07/06/2026
After almost 21 years of leaving school, today I felt something I cannot explain.
My school completed 80 years this year. And believe it or not, they still remembered me.
My note got published in our local newspaper.
When I saw it, my eyes became wet.
See, I was never the topper.
Passing a class itself was difficult for me.
My name was always at the bottom of the list.
The last one.
I was not in any sports team also.
I was just a simple, average boy.
Nothing special.
But my school never made me feel small.
That is the one thing I will never forget.
The teachers treated everyone the same.
The toppers and the failures.
Equal.
Nobody was looked down upon.
Nobody was made to feel less.
For a boy who always came last, that meant everything.
Slowly, that gave me confidence.
The belief that maybe I am also worth something.
And that belief changed my whole life.
Today, I am a Chartered Accountant.
I am living in Dubai.
Leading a life I once could not even dream of.
And all of this started from that one school.
The school that believed in an average boy when he didn’t believe in himself.
The teachers shaped me.
The friends carried me.
Even classmates and colleagues taught me so much.
Everyone played a part. When we are in school, we never realise it.
These are the days we keep searching for our whole life.
Those friends.
That classroom.
The sound of the bell.
The canteen.
The small fights.
The masti.
At that time, it all felt normal.
We never thought we would miss it one day.
Then life takes over.
We grow up. We get busy.
Jobs, family, responsibilities.
Slowly we forget so many things.
Faces become blurred.
Names slip away.
It happens to all of us.
It is just life. But sometimes one small thing touches your heart.
Like a note in the newspaper.
And it reminds you.
You also mattered to that place.
Even a boy who came last was remembered.
That is when I understood.
It was never the marks.
It was never the medals.
