‘Starry’ advice for students

Pulkit Samrat.

School students across the country are in a frenzy, for it’s time for results, after a gruelling two months of hours spent studying, solving sample players, filling in college applications and dodging uneasy career-related questions from distant relatives.

So when Anusha Aradya logged in to her Facebook account for a quick break from her otherwise-busy life, she couldn’t stop laughing, because trending on her wall was a post by stand-up comic and actor Vir Das about his exam experiences. “It was so refreshing to know that somebody like him had to go through the same thing. He even posted a picture of his marksheet and asked us to do better. It was also encouraging in a way because I was sure that if he could do it, so could I,” says Anusha, who appeared for her board exams this year. The actor, in fact, did a photo series of his oh-so-embarrassing childhood snaps, calling it the ‘bright side’, in a bid to convince the students that they’d do well no matter how much they score. He also came out with a video, aptly titled ‘On your marks’, that talks about the important things in life that do not depend on your marksheet.

Like Vir Das, many other celebrities have been taking to social media to show their support for the lakhs of students who appeared for their board exams this year. Varun Agarwal of

How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-founded a Million Dollar Company fame asked parents to be more understanding of their kid’s marks through a post on Facebook. “Tell them it is ok, it’s just an exam. Tell them, no matter what they score, you love them and will not judge them. One exam or a 90 per cent won't take away their dreams and talent.” he posted. But he was also quick to mention that this does not go to say that the students should not work harder or strive for the best. “It’s great that he’s putting his popularity to such good use,” says Tanishk Zac, “I watched his video on Anu aunty (called the ‘Engineering anthem’)that mocked the concept of societal pressure on career choices, and it was bang on. It’s sort of telling us that ‘we’ve been there, we’ve done that and you can too’ and that’s a huge boost because look where this guy is now!”

A week back, a video made on the issue by actor Pulkit Samrat of

Fukrey fame went viral. “Good marks or no marks, it doesn’t really matter. You can’t change the marks you will get but what you can change is your attitude,” states the actor.