The Final Nail in Despair's Coffin

For those of you studying for SSC/HSC, I’m pouring some old wine into new bottles, chewing the cud of my old words. Read these thoughts, then apply whatever you can remember. If it happens that despite trying hard, you can’t apply any of it, don’t be disheartened. Life never gives us what we want; life gives us what we need.

You essentially want two things. First: to study with a healthy body. Second: that questions don’t leak before the exam.

Apart from these two, everything else is more or less under your control. I’m writing about a few of these………whatever comes to mind!

One. Sleep at most 6 hours daily. You can sleep more than this, but then you won’t be able to do your work properly. If someone can do their work well even while sleeping more, then of course sleeping more isn’t bad. It’s about getting work done. A story comes to mind. I was in class nine then. Our class teacher was Sunil Sir, a mathematics teacher. Once a boy came to class wearing a belt with Phantom’s skull buckle, a popular comic character. Seeing this, Sir beat him severely. He said, “Ask your father to buy you a proper buckle!” The boy said through tears, “Sir, Sushanta also wore a dragon belt the other day. You didn’t beat him!” Sir’s reply was, “Sushanta is the first boy in class even wearing a dragon belt. And what are you? He can wear dragon, jaguar, Dracula, whatever—no problem. He got 99 in Math in the second term, and you got 26! If you wear anything even slightly fancy, you’ll get beaten, but he’s forgiven for seven murders!” Thank you, Sir. Even in childhood, Sir taught me the wisdom of how to make even one’s most bizarre style acceptable to everyone. From that day on, I focused even more on my studies.

Two. If you must cause pain, cause it to yourself. Future welfare lies in completing necessary work even by causing yourself infinite suffering. Thrust the knife in your own heart, not someone else’s. Forgive the entire world except yourself. If you must take revenge, take it on yourself. Make yourself work harder, make yourself sleep less to do extra work.

Three. When you go to sleep at night, lying in bed, mentally take stock of what you did all day. Think about what happened to you today. If any of it was good for you, make arrangements for it to happen occasionally. If not, think about what you can do to prevent that event from recurring. If there’s something to be done, certainly do it. And if there’s nothing to be done, remove yourself from all the causes that led to that event.

Four. Consider whether anyone is being harmed because of you! If so, stop doing whatever is causing that harm! Right now! Remember, if you harm anyone in life, you will certainly receive punishment for it! Whether you can help others in life or not, never harm anyone while you’re alive.

Five. How could you have done what you did even more beautifully? Everyone works, but people remember and respect those who can do the same work more beautifully than others. Continuing to do the same work flawlessly isn’t remarkable; what’s remarkable is doing the work more beautifully the next time than the previous time.

Six. If today were the last day of your life, you certainly wouldn’t do anything that would make people remember you with disgust after death. Assume today is your last day. Use this assumption to improve the quality of your life and work. Start today the work for which people might remember you after death.

Seven. If you want a life different from the one you have now, you must change the work you’re doing in your current life. If you keep doing exactly what you’re doing, it’s certain you’ll remain exactly as you are. To change the world, you must first change yourself.

Eight. Keep a notebook. Every morning when you wake up, write down what you’ll do that day. Before sleeping at night, check whether you’ve done the work properly. Always list in your notebook more possible work than your capacity allows. This way you can keep yourself challenged. To become great in life, you must know how to challenge yourself.

Nine. Whenever you sit to study, write down on paper what you’ll study in the next few hours and keep it in front of you. (Really keep it there!) Don’t finish studying until you’ve completed everything on that list. It might happen that you feel tired reading one item from the list; in that case, you can pick up another item from the list. When the fatigue subsides, you can resume the previously abandoned study. Keep your thoughts on paper, not in your mind.

Ten. If you can do what you decided to do, you can give yourself small rewards. Rewarding yourself creates enthusiasm for future work. Let yourself do what you enjoy doing. Let yourself eat what you like eating. But don’t let this reward ceremony go on too long.

Eleven. Never compare yourself to anyone else. You must compare yourself to yourself. Try to surpass yourself every day. If today’s you is better than yesterday’s you, you can be sure you’re on the right path. Comparing yourself to others can lead to two kinds of danger. First: if they are more capable than you, comparing your position to theirs might create frustration within you. Second: if they are less capable than you, you might unconsciously bring yourself down to their position, meaning you might lower your own position.

Twelve. Develop the habit of thanking the Creator for your current situation before sleeping at night. Tell Him, “I’m very happy with how You’ve kept me, thank you.” This will increase your mental strength and humility. The life you’re living might be someone else’s dream life. Be grateful for that life, and spend it properly.

Thirteen. Be extremely careful when choosing friends. If your friend is stupid, you’ll become stupid too. If your friend is a vagrant type, you’ll become a vagrant type too. If your friend is rude, you’ll become rude too. If your friend is of bad character, you’ll become of bad character too. If your friend is a donkey at studies, you’ll become a donkey at studies too. If your friend is foolish, you’ll become foolish too. If your friend lacks self-respect, you’ll become like that too. Therefore, be very careful about whom you befriend. It’s better to stay alone than to befriend the wrong person. This doesn’t mean exceptions don’t occur. I’ve seen many like Rancho from Three Idiots—friends fail in groups while he gets first place! But this happens very rarely. Better not to take the risk.

Fourteen. Sleep less. This isn’t the time for sleeping until after HSC. What you learn during this time becomes the foundation of your entire life. Students’ basics are formed during this period. Those who learn Bengali, English, and mathematics well during this time will never struggle anywhere in life. My experience tells me that those who were good students in SSC and HSC—meaning those who studied sincerely with hard work without cheating—stay ahead of others in later life. So if you cheat during this time, it means falling behind for life.

Fifteen. Don’t postpone your work. No matter how difficult and boring it is, do your work on time. Start and finish something you’ve been saying you’ll do for many days! Right now! Work first, sleep later.

Sixteen. The most difficult and important step in starting any work is actually beginning the work. No matter how difficult the work is, if even one person can do it, that person is you—start the work with this confidence.

Seventeen. Make your own bed. Wash your own clothes. Where you can walk, don’t take a rickshaw or car if you have time. Help others as much as possible. Respect those who are older than you or greater in knowledge and virtue. Make yourself work, give yourself tremendous hardship. Believe that you are a hero—not of movies, but of reality! Prepare yourself the way a real hero works and thinks. Learn about the hard work and dedication of heroes in various fields, and follow it in your own life!

Eighteen. Develop the habit of reading lots and lots and lots of books. There’s no greater treasure in life than this habit. Those with good reading habits have better thinking capability and better writing style. The habit of reading books will take you far ahead in life. Develop language and grammar sense. Your getting ahead of your friends in this area means your friends will lag behind you for life. This is a great asset!

Nineteen. No matter how difficult, finish each day’s study that same day. Complete your textbook studies before it gets too late. Otherwise, the sky will fall on your head later, all self-confidence will be completely shattered, life will seem entirely meaningless. Those who can do this regularly will live in greater mental peace than others.

Twenty. Take care of your mind and mentality. Read books that improve the mind. Try listening to Rabindrasangeet for fifteen consecutive days—your mind will become peaceful. Soft melodies heal wounds of the mind. Read motivational books, watch movies. Read English and Bengali fiction. Does reading English story books seem difficult? Start with the Harry Potter series!

Twenty-one. Chatting, wandering around, romance—living with these three means carefully striking an axe on your own foot with a smile. I’m telling the truth, these momentary attractions and pleasures have no value. Romance at your age means destroying life. The more you enjoy life at SSC and HSC level, the more difficult your future life will be. And this is guaranteed!

Twenty-two. Never become elated by excessive praise or depressed by excessive criticism. Ninety-eight percent of those who praise or criticize you have very poor judgment or are biased. Don’t pay attention to everyone’s words. Perhaps only a handful of people have the ability to understand you—what’s the point of being influenced by the rest? Increase self-control, learn to restrain yourself, then you can bring the whole world into your grasp. Live by the rule of conscience, not the rule of mind.

Twenty-three. Do what needs to be done. That work might not be to your liking, but it must be done for the necessity of living beautifully in life. If you postpone work that isn’t comfortable to do but needs to be done, be assured that the work will become more annoying and difficult ahead, and it will be even more painful for you to do it then. Necessary work doesn’t mean work you like; necessary work means work you must come to like. The importance of any work doesn’t depend on whether you like it or not.

Twenty-four. Speak respectfully when talking to people. People are more humiliated for bad behavior than for saying wrong things. Behave with others as you expect them to behave with you. Never become annoying in your behavior. Annoying others is like a bad habit. Those who annoy others find comfort in annoying others. Everyone calls them worthless. You surely don’t want to live as a worthless person, do you?

Twenty-five. Don’t get into arguments, learn from situations, and silently remove yourself from there. The intelligent argue, the talented move forward. Life isn’t a debating competition. Arguments bring more reproach than reward for winning.

Twenty-six. Try to make someone’s day better every day. People will love you more for your beautiful behavior than for your just behavior. I’ve seen many young people of your generation who are very arrogant, reckless, and proud in their movement, speech, and behavior. It makes me laugh. Because I’ve seen them become helpless after passing Inter. And after passing Honors, I’ve seen the same so-called smart, dashing, cool donkeys disappear. Be careful while there’s time, be restrained. Being polite and being rude are both matters of habit. Whatever habit you mold yourself into at this time, you’ll live in that mold for almost your entire life.

Twenty-seven. Be grateful to your family, friends, teachers, or anyone else who has a positive influence on your life. Those who lack gratitude don’t even qualify as human beings. Gratitude will make you steady, humble, and mentally strong.

Twenty-eight. If you want to hurt someone, do it with your brain, not your muscles. The one who has more brainpower than muscle power is truly strong. If someone hits you with words or hands, respond with your head—you’ll see they’ll be silenced for life. The fool’s strength is in mouth and muscle, the wise person’s strength is in mind and brain.

Twenty-nine. Staying angry with someone harms you more than them. Don’t take revenge on anyone; instead, make yourself more capable. Those who respond to hurt with hurt can never experience the power of not hurting back. Keep yourself ahead of those who hurt you—life will give them their due response naturally! If you feel like hurting someone, hurt yourself instead; make yourself work inhumanly hard to increase your knowledge and capabilities.

Thirty. Whether you can praise others or not, never criticize anyone unnecessarily. Speaking down to someone harms you more, because then you feel superior. Keep yourself externally smaller than others and internally greater than others. Live in such a way that your head stays bowed while your brain stays high. An arrogant head without brains receives nothing but contempt and pity from life.

Thirty-one. Never judge anyone; avoid them if you don’t like them. People with judgmental mentality usually lag behind. This person is like this, that person is like that, he’s bad, she’s terrible………the question is, who are you to judge all this? How are you yourself? Don’t you have any faults? First correct yourself, become a pure person, then come to speak about others. The person you’re worrying about might not even have time to think about your existence! Aren’t you ashamed?

Thirty-two. Every day, stay completely silent for fifteen minutes without speaking or doing anything. Silence increases mental strength. Staying completely quiet is more beneficial than speaking harshly.

Thirty-three. Imitate and follow the good. Try to imitate the aspects of any person that you like. Learn by reading the biographies of great people. Try to live as they lived. However, learn to avoid the dark sides of their lives. Pablo Picasso became Pablo Picasso despite having a thousand romances—if you get mixed up with dust on the road after just one romance, that’s trouble! Geniuses can’t be put into any grammar, so you’ll die if you follow everything about geniuses! Look at their dedication, try to understand their devotion, learn from there.

Thirty-four. Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, Imo are enough to destroy you. I’m saying with responsibility: the further you can keep yourself from these, the more beautiful your coming days will be. In the world of technology, there’s no one greater than Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, right? Bill Gates never gave his children mobile phones before they turned 14. Steve Jobs’ children weren’t even allowed to use iPads at your age! Steve Jobs deliberately didn’t admit his children to any school that used iPads for educational programs. And you’re casually wasting so much time becoming social on social media! Life will make you understand this in every detail………wait! Don’t pick up your mobile phone unless absolutely necessary. Believe me, if