“Mom? Dad? Please end the discussion now. It is unbearable for me to face such mountainous challenges in my life. I’m a student, not a machine to remember all of the information which the book contains and also explain it to thousands of people confidently,” Shakeel rejected his parents when they told him to take part in a book presentation forum at district level. “Relax! If today you are afraid of facing minor challenges, then how will you be able to bring improvement in your life to help you achieve your goals? Challenges come in everyone’s life and the ones who stay energetic and overcome them, are living successfully in today’s era. Be active and have courage to face it. If you fail, it doesn’t matter at all,” convinced his father. A confused expression crossed Shakeel’s face who continued, “Dad! If it’s held in our school, that’ll be best and I’ll not object to participating in it. But unfortunately, the whole district’s institutions are involved in the competition, even college students. Just think how a student of school would have the ability to compete with a college student who is already dancing on the winning ground. It sounds really impossible, dad.” “As a farmer, I would only say that a small plant never ever complains, that’s why it’s planted alongside the big trees. Both face the same challenges like immense heat and the chill of the seasons, heavy rains with strong winds which break the branches and leaves, etc. Also multiple challenges like the dangerous storms which take away their leaves. Only and only their roots remain, nothing else. Kindly learn from this. Remember that a bright future always awaits those who try to stay strong and convert their challenges into changes,” his father explained. “Dad, I’m a human, not a tree. Don’t compare me to trees and your fields,” Shakeel said. “How can you go against your father’s words? Try to understand. Today you might face multiple hardships and difficulties, but soon you’ll receive the outcome of them. Those are not examples rather the truth as today you can see the fields which are evergreen behind which several challenges were faced by your father. As a result, we’re getting mangoes, rice, dates and fresh vegetables, etc,” his mother cried. “I’m really sorry if I’ve offended you guys. I’ll be confident enough to face these challenges,” Shakeel said, apologetically and hugged them both. From that day onwards, Shakeel’s belief became stronger and was the first to accept any kind of challenge and successfully brought a new evolution in his life. After overcoming the challenges, he became happier. As a great personality rightly said, “Every successful person has a painful story and every painful story has a successful ending.” The writer teaches at DELTA and can be reached at shakeelphullan137@gmail.com Published in Daily Times, February 17th 2019.