Sunday, June 10, 2001		Article

Why you should...not be a topper

• There’s a crowd at the top; every one seems to be an achiever. Why be a part of the crowd?

• There has to be somebody to cheer the crowd at the top.

• Low percentage marks you out as ‘different’ in your dad’s circle. They will either think that you are too intelligent or plain stupid. Either ways, they will leave you alone.

• Greats like Shakespeare, R.K.Narayan, to name a few, have either been failures or dropouts. Follow suit. You, too, could have seeds of greatness in you.

• A topper ultimately becomes a trophy son/daughter. Hateful thought!!

• If you achieve, expectations rise further. It is better to keep them low so that at the end of your academic career whatever you score is found good enough.

• There is life beyond books and putting in 18 hours a day for just a scrap of paper called marksheet.

• Toppers burn out faster. Slow and steady wins life’s race.

• Toppers are never their own people. They pander to their parents’ ambition that their ward should get a high percentage. Low performers do their own thing.

• A well-rounded personality which has charm and elan is any day better than a mousy topper.

• This is the time to explore life, not to sit in a corner and cram.

• It is better any day to fall in love when you are 16 than to score 99 per cent.