The Leap of Faith

It is always good to have some amount of faith and confidence in yourself. That's how one tackles the various challenges of life. Sometimes, we have to take the Leap of Faith too when we are aiming for something higher with our eyes half closed against all odds. 

One day, my younger son called me when I was in my office. Slightly concerned as this was not usual, I asked if there was any problem. He had just come back from school and told me in a hesitant voice that his school pants were all torn. When I asked how it happened, he said he fell down while playing. So, I assumed it must be just a slight rent somewhere and could easily be repaired and so told him not to worry. I turned back to my office work and returned home in the evening. 

He was waiting for me when I reached home and showed me the torn pants. 

I never expected what I saw. The pants were ripped apart from the inner seam of one leg to that of the other and across the middle section too. Now, that left me wondering how he got home in that condition. 

My idea of just a small tear over the knee or shin due to falling on the ground while playing was far off the mark. When I asked him how it was possible to get a tear of that magnitude, he was evasive and said it just happened like that. On enquiring how he got home with the pants torn like that, he said he tied his school blazer around his waist hiding the back portion and carried his bag covering the front portion and the incident happened in the 6th period and so there were not many classes left after that. His main concern was how he would go to school the next day if the tear was not mended in time. 

I tried repairing it but it needed a professional hand, so I thought I would take it to a tailor the next day. 

For the next day, he went to school in another set of uniform. As for my part, all the tailors were busy and could not spare the time for immediate repair of the bizarre tear. So, ultimately I went to their school's tuck shop to buy a new pair of pants instead. I showed the old pair to compare the sizes but at the sight of the unfortunate clothing, the staff at the shop were so surprised and burst out in unanimous laughter. I too laughed finally. They also asked how he got home in that condition and on hearing how he managed with his blazer and bag, they laughed even more. Finally, they selected the right size and gave me the new pair and I came home heaving a sigh of relief having concluded this unexpected interlude. 

When I reached home, he was eagerly waiting and asked whether his pants could be repaired. I showed him the new pair. Only then did he tell me that the previous day was the worst day of his life. He was just trying to jump across a desk in between classes and in the process, the seams of the pants ripped apart. As if that was not enough, the teacher also announced the exam results after that and he scored unexpectedly low marks in two subjects. Being a grade A+ student all his life, he was shocked. Altogether, he had two shockers that day!! 

Even to this day, he will suddenly recall that episode and his face would slightly assume that dejected look. 

So, the Leap of Faith does not always hold up! One has to always have one foot firmly planted on the ground or one can end up with nothing beneath one's legs!