I remember very clearly, it was class nine for me, in Andrews School, which is a coed school in South Kolkata, where in our Bengali teacher Mr. Kar, decided to direct a Bengali play called ANKUR, for our School Annual day. I was selected to play the lead role in that play. This role was of a boy who is a spoiled guy, bad in studies, and how he transforms himself, with the guidance of a good teacher, into a transformed individual.
There were some 6 scenes in the play. There was a scene, where I stole a pen from a fellow student's desk,etc. What happened was, as I went through the play, and at the end of every scene, there were announcement getting made in the microphone to say, that, some one in the audience has offered a gold medal to me, being impressed with my acting. I received 5 gold medals that day, for my acting. Everyone felt ,I was outstanding. I did not realise it. But felt good. All the girls in the class, were very impressed with me. They immediately wanted to become friends with me, as over night I became a hero in the school. Adulation always makes you feel good, no matter what age you are. I was very young. It really good.
It was one of the memorable incidents in that age for me. Perhaps, after that incident, my relationships, in general with girls improved significantly. I was a lot more relaxed with girls after that. This carried on to my IIT days, and even later.
One does not really know, what incident influences what in your life. But, it is interesting to investigate those moments and think about them today.
Thank you, Ankur.
