Stronger Than I Was

"But You won't break me

You'll just make me stronger than I was

Before I met you, I bet you I'll be just fine without you

And if I stumble. I won't crumble 

I'll get back up and uhhh

And I'mma still be humble

'Cause I'm stronger than I was"

-Marshall Mathers a.k.a. Eminem

Even though this is a guy you shouldn't quote I kind of found this set of lyrics appealing. I was sitting and studying for my upcoming test this weekend along with listening to songs. I know you shouldn't listen to songs while studying, but according to me when you are doing maths its acceptable. As trying to read between the lines during trigonometry this song "Stronger than I was" starts playing and i don't know why but I immediately remember this close friend of mine. 
This guy has inspired me since I met him and as I have worked with him side by side at many occasions I know that this guy is just Legend....wait for it.....dary.
I don't know why but as I heard that song I was made to write a blog on this guy cause he has taken a place in life and even when I would be waiting on my wheelchair for the Grim Reaper to come and take me with him I would remember that guy even if I never meet him after graduation.

I still remember... I first met him in Class 8.
The day had just started and Mrs. Durga was trying to make the history of India interesting but we had already gone through the same history again and again since 5th grade. As we all tried to find an interesting topic to discuss an anonymous student entered the class. His hair folded to the right, spectacles right up his nose and his uniform finely pressed. The first thing that struck me was that he was either of the two - (a) He is a nerd who is just going to be the teacher's pet ; (b) He is another Rat who has entered the house and will just be a nuisance for the forthcoming years. Had I never hoped that 3 years after that I would be writing a blog post on him.
Mrs. Durga introduced him to the class as Shivam Parashar. I never imagined that I could blend with him and so I ignored him for 2 days but later I was made to interact with him by Mrs. Durga. Our school has a system of Clubs, where every week you have 2 periods when you can be a part of an extra-curricular activity of your interest. That year they had brought a new Club called the LEADERS CLUB and i don't know why but I was the only eighthie
who was in the Club. The rest were all class 9 and 10 seniors. Mrs. Durga had to submit the club Shivam would be a part of and she asked him what Club he wanted to be in. He stood mumm. Then she laughed and suggested him to join the Leader's Club. Turning towards the class of 50 she asked all the students in the Leader's Club to stand and like a needle in the haystack I was the only one standing. Therefore I was forced to interact with him. The same day we had a prefect of our class De-Badged and we were stunned as our Discipline in-charge took that prefect's ID card and hung it around Shivam's neck. No one did ever expect that a student who had joined 5 days ago would be chosen as a prefect while students who had been trying to win the trust of the teachers for 8 years couldn't be one. In 5 days in the St.Columba's he had made history. I had to interact with him. Weekly we met in our Leader's Club as the only 8th grade students and I found out that we had many things common. But what got us closest to each other was an idea which had struck him about a month after we met. He thought that we should write a novel together, a classic fantasy with plot twists and a climax. Even before we thought about the plot we started dreaming about Danny Boyle calling us asking us the rights for the book so he could make the next Academy Award winning movie. It was a hilarious set of weeks when we both thought of it as a joke but later it struck us that we could seriously write a very interesting book together and we started taking the idea seriously. After one correct year we completed our book -"Solstice : Dragon Mountains". Even though the book saw no future it was a great experience.
In 9th grade he again became a prefect but I wasn't much behind being a prefect too myself. The mistake I made was note applying for the most of the Vice Head Prefect. Shicam was a step ahead of all of us and that was what we all didn't realize. We thought he was a new student and we ended up underestimating him.That was our main mistake. He amazed our batch once again by being chosen as the Vice Head Prefect of our batch. In 2 years he had earned the respect of all the students and the teachers which even i couldn't do in the last 9 years. That day, when his name was announced as the Vice Head I changed the way of perceiving the guy. He had become my main competition, a rival who I had to keep close to myself. I had to get to know his weaknesses and use it against him. Everything is fair in love and war... and this was War. A war to prove myself better. What I learned from movies was that you had to keep your rivals close to you and that is what I did. I read him, understood him and used it against him. The next platform available to me was class 10. I tried to stay ahead of Shivam and also applied for the Head Prefect and after a series of interviews and heart-stopping moments I got the opportunity to prove myself. I became the Head Prefect and we came neck-to-neck again. I do believe that if Shivam wouldn't have been chosen as the Vice Head, I would have been pushed into applying and trying so hard to be the Head Prefect and achieving that goal. He forced me into working hard. I hope you are reading this man. If you are I just want to say that I respect you and I thank you from deep within my heart for changing my life and making it better. You made be Stronger Than I Was. 
Last week we both along with 3 other students amongst the batch of 250 were shortlisted for the Columban Of The Year. After a set of interviews conducted by the Principal and the Headmistress today it was announced that Shivam is the Columban of The Year. I do confess that I was pretty sure that he would be the Columban Of The Year but this will just make me work harder into proving myself equal to or better than him. Also congratulations for the accomplishment. I respect you man but don't forget me, I will try my best to cope up with you and beat you. We haven't yet reached the end of the road. The winner of the race is the person who reaches the finish line first, not the person who takes the lead while running. I am at present behind you but don't slow down cause i and gaining pace.

You and I are the type of rivals who will always  meet other in our race to the finish but will help each other when we both face a problem. I just want to tell you one thing Shivam, the race isn't over yet and the Sword Of Honour still remains to grab. Don't underestimate me for maybe I can beat you if I put my level best. Lets see who wins the race and whoever does, no hard feelings.
THE RACE IS ON!  
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