In a pep talk to students preparing for board and competitive exams, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night counselled them to appear for these tests with self-confidence, without getting nervous by making them an issue of life and death.
Reaching out to the student community as well as their parents through his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme over radio, he said students should make their best efforts and strive to get the maximum marks but should not get into any rat race of competition.
“Trying to see oneself through the eyes of others puts pressure,” was his thrust during the 25-minute programme.
Don’t pressure wards While noting that he himself was an ordinary student with bad handwriting, Mr. Modi also advised parents not to put pressure on their wards.
He said the students should go to the examination halls with a determination that they can do better than the last time.
“Instead of competing with others, you should compete with yourself, do better, do faster and go to greater heights,” the Prime Minister said, citing the example of former Soviet pole vaulter Sergei Bubka who broke his own world record 35 times.
“Appear for the exams in a cool manner.... Have faith in yourself.... Do not get worried about outside reasons because that shows lack of self-confidence and you fall into ‘andh vishwas’... This is not going to be the end of life.... Life is much bigger than just academic examinations,” he said.
While asking students to focus on a particular subject on a particular day, he sought to boost their morale by drawing examples from the cricketing world.
“A good batsman never thinks about his performance in the last match, or the last over or the last ball or for that matter the outcome of the match. He only focuses on a particular ball. Similarly, you should focus on a particular paper only, instead of thinking about how you did in the last one,” Mr. Modi told the students.
He had special praise for girls. Mr. Modi said that while boys tend to get irritated in the run-up to exams, their sisters help their mothers in household chores even during exams and mostly perform better.
“Getting irritated shows lack of self-confidence,” said Mr. Modi.
He said he chose this subject for his monthly radio programme as he wanted to be with the “youth friends” in this “difficult” time.
