A Mother’s Day Tribute: The Lesson I Never Forgot

This incident occurred when I was in 11th grade. I was not doing well in school. I received the dreaded examination results and realized that I had gotten very low scores in most courses, particularly in mathematics.

My mom asked me why I was doing so poorly in mathematics. I said, “Maths sir is not teaching very well.” My mom asked me what the highest mark in the class was. I recall saying something like 95%. My mom asked who got the highest mark. I must have said Harishankar, as he was the topper in our class. My mom then asked if both of us had the same maths teacher. I said yes. She asked me why I got such low marks while Harishankar got 95%, even though we both had the same maths teacher.

I was stunned by my mom’s impeccable logic. I distinctly remember sweating as I tried to come up with an explanation. Since my mom was uneducated, I had assumed that she didn’t know “anything.” I don’t remember what I said to my mom, but her question stuck in my head.

It took me a long time to process it (in nerd talk, this is being unable to invert the matrix 😊). This incident made me realize that I should take responsibility for my own failures instead of blaming others. It was a valuable lesson that my mom taught me. From then on, I always held myself accountable when I did poorly.

Don’t get me wrong, I still complain 😊 … but with one important difference: I ask myself how others are doing well and what I can learn from them.

Moral of the story: Take ownership of your failures before blaming others — even simple wisdom can change your mindset.