Medals & Trophies

Each one of us loves to share our bit of successes with others as it makes us happy. Many times our Medals & Trophies are a proof of our success. Generally as a student, the more we have, the more successful we are perceived to be. It gives us a sense of pride to have them more in number than our closest friend or foe.

There are also other forms of Medals & Trophies which may not prove us to be successful however surely convey how adventurous we would have been in our childhood and growing-up years. Quite a few of them remain with us for our lifetime, sometimes as a living proof of mischievousness. Guess what am I talking about?

For me, the first Medal I received was in Class III while I studied at ‘Chukha Public School’ in ‘Cimakothi’ @ Bhutan. Being a hilly & forest country, you could find rocks emanating from ground anywhere & everywhere. There was one such rock which occupied practically 15 to 20% of our school playground. One day, while I raced with my fellow pals, I realized hitting the rock only after I landed on it with my chin taking the lead to feel the crash. Gosh when I got up, my chin had a deep cut. My friends rushed me to the school medical room where fortunately I could be administered first aid quickly. Inspite of a good treatment, the scar on my chin remained visible as my first Medal for many years!

Back in India, I received my 1^st Trophy while I was in Class VI. I would not be surprised if many of you would still remember that as children we use to fly a thin metal fan by pushing it briskly through an intertwined metal wire. Many times, this fan would land on the window sun-shade and one would have to climb the shade to get the fan back. And so it happened with me also however my destiny wanted me to receive a Trophy. As I quickly climbed on to the shade through a pipe on the wall, grabbed the fan and was climbing down, my foot slipped. The metal strip to hold the pipe in place, which ideally should be inside the wall, was in this case projecting out. While I fell down, it cut through my left arm. As I got up and gathered myself, what I noticed first was a deep hole in my arm. When my mom saw it, she almost fainted. One of my aunts grabbed me, put a handkerchief on my arm and rushed me on a hand pulled rickshaw to one “Dr.Singh” whose clinic was nearby. The doctor, although well experienced, was visibly shocked to see my state of affairs and started stitching me immediately. Only after the third stitch he realized that he had forgotten to administer me even a local anesthesia!!!  Till date I have a 5-inch scar on my left arm, which is a living proof of my mischievousness. Every time I have got a passport made, I have mentioned this Trophy of mine as my ‘Visible Distinguishing Mark’.

Going forward, I still remember the day when during the exams of my Class VIII, I badly wanted to go out for cycling. I managed to generate interest in my next door neighbour to race with me. Those days, I used to ply my father’s 24” cycle and since I was not tall enough, I use to ply it in the ‘kerenchi’ mode i.e. cycle it between the horizontal pole. As luck could have it, while I was on top speed, almost reaching the finishing line to win the race, the sling came-off with a jerk. My left leg hit the ground while the monster cycle didn’t stop and carried me through, resulting into the peeling of my skin near my knee like one peels a potato. Naturally my mother was not happy and she applied a bandage for the time being. Evening when my father arrived, we went again to “Dr.Singh”, as if it was a routine, who this time distracted me by telling me an interesting story and suddenly pulled-off the band aid. I remember having jumped a few inches above the ground and cried so loudly that all the stray dogs near his clinic ran away. I got another Medal which is still a living testimony of my adventures.

I continued my adventures in Class IX. The ring railway in Delhi was a craze and I along with my few cousins, my mom and one of my aunts went for a round trip from Lajpatnagar station. During the entire trip, we got down at various stations, climbed-in after the train had started and what not. After more than an hour, when it reached our destination, I and one of my cousins were at the doorstep daring each other as to who would get down first. I naturally wanted to be the first and jumped off, only miscalculating the speed to some extent! Next moment what I remember is that almost the whole train was rushing towards me, to doubly check whether I was still alive. A few of them almost wanted to thrash me for my daring act whereas many were happy to find that I was conscious and standing. Of course my mother was happiest of them all, finding me to have almost been blessed with a second life. As I looked at my right knee, I realized that I had once again received a Trophy, this time a special one!

Over the years, I have mellowed down in my adventures and today it surprises me when I think back as to how mischievous I was in my growing years.