦 When such things happen for real, most of the time the endings are so sad.
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i was wondering what your take on Escape would be and glad u entered in time! 🙂 the story was wonderful, and yes I think true for many out there, not only the person u were writing of. I liked the flow, a bit of time travel in it too.. Nice one AK..
all the best for BATOM..
Escape
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Thanks so much Leo 🙂 I am so glad that you liked it.
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A very nice narration Ashwini, two issue are here one sibling comparison and then pressure to perform….both potential nerve wreckers… its a pity that parents have to learn it hard way….
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Thanks Dhiman. Yeah because of that the life of an innocent boy got wasted 😦 God knows where he is now and what he is doing.
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damn just realised am not gettin feeds from your blog.will catch up soon enough.and the story-well it better to run away.fresh start
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Not getting feeds? :O Is something wrong with my blog or wordpress?
About the Story : I doubt he did a fresh start Soin. I have a feeling that he killed himself 😦
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These kinds of issues pop up when the parents put their children under immense pressure to come up to their expectations…
And almost all such cases have a disastrous ending…
liked your story….
All the best for BAT 10
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Yeah not everybody can top exams. Parents must understand that and encourage their children, instead of harassing them.
Thanks Geeta
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What a tragic? Sibling comparison is norm and parents sometimes without control tend to do it. Ofcourse, parents will want all their children to do well in life but it’s actually the parent’s responsibilty to discover the real talent in them (not necessarily in maths and english). After all, we are all different, isn’t it?
Sureindran R. – Escape
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Agree with you. This boy about whom I have written was so good at heart. He never hurt or harm anybody and was always ready to help others. 😦 It is really sad that his mother dint realize early enough.
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this story touched me deep down inside girl..that too it’s a true story..very shocking..
good luck for BAT..
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Me too 😦 And the boy I have written about was someone I really admired for his good qualities like helping nature 😦
Thanks Neha
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I have witness such a situation, but not exactly the same one. He ran away and never came back. 😦 How painful!
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Yeah it is really painful. Hope he is doing fine, wherever he is.
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A very well written touching story :
Painful with a tragic end but something that happens around us in one form or the other so often.
Best wishes for BAT 🙂
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True CB, these things happen all the time around us. Thanks 🙂
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That its a true story hurts more 😦 But, there is this eternal pressure on students to do better n better … unhealthy competition 😦
Any updates abt the boy nw?
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Yeah swaram 😦 No updates from him at all. And police could not find him either. Hope he is fine, wherever he is.
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Exams are Pure Evil!! I sympathize with this Boy and many other like him!! I can feel the pain and desperation that Suresh suffered. I’m sure he’s doing well, whatever he is doing without family pressure. Well Written!! A very ‘today’ issue to write on!!
Btw I love the name of your Blog..Stung by the Splendor of a Crazy Thought!! Wow!! 😀
Are you a Big Potter Fan too..Avada Kedavra?? 😀
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Yeah this was just an example. I dont know how many more children suffer because their parents want an engineer or doctor from them. Lets hope that he is doing fine.
Thanks Rumya 🙂 I am so glad you liked the name. I was thinking of changing the name of my blog recently. I will rethink about changing the name then 🙂
Yep I am a die hard Potter fan 😀 Are you a fan too? 🙂
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Yup!! I’m one too!! 😀 Have read all 7 books multiple times and look forward to the movies too!! Never tire of them!! Its good to know another Potter Maniac and Blogger!! 🙂
Take my advice, I think you should stick with the name…Its very creative!! And I love it!! 😉
I saw your community on facebook, and didnt hesitate to click like instantly!! 😀
I’ll be visiting here more often!! 🙂
I’ll put you on my Blog List..
I hope you’ll visit my blog too!!
The link is in my name in my comments!!
Cheers!! 😀
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Wow! nice to meet another potter fan 🙂 Me too! I have read every book so many times and still love them. I will stick to this blog name then 🙂 Thanks for visiting girl 🙂 I read your entry too. Adding you to blogroll. I will read more entries from your site too. I was on hiberation from past few months. But now I am back, so definitely will be visiting more often.
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I am not surprised that this is a true story…it’s the sad state of Indian education and the pressures by the family the are a consequence of this. I knew of someone who was caught cheating in an engineering exam and he committed suicide. It was a massive shock for everyone…
Good luck!
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Yeah PB. It is really sad that such things keep happening. Suicide? that is really bad. Even this boy might have committed since there is no trace of him at all. He never tried to contact anybody 😦
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😦 😦 to sad to read this AK… Parents at times never show their love towards their kids for their improvement in studies which i think, quite absurd… As children can never understand that love beneath it 😦
Love and care from parents will do wonders… Hope parents look beyond marks and support their kid however he/she is…
Well narrated AK…
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Yeah some parents expect too much from their kids. Parents must always support their children and never demean them in front of others. Thanks Kanagu
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Well, thts happening in many homes around us.. the pressure is literally killing the children.. bt sumhow i think v all r part of it.. if i talk about myslf evn i tend to look down in disdain to children who r not tht bright.. i feel this is sumhow ingrained in the Indian minds nd the mindset needs to change.. bt 4 tht an effective education policy is also required so tht worth of each child cn b recognised.. ofcourse parents hav a big role 2 play in this.
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Yeah competition is the root cause of all such things happening. I have ridiculed some children who are not bright enough myself. Education policy has to definitely change and emphasis on marks must be reduced.
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I knew of a similar incident but it didn’t end up being a tragedy. The boy was more carefree & didn’ allow comparisons to affect him. The parents realized that each child is unique along the years. I feel in this case everyone is to blame. The boy himself, the parents, teachers & the older kid.I’m also a firm believer that parents always understand b’cos they love their children.
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You are right girl. The boy was a gem of a person and had all the good qualities but he was always mistreated since he was not bright enough. Not everyone can top in exams right? Depends on their intelligence level. Wish his mom had understood that and encouraged him, instead of comparing with his brother and condemning him all the time. His bro had no hand in this. He just minded his own business and kept excelling since he was really intelligent. But he shouldnt have done what he did 😦
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The system really sucks! Tragic story … so well narrated, Kudos to you. All the best for BAT
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Thanks Ritu 🙂 Yeah the education system has to be blamed for this 😦
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Excellent Story.. and since you say its true.. makes it more worthwhile to read it , I wish parents talk more to there kids know what they are doing …
I have never got used to the idea of blog a ton .. makes me scared thinking of writing one.
But this article of urs has brought something to forefront that why is failure thought to be BAD.. I ahd written a article on it ages ago.. about loosing …
Loosing is a art
A very good story.. thanks for sharing
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Thanks Bikram. Welcome to my blog 🙂 Blog-a-ton is fun to participate since you dont have to rake your brain thinking about the topic. And so many people interpret the same topic in so many ways that its interesting to read.
Let me read that article of yours. Thanks for the link.
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A simple tale told honestly, creatively. It’s pity these things happen a lot. Then the only thing that looks easy is escaping, which is not the case most of the times. Tragedy!
A neat job well done, Avada. Kudos!
All the best!
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Thanks Karthik 🙂 Yeah it is really sad to see that such things happen even today 😦
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tragic, moving story…:(
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Welcome to my blog Mehak !!
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Very Nice Read .. All the best for BOTOM
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Thanks Vikas and welcome to my blog! 🙂
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Sad story! Parents should understand the fact that excelling and scoring marks do not gel together always! Hope that Suresh found a good life after he fled.
Nicely Written.
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Thanks Sriraj 🙂 Yeah hope Suresh is happy with this life now.
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good story
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Thanks sm 🙂
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passes a chill down my spine to know that this really happened. The post injects hard feeling into the reader which makes it really effective. Good luck for BATOM.
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Yeah this was a true story 😦
Thanks a lot Vibushan!!
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People really need to watch 3 idiots… Really sad to read such stories 🙂
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Yeah true. Such stories are really bad and unlike movies, they all have sad endings! 😦
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Dear Girl, this is the first time I could log on to your blog to leave a comment tho’ I read yours thanks to Neha, who copy-pasted your story for me, as WP blogs weren’t loading on my PC.
The only thing I wanted to tell you was, you and I are alike that we can only (mostly) write inspired from real lives and real people. And one other thing that I said to you before, please keep writing stories, you have a wonderful and refreshing gift of narration. You get me hooked every time! 🙂
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Thanks soooo much girlie.. you read my post even though WP was giving issues.. you are the sweetest person 🙂 Thanks sooo much for reading mine.
Even I was thinking you know. Most of the times we end up writing true stories and that’s why most of our stories have tragic endings too since there are hardly any “happily ever after” stories in reality. I am soo soo glad that you liked my story. You know na.. you are one of the best story writers I have ever seen 🙂 🙂
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Hey that was a nice read.
The story, the message and the flow of words was really good.
I like your writing style. The words seem to swiftly flow by.
ALl the best for BAT.
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Thanks so much Archana 🙂 And welcome to my blog 🙂
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True story!?
How horrific.
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Yeah it is a true story 😦
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Beautiful story…!!!!
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Thanks Shalini
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Where are youuuuu?? Searching for Laila 😉
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You know, this reminds me a little of Taare Zameen Par. Its very sad to see parents who do not understand their kids. Parents who think that kids HAVE to come first, HAVE to win, HAVE to perform well. And not ‘Kids who just do their best’ without putting pressure on the result! Poor kids. I wish parents would give more support and less pressure!!!
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Yeah wonder when parents will realize that not all kids can get first rank in all the exams 😦
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great narration..but such a sad incident.
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Thanks Reema! Yep it is one of the really sad ones 😦
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