Happiness is Self Confidence

by Vasu Gupta
(Chennai, India)

I was born in a small village called Tiruvannamalai, in the state of Tami Nadu, India. I was attending the local school where English was not the first language. I was always interested in sports and long distance running.

When I was doing my 7th standard, my father had to shift to the city of Chennai because his job demanded it. So, we moved to Chennai and my parents put me in an Anglo-Indian High School called 'St.Patricks', an Irish establishment.

English was the medium of the school. Having attended a non-English medium school and having grown in a rural area, I could hardly speak a few words of English. I used to feel miserable when all my classmates were freely conversing in English. Most of them were Anglo-Indians and this made it easier for them. There were a few Irish teachers in my school and this made me feel worse.

There were days when I used to feel so miserable that I used to wonder whether I will ever be able to speak English as fluently as my classmates. The only time that I felt at ease in the company of my classmates was when we were playing some games in the evening, because we talked in Hindi.

Some of my classmates used to make fun of me whenever I spoke because of my bad English and strong accent. Slowly I started avoiding the playing sessions also. Instead I started watching the Irish teachers playing tennis. I slowly started to learn the rules of the game and enjoyed watching them play.

One such day when I was sitting near the tennis court, my English teacher, Brother Brennen, came up to me and asked me why I was sitting there instead of playing some games with the others. Somehow I managed to convey to him my problem. He understood what I was trying to tell him and that was the day that things started turning around for me.

From then on everyday he spent one hour with me in the evenings and taught me English. He made me converse with him and corrected me whenever I made a slip. He also asked me to try playing tennis with him and I was beginning to enjoy the game and also the lessons after the game.

Slowly I started getting confident and was able to speak English freely with my friends. By the time I wrote my 10th standard examination, I was so well-versed with the language, I passed out with a first class.

Also, my tennis playing had improved and I was almost regularly beating my teacher in the game... oops!

I am so thankful to my teacher, Brother Brennen. Without him I would never have learnt the language and felt so confident. I believe perseverance and sincerity in whatever you do will pay some day certainly.

This is one experience that made me feel very happy. It taught me something very important about me. Every time I feel down, I just know I need to accomplish something to lift my spirits. That has worked for me many times over!