Wow!

Several months ago, we watched one of the best movies – 12th Fail. It tells the story of an enthusiastic young boy, Manoj, from a village who gains the courage and aspirations to become an IAS or IPS officer. The movie beautifully portrays his journey, highlighting his hard work, friends’ support, heartbreaks, mother’s love, father’s motivation, brother’s understanding, mentor’s guidance, and finally, the IAS interview. I loved it.

Many of us draw inspiration from movies, and some movies bring about a change within us.

The climax of the movie features a scene where the interviewers ask Manoj why he is suitable for the position. There is a long silence, and the camera zooms in for a close-up shot.

I have fond memories of my childhood when electricity was a luxury. I studied under streetlights, traveled 7 kilometers by bus at 5 AM to attend school and NCC, and faced the fear of traveling at night. I was often ridiculed for being in the “Tamil” medium and not being able to speak English.

My mom was very hardworking, and my father was a supportive husband and a great teacher. During Diwali, the government society used to run special cracker shops as it was a season to make good money – the equivalent of a flash sale. My mother took up these special assignments to earn extra money to support the family. At 12 years old, I, along with my younger siblings, helped my mom in the shop.

I learned a lot about selling in those cracker shops – the MRPs, pricing strategy, and variable pricing based on the customer and the time they came to the shop, as well as giving discounts. I really loved it. I still remember one uncle who came at 8 PM when my mom and another aunty were resting. I jumped in and lovingly sold the crackers, explaining why one was better than the other. That uncle bought ₹200 (which would be around ₹20,000 today) more worth of crackers and told me, “Just because of you, I am buying these!” What a motivation for a 12-year-old.

I worked as a lab assistant during my diploma years, working after college until 9 PM to earn money to support my studies. During those days, I didn’t worry about the future but tried to make the most of the available opportunities and survive.

Back to the 12th Fail movie, Manoj’s answer in the close-up shot was, “I am more deserved, sir.” And yes, he was more deserving compared to other candidates. Manoj survived tough times and gave everything he had, coming from a native language medium and driven by the love of his dreams and the need to support his family. The ability to articulate why he was deserving was priceless. Not many can do that today – explain why they are more deserving than others.

I am grateful to my family, children, extended family, teachers, friends, and the divine.

I can say that I am not a 12th Fail, but a 12th Skip, as I took the path from SSLC to Diploma to Engineering! The struggle was there, and I survived! Yes, God made that happen.