e = mc 2

Most things in life are relative. So is intelligence. In my two years of Fergusson College, due to my mother's foresight, I was undeservedly bumped up to the offfical Business Class of FC, a.ka. Division C. You had to get more than 88% in your 10th standard exams to make the grade and I had 80%. By logical deduction, I was the dumbest student in my class of 144 students. No exagerration, no bullshit.

I remember the panic attacks durng the exams, the blacking out, the lies and the cheating. I remember not coming to collge the day the marks would be displayed and the papers discussed.Of course, I would get the least marks in my group and in my class. I scraped through 11th standard using questionable methods. Some of my friends got dumped to other divisions. I felt pretty rotten about it for a while.

The next year was no different. And not that I tried. I put in an honest effort whenerever required. The regular blood,sweat and tears.But the impact of being the dumbest student in class stayed with me.

Then, everything changed.

In BVU Dental College and Hospital, I witnessed a whole new world. There was no scrambling to get the first row seats. If you didnt land a perfect score, it was actualy pardonable. And, miraculously, I suddenly emerged to the fore as a clever student. I barely made the top ten in my first year, but no one seemed to notice. I was still given the tag of a topper.

Even more surprisngly, I rose in the ranks for the following two years. And trust me, I was exactly the same person, giving the same priority to studies, with the same intensity of concentration.

So what was the difference? Not to be impolite, my company wasnt as illustrous as FC Division C. Relatively, I was suddenly very intelligent.

A parallel story can be told about my oration. Throughout my 8 years in dental college, I was considered as one of the best orators in college. In my years in Loyola High School, I wouldnt have even made the top 15.

Does that speak not-too-highly of my college? Yes, maybe. There were other talents in abundance though.

If you can look at your skills and talents from an outside frame, from a exterior perspective,comparing yourself with a larger group of people, you realize really how good (or average) you are. Try it.

e= mc2 ? Not quite, but then I guess Eisntein would have been a genius in any class.