“Mum, I am selected for the quiz team from class 5! Only 5 children were selected and I was one of them!” My voice rang across the room. My mom looked up from what she was reading and beamed at me. I could see the genuine happiness for me and how proud of me she was. I was still ranting off on how it felt when Seema ma’am called me out of the classroom. I also told her how scared I was when I was called out, I had felt as if I was going to be scolded for something I did or didn’t do. She led me to a room where 4 other of my mates were sitting. I felt that they too were called for something. I was terrified now. It seemed as if each of us were called for something which we hadn’t done. I could feel the anguish and terror on their faces. And that’s when Seema ma’am turned around and said, “You five are the ones who are chosen for the Class 5 team in Interschool quiz. Prepare well as I want to see the trophy from your class in my wardrobe this year. For the past 5 years we have been losing this event, I place my trust in you for this year. Bring the cup to me.”
I saw that my mother was waiting for me to finish so she could say something. Now, as I was finished, she spoke, “ How do you plan to gain that much knowledge?” I was stumped, I never thought that this would happen. My mouth hung open as I pondered on that query.My mom bent over and closed my mouth and spoke, “Don’t you worry, I will make you ready for the quiz. Starting from tomorrow 5 p.m.”
I smiled gladly at her and went away from the room. The next day I arrived at the exact time with my G.K book. My mom took the book from my hands and kept it behind me. She then began to teach me in the current affairs and every single question she knew from experience which was likely to come in the quiz. At the end of the day when she took a random quiz on what I’d learnt and if I answered correctly, she handed me a chocolate and ruffled my hair. This went on for the whole month.”
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Present time.We were seated at a table with 5 other schools on different tables. We had cleared the preliminary round easily. Everyone had their own share of input. The quiz began. Our team was coming second and the rival team was first. The other teams had got out in the elimination round.The last round had begun. It was a buzzer round. We answered each and every question with a fervor that was never seen in any of the previous teams which had come from our school. I could see tears of happiness in Seema ma’am eyes. I guess she was surprised that we had made it into the top two.
We continued to answer the questions and the rival team was also bang on in answering. Pressing the buzzer was proving to be a nerve-racking situation. If we pressed and didn’t give the answer, then 10 points from our score were deducted. If we didn’t know the answer and pressed the buzzer, then rival team gained 10 points.
We were only 20 points behind the rival team. One correct answer and we would be par with them. A correct answer could give us 20 points. Then I heard the quizmaster announce, “Last question for the event!”
I sighed, we had no chance of winning now. We could only make it a tie. I could see the sad lines etched on Seema ma’am’s face. We had been so close to winning. All my mother’s training gone for nothing. I lost my nerve and couldn’t even think of what to do. The quizmaster announced the question, “ What is Elon Musk credit for. Name 3 organizations he heads.”
I picked up my head as he said the question. I had done this. As soon I was going to press the buzzer, the rival team pressed theirs. I pressed ours a mini-second late. All eyes were on the rival team now. They thought for 4 minutes and in the end gave up. They gave up. We gained ten points. If I could get this correct then I would lead the team to victory.
The quizmaster turned to me. I was nervous now. He looked at me inquiringly as if waiting for me to answer. Sweat rolled down my brow. I was too tensed to wipe it. At that exact moment, my mother’s words came rushing back to me. You know, you should know how great Elon Musk is. He should be the Jobs of our generation, but as he doesn’t believe in show off, so he isn’t that famous. He is an entrepreneur, engineer, inventor and investor. He holds the office in SpaceX, Tesla Motors and Solar city. He even co-founded what we term as Paypal. Remember him, Dhruv, because that’s who one should aspire to be!
I gave the exact same answer to the quiz master. My mother made me come out of the situation and win this nerve racking situation. She was the one who taught me how to stand on my own feet. We won the trophy! I could see Seema ma’am crying. I could see my mates picking me up on their shoulders. We had won the trophy! My mom made me fly today. She is what I credit to today’s trophy.
We went up to the stage to collect the trophy. We took it and saw that my mother was crying in the stands. I was shocked to see her there. I beamed at her and she came running towards me, picked me up and made me feel proud. She was proud of me as I was indebted to her. She shaped my life!
This post has been written for a competition by Indiblogger and HDFC.
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