Govinda
Everyone says “Criticise in private, praise in public,” but few genuinely follow it. It was my 1st year in Brindavan. I had won the second prize in the Brindavan elocution competition. I was overjoyed and sat in the classroom expecting all teachers to praise me for my speaking skills. It was Ruchir sir’s class. He came in and after greeting everyone, he saw me and remarked, “Govinda, you spoke very well.” It was a boost to my already inflated ego. I was the only 1st year student who got selected into the finals and also came second. As was my general habit of going and asking a doubt in Accountancy every night during study hours in the night, that night too I went to speak with Ruchir sir to get feedback about the speech. I was expecting praise, but I experienced what truly critical feedback is. He said, “First of all, there was no depth in your speech, everything was surface level, content was very superficial. I don’t understand why you were speaking so fast? You did not want the audience to understand what you were speaking? And what was wrong with your neck? Why that hunched posture? You were not interacting with your audience through your gestures, please improve on it. You need to really improve your body language. The next time you speak, you better improve on all this.”
And I knew that day that I had found a mentor for life. After this, each time I spoke anywhere, whether in the college prayer hall, auditorium, sports meet commentary or the hostel prayer hall, I made sure to get his feedback. Through this incident I also learnt how a true leader actually criticises in private and praises in public.
The Sri Sathya Sai Cooperative Stores was one of the most coveted self-reliance departments that many of us wanted to join. “Govinda, if you get a GPA above 7, I will take you into the Stores ”, he had promised me. Armed with this assurance, I got a GPA of 8 and was very confident about joining the stores.
A day before the day we were supposed to join Stores, we had a test in Accountancy. After the exams, my friends and I were outside Jimmy’s Corner enjoying some snacks. Ruchir sir came and asked me, “So Govinda, how was the Accounting paper?” I said, “Very easy sir. I have my doubts about only one question.” He then said, “Okay Govinda, that means you will get a score of 49, right? That’s excellent. Only if you get 49 in Accounting, will you be allowed to join the Stores.” Before I realised my predicament, he just chuckled and walked away. Of course, I did get a chance to join the Stores
Ruchir sir corrects the exam answer scripts promptly and distributes answer papers usually the next day itself. On one such occasion, I found that I had only scored 44 which was much below my expectations. That evening, with a guilty face I walked into the Stores, expecting Ruchir sir would not remember and it will be work as usual. However, the first thing he said after he saw me was, “Govinda why are you here? You did not pass the requirement to work in the Stores.” I stood there thinking to myself, ‘My GPA in the first semester was the second highest in the class and even 44 out of 50 in the Accounting paper was one of the highest scores as everyone had committed a mistake in one particular problem. What more could I have done?’ Sir just repeated once again, “You need to go from here.” My entire ego was deflated and I looked down trying to hide my tears. Sending everyone else into work, Ruchir sir came close to me and said, “Don’t worry, I was just joking. I want you to realise your true potential and work towards achieving the best. No matter what you do, you must give your everything and work towards it. These few marks don’t matter, what matters is your attitude towards things. Don’t ever settle for mediocrity.” And that’s when I realised that before exams I had become very relaxed and I wasn’t putting sufficient efforts into studies. Even today, in everything I do, I hear him saying “Govinda, give the best to everything you do and never settle for mediocrity.” I promise you Sir, I will give my best to everything I do.