"I Failed Pre-Meds": Kota Official To Students, Parents As Suicides Spike

Kota District Collector Dr Ravinder Goswami wrote to the NEET and JEE aspirants and their parents on Tuesday, citing his own example of failing the Pre-Medical Test several years ago. His letters came in the wake of the rising cases of suicides, with two incidents taking place within three days.

Mr Goswami, an MBBS doctor before he became an IAS officer, said a 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.

Quoting a motivating couplet from Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi, Mr 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," he wrote. "We can only do hard work and it is upto God to bestow us with fruits. 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," Mr 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 the goal.

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? No," the DM wrote. Their wards, he told parents, can be interested in some other field.

Mr Goswami 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 make them believe that they are the most needed ones and most precious for them.

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