Lessons Hidden in Failure: Marks Fade, Character Lasts

For most of us, from our earliest days at school, we have been led to believe that marks define us.

- DR SANKU BOSE

Report cards quietly transform into verdicts on intelligence, potential and even character! A percentage point here or there can decide which college accepts us, which scholarships we receive, and in some cases, which doors of opportunity remain closed forever. For many, grades and ranks become not just a measure of performance but a mirror of self-worth.

But let us pause and ask, do marks truly capture capability? Or do they merely reflect performance at a fixed moment in space and time in a rigid system? The truth is uncomfortable: marks measure memory, exam temperament and conformity more than creativity, resilience, or originality.

In today's rapidly shifting world, where industries vanish within a decade and skills expire in just a few years, clinging to your academic credentials alone in defining your future is foolhardy, to say the least.

What sustains careers and lives today is not the ability to reproduce answers but the ability to adapt, imagine, and reinvent! While marks may fail to measure worth, stress quietly, but most certainly, erodes it. Anxiety around grades, parental expectations, and peer comparisons has become a silent epidemic. We spoke about this at length in our column last week.

Students chase numbers as if they were tickets to dignity-- while their mental health deteriorates in the shadows. Stress narrows the mind.