Untold Stories 27: The Imperfect India

Most of the students who enter school have exam fear or sometimes what we call as “Fear of Failure”
My fear were worse. I was a over-thinker student and Social Studies (though now my favorite) but that time was the subject of least interest to me. Every exams or unit test in Kendriya vidyalaya School had a compulsory attendance records. So plan of bunking the exam was an undefined variable to consider. I did attend most of my exams and passed with good grades except my primary schooling social examination. The examination paper was sent to my home to check and signed by my parents. Usually my parents never see my paper, they just observe the marks and then sign on the exam sheet. But this time the luck went out of my way.
My father carefully observed the exam answer sheet and then asked me a very simple question.
“Why you did not even attempt a single questions which involved drawing the borders of India maps and pointing some of the locations on the map”
The question was simple but the answer was not. I replied, “I want the India Map to be perfect as the picture is on the Text-Book. But I cannot make that picture. It looks funny when I draw the India Map”
He laughed and replied, “No one knows how to draw India map, Even I don’t.”
He took a white paper from his personal file and showed by drawing a rough sketch of India and then he started explaining me, Here on top is Jammu, on left is Gujarat, On middle…and so on….
No one expects you to be perfect and draw/replicate the work of the text book. Its ok to be imperfect. Up to a acceptance limit people will appreciate your views, your presentations and your work. THE INDIA YOU DRAW, THE INDIA YOU MAKE.
My little brain could not understand his lesson, but as he was an elder person and I was trained to follow the elders, I accepted his view point and on my next further examination, Passed with decent grade.