Dad

I was in my 2nd standard, probably sometime in September,1993.My Half-Yearly exam Results were going to be out. A couple of months ago my dad had asked me to concentrate on Maths. He wanted me to score 100.

Sister Gomes, one of the senior-most teachers of St.Mary's Convent came to our class-room. She started distributing the report cards in the order of merit.Some fifteen minutes later, I got my card. It had a red mark. I couldn't score 100. I could manage just 14.

Dad was gonna hit me for sure. I could bet my pocket-money on this. I decided to act smart. I took my pencil out.

At 3, mom came down to receive me. She didn't ask me my percentage. She simply said, "Son, how much did you score in Maths?". I could bet another day's pocket money on that my dad had trained her to ask this. "100", I said.

Mom read from my face that I was lying. She asked me to show my report card. I did. The red '14' had been replaced by a gray '100'.

"Who did this?"

"I...I was shocked to see just 14 marks after I had done so well. So, I asked sister to check my marks. That's when she found that I had actually got 100. I asked her to change my marks, but she permitted me to change it myself ".

"Say 'God Promise' ", said Maa, who knew how powerful this promise meant to us. I said, "Goat Promise". Mom couldn't believe that I had started lying even in the name of God.

In the evening, dad came early. I could now bet my third day's pocket money on 'Why?'

I tried to get up from the study table and escape. He showed me his eyes and I was asked to sit down. I did.

Dad had something to say. "It's okay if you can't solve Math problems. I can help you with those. I can find time. But it's not okay if you lie. It's not okay if you cheat. It's not okay if you are not honest".

A year and a half later,I scored a 100 in Maths in the 3rd standard finals.

However, what's more important is that I never forgot those words of my dad. Whatever i am today is because of the way they brought me up. Cheers to him. Cheers to mom.