Kalam's family made great sacrifices to admit him in a good school. But then he got into trouble with his math teacher. Will Kalam still be able to make his family proud of him?
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School Topper
The Second World War
was just over
and India awaited her freedom eagerly.
It was a time when the air was filled with the sound
of the indistinct buzz of the radio.
Gandhiji declared, “Indians will build their own India.”
The whole country was filled with an unmatched optimism.
I secretly wished for a chance to do something for my country.
For this,
I needed to study in a good school.
But I never dared to ask my parents,
as I knew they wouldn’t be able to afford it.
One day my father
came up to me and, to my utter surprise, said,
“Abdul, I know how you’ve always wanted
to pursue higher studies.
Your mother and I
aren't highly educated,
but we have great dreams for you.
Don’t worry, we will somehow
find the money for you to study in a good school.”
The Schwartz School
was in Ramanathapuram,
a bustling town that lay
across the sea from Rameswaram.
My brother took me to the school
and I was admitted.
When it was hot and humid,
the students were made to sit under trees,
as there were no fans in those days.
We would run from under one tree to another
when we changed classes.
One day, as I was in a hurry,
I stepped into the wrong class,
where my math teacher
was taking a class.
He glared at me through his glasses
and said,
“What are you doing in this school
if you can’t even find your way
to the right class?
You should just go back to the village where you came from.”
He then caught me
by the scruff of my neck
and caned me in front of the whole class.
I felt crushed.
My family had made great sacrifices to send me to this school.
I felt terribly homesick at times,
but I was determined to make my family proud.
From that day on, I made up my mind
not only to be a good student but to be the best.
I studied night and day.
Many months later,
my dream of scoring full marks in my math exam
finally came true.
I was thrilled!
The next morning,
during our assembly,
the same teacher who had punished me earlier,
stood up, smiled and said,
“Whoever I punish
becomes a great man!”
Everyone in the assembly burst out laughing.
He then recounted what had happened.
He pointed to me and added,
“Mark my words;
this boy is going to bring glory to his school and teachers.”
His praise quite made up for the earlier humiliation.
I went back home after that semester
and my entire family rejoiced.
My mother made sweets
and my father went all over Rameswaram
distributing them.
I finally felt that I had done something worthy,
but there was still a lot to be achieved.

Author : APJ Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari
Music : Acoustricks
Illustration : Deepta Nangia
Translation : Vadivelu
Narration : Jayaraj
Animation : BookBox

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