Our parents grew up in a very different world. 

India back then was a different land

That of limited opportunities

That of rationing 

That of settling for stable than a shot at the moon 

And for no fault of theirs (and ours), they raised us accordingly. 

It doesn’t matter how good you are. You will win only if someone else loses. 

There are enough smart people out there. The way to get through JEE is to hope that most of them don’t perform on the day. The way to get through medical is to see someone else fumble. 

People are abundant. Options are limited. And your caliber only ensures eligibility. Not success. 

India today has changed. But the way we have been raised hasn’t. 

So what do we do? 

We still measure ourselves against others. 

We still track competition more than we should. 

We still play to defend, not to win. 

We are constantly fighting someone else. Not ourselves. 

It’s time we realized that times have changed. 

You can only do those things that are determined by your own rules

The minute you are fighting someone else, playing someone else’s game, you will fail. 

Because someone else is good at it already.