“What if I fail Daddy?” Nancy who was preparing
for her exams asked her father. Her father gave her a stern look, a look that could
freeze water back into ice. She felt she had entered into an enemy camp by
asking that question and she wanted to escape from there as soon as possible
before she gets bombarded with words. Words that would have the capacity to rip
her off her confidence, if there was left any. But to her surprise her father
did not say anything, maybe he thought that his famous freezing look will
suffice for now. Nancy though relieved
from the long question answer round, wanted an answer to that question. The question
was ringing in her ears in a loop.
She did not
want to fail because she knew the answer to the question. The possibilities scared
her to death. Nancy knew that how much ever people around her support her but
in the end life is an individual game. People around are just there as fillers,
like an advertisement commercial between a test match. Everybody is responsible
for their own performances, one either has to ball well or bat well.
Her reverie was broken when she heard her father politely
say,”You would get another chance to try, my little doll!”Her father was
noticing her ever since she asked that question. She had never thought of that
answer. The answer sounded quite hopeful to her, but now she had another
question in her mind. “What would my friends and relatives say?” Her father listened
to the question and very thoughtfully answered, “that is there problem not
yours, my girl!” The girl said, “But daddy,
I don’t want them to consider me a failure!” Her father patted her back and
said “Nancy, you are not what people consider you; you are what you consider
yourself!” Nancy felt as if a ton of load has been put off her chest. Her
father’s words came as a breath of fresh air. Her father was speaking from the
life’s experience. She was overwhelmed by the conversation she had with her
father.
Like Nancy we all at some point in time are confronted
by these questions. I am sure we all have had our share of self doubt. But life
is what we make out of it. Though like Nancy I have learned my lesson but still
I think this question will haunt me forever, “What if I fail?”
