Tadpoles or frogs

[The title has nothing to do with the contents "superficially"] I was in the 6th standard in school. This was a very special year of my school. For one reason. There was this guy in my class named "S." We weren't the greatest of friends. But, he made quite an effect on me while in school. I was amongst the top rankers in the class. By "top ranker" I mean, who was always second in the class. The number two has been quite memorable for me in terms of experience. My birthdate being the second. I am the second daughter. Plus, I never awed for the first spot ever. I was pretty contented enjoying the second place. Not being overly ambitious. That made me the 'second best' in class. In my 6th grade, I got really close to being the first. It was mt most hated subject "Maths" I scored some 32 marks out of 40 in that class. "S" who was always the first in the class, was pretty taken aback, coz he made 31 in that class. Which was going to put him behind me in the class. The guy asked me for my paper. Being the pretty simpleton girl, I handed over the paper for him to see. He went through my paper. Next what I see, is him and the teacher talking and discussing something looking at my paper. Only to realize, that the teacher accidentally gave me 'ONE' extra point and he noticed that. After brought to notice, teacher instead of slapping him, deducted my extra point. Again, I landed with the second slot. That year, I cried like never before. So close-yet-so-far. Its OK, if I never got close to that. I never wanted to be there. But, after enjoying my 5 seconds of happiness, this was something that was totally a setback for a little child. I went home and cribbed about it to my mom. She only said, you should never have let the guy take a look at your paper. Dont trust people too much! People always learn from their mistakes. If you repeat those again you are only foolish. There were this Bong kids who went to school with us. Whenever we asked them during exam "Kitna padhke hua"(how much did u study)? They would just reply "Kuch bhi nahi"(nothing). And then, they would always top the class. I never understood their attitude and for the lack of words, I still do not. Whats behind all the hush-hush when it comes to academia? No matter what, I cannot get your grey cells and top the class, if I do not have the aptitude. Mom always used to say "Vidya (Knowledge) only increases if you share it" I never forget that. Even if someone asks me for something that I am not aware of, I use few resources to check it out and help in some ways. I do not think its right for me to blatantly refuse saying "Go figure it out yourself" That was then, when peer pressure wasnt too high. Plus, we were kids. Always knew how to patch up. Wonder how 25 year olds still believe in keeping things under wraps. Somehow, people refuse to grow up. or maybe I am not fit for the modern day competitive world:)