"Has your second year started?" his grandmother asked with a curious look.
"Yes," he replied without even taking his eyes off the phone.
His grandmother just couldn't understand what was so interesting in there that he kept staring at it all the time. But then, she had given up on trying to understand this youngsters long ago. The doubts needed to be cleared though.
"But didn't you say your results aren't out yet?"
"No they aren't," and once again he didn't bother to look at her.
Anyone else would have been annoyed by now and went about their work, but not old granny. If she took to something, she went to its roots.
"So how can your second year start? What if you fail in the last exam?"
This time, he kept his phone aside at looked at her with genuine concern. Poor granny, he thought, she's so back in time. She doesn't know how it happens nowadays.
And so, he decided to educate his illiterate grandmother.
"That's not the way it works granny, the education system has changed since your time. Now, we don't have to wait for the last year's result to get into next year. It always starts on time. And even if we fail, we get another chance to pass it in the next semester."
The grandmother just didn't know what to say at that.
"So you actually get a chance to correct your mistakes..."
Initially, the statement didnt make any sense to him. He just didn't understand why his grandmother was so shocked on hearing that. But when the realization dawned, even he couldn't stop himself from getting lost in that chain of thoughts.
"You get a chance to rectify your mistakes", that one little statement held so much in it. He knew it wasn't the same during the time when his grandparents must be studying. He was almost thinking that they had it very easy, but he stopped himself just in time. Nothing is easy. Their generation feels it was easy for the previous one and the next one would feel the same for theirs too. Everything that you don't face always sounds easy, that's the way of life. But it isn't .
Ignoring all other thoughts, he just focused on their current education system. It indeed gave them a chance to get over the failure without wasting the precious years of their life. Not many students understood the value of it, but he definitely understood it today. And when he did, he vowed not to waste this golden opportunity that they were bestowed with. They'd be fools if they did that. On another thought, they were fools not to realize that.
He was still lost in his thoughts when he felt his grandmother get up from the couch. If only we had the luxury to turn back the wheels of time, she muttered before heading for her room.
***
You might get annoyed and curse the old folks to hamper your fast-changing lives, but sometimes, you need them to make you identify the little diamonds in your life.
