The election has begun and all the political parties are putting their best efforts in winning so that they can hold the office for the next five years and bring in the required changes in the country. Amidst all this frenzy the UPSC CSE 2018 results were announced. Kanishak Kataria has topped the most prestigious exam of the country. He is a 26-year-old IIT Bombay alumnus.
Do we need to know about him?
Yes.
Why?
A few might say this is because he has cracked the most difficult exam of the country in one go. But, this is not the first time somebody did it. What made him special is for the first time in the history of topper interviews for any competitive exam, someone is thanking his girlfriend for their success. Amidst all the assortments of politics, this sweet gesture by him is making headlines.
‘Relationships lead to mental disturbance and are the biggest hurdle in the path of our success’ – this is the very piece of advice that we keep getting from everywhere. Yes, fights, arguments, disagreements and misunderstandings are the bases of relationships. But which relationship does not have problems and why only these are considered to be the bases? Why can’t we see love, trust and support also? Why are the positives overlooked and negatives are only counted? It is true that we do have our parents for providing with all the positives and no one can do it for us like our parents do. But, what is wrong if we have someone who also gives the extra push along with the already existing ones?
We have posters and pictures giving messages that a broken heart will only lead to success. The word girlfriend/boyfriend is associated with ‘annoying’, ‘clingy’, ‘time-consuming’, ‘disturbing’ and many more. It is advised to be away from them during preparation years and if someone has a breakup during their preparation phase people jokingly say to him “tera ab sab exams paar hoga (you will qualify all your exams).”
Loving the right person can do wonders and supporting that love just makes the good better, as in the case of Kanishak. Since the time this video was released, where Kanishak is thanking his long-distance girlfriend along with his parents and sister for the moral support she provided him during his preparation and exam phase, it has been doing rounds on social media. A few people still have something negative to comment about it but that consists only 5% of the commenters.
We are taught to fall in love only after we have achieved something big in our careers and even after that we are said it to keep undercover and speak about it to our elders only if the two decides to marry. But, as the saying goes “pyar kiya toh darna kya? ( why fear if you love somebody?)” and if that love is with the right person and you can feel it, it can never lead you to failures.
So what does Kanishak’s success teach us?
It teaches us nothing special except that we should trust our loved ones, be it parents or anyone else and recognize their contributions in our successes. But still is special because it has lessons for parents. Yes, you heard it right.
Parents need to be less restrictive and more supportive in matters of relationships and love. They have all the right to give us suggestions and show us the right path but they also need to be more amiable. One should be able to talk about their relationship freely with their parents without being in fear of getting scolded. We all are at an age where heart and mind both are at an equally high pace. We want our careers to be at the zenith but we also want someone to hold our hand forever and support us. If we can easily talk about our career perspectives with our parents knowing they would support us, we must be able to talk about the other factors too. Parents must equally participate. They should listen to their children, know his or her partner and support them, help them in solving fights( if they ever have), help their children come over it if their love aren’t with the right person and all these are not wrong. Love must be respected. Active support from elders leads to results like Kanishak Kataria.
It will be interesting to see if other parents set up Kanishak as an example for their kids and learn something for themselves too, or just let it pass away. As of now, a big congratulations to him and also huge respect for recognising the efforts of his girlfriend along with the efforts put in by the most important people (parents) in his success.