Real Happiness

So I pretty much nailed my tenth grade board exams by scoring a 95%… (For those of you who live outside India, if you were a part of the Indian education system, you’re tenth grade board marks would be very crucial for college admissions and even later on.. )

The day my results were to be announced, I was pretty excited … The results were to be declared at 3 PM but I had logged into the ICSE website since 11 AM, just in case they came out a little earlier. My mum was, as usual,  panic-stricken and my dad was the same old “cool-headed” guy… It was a weekday, so he went to office, even after my mum insisted that he should stay back. He replied in a composed tone saying that he would come home at 2 PM or so.  He said that he was pretty sure that they would never declare the results before 3:00. So he came back five minutes before 3:00 and VOILA!! He was correct.. The results weren’t declared even a minute before 3 PM.

So my mum didn’t have a reason to be pissed off at him… 🙂                                                             On seeing my results my parents were astounded… But I was shocked even more than they were. I wasn’t expecting such a good result!                                                                                     That day was crazy!!! People called in from everywhere – my relatives, friends, neighbors, classmates, tuition teachers, school teachers, etc. Everybody was proud of me… My parents the most of all. My mum had tears of joy in her eyes. My
Dad hugged me and called up my grandparents to let them know… I couldn’t resist it. So even I had those “tears of joy” (if I may) in my eyes. So every relative that I talked to over the phone first congratulated me, asked me about my future plans and then asked me what gift I wanted.

So this is where the real story begins… Nowadays, everyone considers that happiness is just material possessions and stuff like that. No individual realizes what true happiness is. My parents too went on the same “wrong” track. They threw parties for all those close friends and relatives… I wasn’t the all-India topper that they go around throwing parties or something. We are a part of the upper-middle class. Its not like parties are a usual thing.

This part annoys me the most. If you really wanna show me that you are happy about my results, then maybe you could appreciate it by genuinely showing that you’re happy.

Talk to me, tell me about how you feel… Say things that will make my confidence boost… Invest in my education. But, throwing parties, gifting me stuff that I like or dislike – that ain’t working here.   So.. Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, Grandma, Grandpa, if you guys are reading this, at least you guys must understand that material possessions aren’t everything… I know that there are values, emotions beyond the outer covering of prosperity that you want or wanna give me… So revive those inner feelings and forget the material possessions, at least in my case. Your blessings and your good health is all I want from you, forever.