Sid is elated today. He is glad he has cracked some of the math quiz questions. In the break Sid is chit-chatting with his friends and he finds most of them found the quiz was tough. Sid is now looking at Vic sitting with his \u2018Best Test\u2019 group. I wonder what they are discussing he thinks. The bell rings and its time for the Science session. Ms. Noronha would walk in anytime. Sid returns to his seat and fumbles with his science textbook. Science hasn\u2019t been a subject of his liking since the beginning. I wonder what greek and latin Ms. Noronha will ask today, he ponders, Oh God, I just hope she doesn\u2019t ask me to summarise what was covered in the class last time!<\/p>\n
Ms. Noronha is standing in front of the class and all the students, other than a few, appear busy looking into their text books. And so is Sid, but obviously he is just avoiding looking at her and risk being asked the question. So class, begins Ms.Noronha, can one of you summarise what we covered last time. There is a flutter of pages being turned. Without looking into your books, she continues. There is a deafening silence. Someone please answer, before she picks one of us up, Sid is thinking to himself. The last bench, one of you, Sid, can you please stand up and answer ….<\/p>\n
Sid can\u2019t believe his luck. He gets up slowly. His friends who are breathing a sigh of relief for not being in the spotlight today, can\u2019t resist a chuckle as they watch Sid take an eternity to stand up. Errr, ma\u2019am, can you …. can you please repeat the question …. says Sid. His friends can\u2019t resist the laughter.\u00a0 Sid, summarise what we covered in the last class. Sid looks around at Ms. Noronha and the entire class staring at him. Ma\u2019am, we covered …. we covered science fiction …. firction …. frict…. tion …. the class bursts into laughter. Ms. Noronha isn\u2019t amused. Silence everyone …. sit down Sid, it shows how serious you are about the subject … but science is going to be around you for a while … as a subject and otherwise. Before Ms. Noronha could continue, Vic stands up and summarises the last session to cover up for Sid.<\/p>\n
Sid reaches home, dejected and embarrassed. The laughter in the class, Ms. Noronha\u2019s words, are all ringing in his ears. Science is going to be around … what a fix to be in\u00a0 … science as a subject …. science all around you …. he thinks to himself. But Ms. Noronha was right, he needed to be serious about the subject. But to Sid, it wasn\u2019t just about seriousness. He couldn\u2019t comprehend half of it and feared when he tried to recall the rest of it. Firction …. friction he was trying to say in the class. Not that he could have explained much about it, and not to mention those formulas … I don\u2019t know what to do, Sid thinks. In all that transpired during the day, Sid has forgotten about the wise man\u2019s book that he has kept carefully at the back of his cupboard.<\/p>\n
Few days pass by as usual, without much progress. Sid is back to square one with his studies. But that hasn\u2019t stopped Sid from being his jolly self. He spends his time doing what he likes at home, other than studies of-course. And he still goes around being playful and silly amongst his friends at class. The bell rings. Its math session next. Mr. DSouza walks in. He has got the assessed answer sheets of the quiz that was conducted earlier. The answer sheets with the marks are distributed in the class. Sid gets his paper and he looks at his score. Below it Mr. DSouza has written, Keep it up Sid! Sid is startled back into the reality. The book! My Goodness! How could I forget, its in my cupboard at home …. Sid couldn\u2019t wait to get back home that day.<\/p>\n
Sid reaches home and goes straight to his cupboard. He looks inside and heaves a sigh of relief. The book is there where he had kept it. In a jiffy, he turns the page. It reads –<\/p>\n
\u2018While you take a new stride, do not forget to continue what you had tried …..<\/p>\n
What I now reveal, is what most during their academics appeal, that this subject they tried, but with it just couldn\u2019t deal.<\/p>\n
Most people LEARN what they LIKE. But those who differ, LIKE what they LEARN. Majority miss this, but for those few who know this trick; the DIFFICULT topic, with such conscious interest and liking, subconsciously becomes EASY\u2019<\/p>\n
Wonderful! Says Sid. This resonates so much in his case with Science as a subject. He and so many of his friends have had this issue with subjects like science or math. But liking science? conscious liking?\u00a0 How is that going to change anything, thinks Sid. This must be the \u2018All is Well\u2019 equivalent of getting better at difficult or uninteresting subjects. Am sure the wise man would touch upon the how part of it later in the book. And also the outcome of following a bit of what the wise man had said earlier is there to see on my math answer paper. And after what happened in Ms. Noronha\u2019s class …. have to give this a try.<\/p>\n
Sid reaches out for his science text book. Science is all around me, this is going to be my favourite subject …. let me see, here this chapter…. friction …. if it wasn\u2019t for friction, it would have been impossible for us to even stand …. how interesting …..<\/p>\n
Watch out for what happens to Sid with his new conscious liking for science and what the wise man has in store for him in the coming journey ….<\/p>\n