Kalam's family made great sacrifices to admit him in a good school. But then he got into trouble with his math teacher. Will Kalam still be able to make his family proud of him?
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School Topper
The Second World War
was just over
and India awaited
her freedom eagerly.
It was a time when the air was filled
with the sound of the indistinct buzz of the radio.
Gandhiji declared,
“Indians will build their own India.”
The whole country was filled
with an unmatched optimism.
I secretly wished
for a chance
to do something for my country.
For this,
I needed to study in a good school.
But I never dared to ask my parents,
as I knew
they wouldn’t be able to afford it.
One day
my father came up to me and,
to my utter surprise, said,
“Abdul, I know
how you’ve always
wanted to pursue higher studies.
Your mother and I aren't highly educated,
but we have
great dreams for you.
Don’t worry,
we will somehow
find the money for you
to study in a good school.”
The Schwartz School
was in Ramanathapuram,
a bustling town
that lay across the sea
from Rameswaram.
My brother took me to the school
and I was admitted.
It was a very good school.
When it was hot and humid,
the students
were made to sit under trees,
as there were no fans in those days.
We would run
from under one tree to another
when we changed classes.
One day, as I was in a hurry,
I stepped into the wrong class,
where my math teacher
was taking a class.
He glared at me through his glasses and said,
“What are you doing in this school
if you can’t even find
your way to the right class?
You should
just go back to the village
where you came from.”
He then caught me by the scruff of my neck
and caned me in front of the whole class.
I felt crushed.
My family had made great sacrifices
My family had made great sacrifices
to send me to this school.
I felt terribly homesick at times,
but I was determined
to make my family proud.
to make my family proud.
From that day on, I made up my mind
not only to be a good student
but to be the best.
I studied night and day.
Many months later,
my dream of scoring full marks
in my math exam finally came true.
I was thrilled!
The next morning, during our assembly,
the same teacher who had punished me earlier,
stood up,
smiled and said,
“Whoever I punish
becomes a great man!”
Everyone in the assembly
burst out laughing.
He then recounted what had happened.
He pointed to me and added,
“Mark my words;
this boy is going to bring
glory to his school and teachers.”
His praise quite made up
for the earlier humiliation.
I went back home after that semester
and my entire family rejoiced.
My mother made sweets
and my father
went all over Rameswaram distributing them.
I finally felt
that I had done something worthy,
but there was still a lot to be achieved.
Story: APJ Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari
Story Adaptation: Ananya Parthibhan
Illustrations: Deepta Nangia
Music: Acoustrics (Students of AR Rahaman)
Translation: Madhu B Joshi
Narration: Babla Kochhar
Animation: BookBox
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