We often hear quotes as -“Failures are the pillars of success”, but to actually experience the relevance of these in real life is challenging. I felt the testimony of this quote starting from 2010.
Being active in extra-curricular activities in school, I was appointed as the house captain of one of the four houses in class 12th. According to the school curriculum, we had annual house parties. House parties were get-together events that had guests from the likes of faculty members, house members and students of class 12th, which meant that the audience was large. There were events like dance, skit, games and prize distribution followed by dinner. We also had to decorate the main auditorium.
Came mid-year and it was time for our house to conduct the house party. Being the house captain, the responsibility was on me to get things done. Practices were on for dances and skits. My housemistress asked me to download and keep the dance songs in one laptop. I agreed to her and got busy with other activities. Eventually, I forgot to add the songs in one laptop.
Finally, the day came. We decorated and arranged the place. It was evening time. I went to the hall to check the set-up. I was shocked to see that there was no laptop connected to the speaker. The students hadn’t dressed up yet. The chief guests had arrived. My anxiety was on the highest level yet I had to put on a smile. After receiving the guests, I rushed to arrange a laptop and added the songs in it. I asked the prefects to line the students up for first performance. The show started in a haphazard manner. We somehow managed to sail through it but it was a poorly managed show. We had to face the criticism of school headmistress and faculty members. This day was imprinted on my mind for many years.
After passing out, I joined my under-graduation program. The enthusiasm for extra-curricular activities continued and I joined the literary society of my college. Having the house party tragedy in the back of my mind, I organized events of society with utmost responsibility and rechecked everything. In my third year of the under-graduation program, I was appointed as the Secretary of the society. The secretaries had the responsibility to organize college annual fest “Spectrum”. Spectrum was attended by approximately thousand students each year. We prepared for the event with the help of around a hundred junior students and worked day & night diligently. The show was a big hit and was featured in the local newspapers. We also received appreciation from the entire faculty set.
After all these years, I feel that one failure changed my perception to execute tasks. Over the years, there have been many failures at various stages but they have either paved a way to success or have been a tremendous learning experience for me. Closing the note by quoting Nelson Mandela - “The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail”.
