Friends !

All through school, I have wanted to be in the students’ council. So I waited patiently till I came to Class IX when the council members are selected. It was 2011. I was super excited and the first week of school went by in a flash.

Then I realised that all was not hunky-dory and my friends were not very friendly. I fell ill in the second week and did not go to school for three days. Unknown to me, the principal of our school announced in the morning assembly that those students who wished to be considered for selection to the students’ council must submit their names within five days. Though I couldn’t go to school, I used to call up my friends every evening to find out if anything

important had occurred in my absence. They told me: “Nothing important.” When I arrived at school on the fifth day, my class teacher asked me: “Have you nominated your name for school captain?” I fell from the sky. Then, I “ realised that these so-called “friends” of mine had no intention of helping me anyway.

They were scared that since I was a good student and the teachers liked me, I might get chosen as the school captain. Jealous, they had tried to hide the nomination deadline from me.Nevertheless, I wrote down all the necessary details and submitted my nomination to the teacher concerned. As we were called for selection, I saw my “friends”, who had lied to me, also standing in the same queue.

Everyone who had nominated themselves were asked to convince the judges. “Why do you deserve to be in the council? What qualities do you have? Why do you expect us to choose you for the post?” I gave all the answers to the best of my ability. A week later, our teacher came to class and informed me that I had been chosen as the vice-captain. My joy knew no bounds! I had won despite the malicious plots of my false friends

Kshitij Shankar Choudhary
Class X
St Xavier’s High School