This is an incident which happened in my fifth class. Those days to motivate us to study and score well in exams, our class teacher used to give an attractive gift for the first rank holder. In all the exams, mostly myself and my friend Shalini used to receive gifts from our teacher. We are good friends. Before every exam, our teacher used to announce the gift. I remember, our half-yearly exams were about to start. As usual, our teacher announced the gift for top scorer in half-yearly exam. I became very crazy after knowing that she is going to give the Barbie doll for the first rank holder. The moment she announced, I decided at any cost I have to study well and win my favorite gift.
That year due to heavy rain, we had many holidays. So our syllabus for half-yearly exams were completed only at the last minute. We all had a tough time to prepare for exams. But since the gift was alluring, we all prepared for exams with full energy and effort. Exams are nearing but my friend was on leave for the whole week due to a viral illness. I have never seen her as a competitor ever before. We both used to study and play together. Always we use to plan, that either of us must win the gift and mustn't allow anyone else. So we both use to work hard and prepare for exams. Every time, either one of us use to get the gift, but we both had never felt jealous about that. We used to feel happy for each other.
But that time, I felt different. Since she was absent to school, she use to call me and I use to furnish her all the notes and convey her about the information which happened in the class. Always as a friend I use to be truthful and faithful to her. On that day, I never planned to lie or hide from her. But that moment, when she called, I was not interested in revealing the important questions which teacher gave us.
Usually, in our school they don't give us important questions. They always recommend us to study full portions. But that time, due to rain, since syllabus was completed in the last minute, the teachers decided and gave us some important questions to prepare for exams. They gave the questions only a couple of days before exams and they never revealed that before because they always want us to read the full portions. Since my friend was absent, she never knew about the same.
She used to call me daily and we used to discuss all the happenings of the class in detail. That day, allured and fascinated by the Barbie doll, one second my mind started to think her as a competitor and as a only trouble giver for my desire. So when she called me, that day I never shared any information about that important questions which teacher gave us to prepare. Because I felt I will be in trouble and I can't win my Barbie, if I tell the truth.
I was very tempted and I don't want to lose that Barbie gift. Since she was on leave, she had more time to prepare for exams than me. I know that she is not feeling well but then also I felt that she has more chances to win my favorite Barbie. I felt telling the truth, will put me in trouble and reduce the chance of winning my Barbie as she is my only competitor in the class. I never planned to hide, but without my knowledge because of a desire about Barbie, I hid and never informed her about the important questions. I managed to talk to her normally and I kept the phone. After keeping the phone, I felt a moment of joy, as if I won my Barbie gift.
I understood that was only a temporary happiness. Because after that I felt guilty and was not able to concentrate on my studies. I felt ashamed of my selfish behavior. Later I understood that I was wrong. My desire for Barbie also vanished from my mind. I lost my peace of mind and was thinking and re-thinking for some time, but soon I decided that telling the truth was the right thing to do. So that night, I called her back and apologized for not sharing the questions before. After that moment, I felt relaxed and started to concentrate on the exams.
