'I have also failed in PMT': Kota DM writes to motivate coaching students, parents amid rising cases of suicides

Kota (Rajasthan): In the wake of the rising cases of suicides, with two incidents taking place within three days, Kota District Collector Dr Ravinder Goswami Tuesday wrote separate letters to the NEET and JEE aspirants and their parents giving his own example of being a failure in the Pre-Medical Test several years ago.

Goswami, himself an MBBS doctor before becoming an IAS officer, said failure is an opportunity to improve and turn it into success. He urged the parents to give a chance to their wards to improve their mistakes and not associate happiness of the children with the marks they obtain in exams.

Citing a motivating couplet from Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi, Goswami began his address to the students with 'Dear children' and noted that failures give one the opportunity to surmount the mistakes committed in life and turn the failures into success.

The collector noted that the exam is only a phase in life and not the ultimate goal and it cannot determine the direction of one's life.

'I am an example of this. I have also failed in PMT,' the collector informed the students, and added, 'We can only do hard work and it is upto God to bestow us with fruit. So, if he makes us succeed, it is okay. But if he makes us fail, it means he is charting another path for us.'

'You are great children of great India and only one exam cannot be taken as the ultimate test to achieve your goal,' Goswami wrote.

He concluded his letter to the students by saying if one walks, she or he tends to fall but it is meaningful only when one gets up after falling and moves ahead towards achieving the goal.

Similarly, in a separate letter to the parents, the DM appreciated their commitment towards their wards in providing them all the facilities. He recognised that their happiness lies in the happiness of their children but noted that the problem arises when the happiness of children is associated with the marks they obtain in the exams.

'Does one become successful only by passing an exam?' the DM asked the parents, and added, 'No.' He told the parents that their wards can be interested in some other field.

The DM urged the parents to give their wards a chance to improve themselves as his own parents did to him when he returned home from Kota, where he had stayed for the preparation of PMT but failed once.

The collector appealed to the parents to speak to their wards regularly, listen to them and to make them believe that they are the most needed ones and most precious for them.