Entrepreneur Aditya Bose failed to answer this simple question on KBC, can you?
You might be thinking, “Okay, what was the question? Let me see if I can answer it!”.
What was the question?
I’ll tell you soon. Maybe you’ll find it easy to answer as well. But there is a bigger learning in all of this, much more important than that question and its answer. I want to share that learning with you. It’s going to be a little long, but totally worth your valuable time. I promise.
What’s the learning here?
In life, you get some big opportunities. If you grab those well, they propel you to big growth.
In my life of 26 years, I also got many such opportunities. Two of the biggest opportunities I got in my life were
- JEE Main exam after Class XII
- A chance to be on KBC’s Hot Seat in 2021
Unfortunately, I didn’t perform as well as I’d have wanted in both of them.
My JEE Main Result
When my JEE Main result came out, I was very strongly affected. It hit my self-confidence really hard.
“I had the potential and the ability to produce a much, much better result. This failure is irreversible. Nobody will ask me my result in the final exams of Class I, Class V, Class VIII, or Class X. I had done well consistently in school. But everybody will judge me from this now. I will be perceived as a loser in life. I am a loser in life. I should end my life to put an end to this misery.”
These were my thoughts at that time.
Fortunately, I was able to get out of this but it took me a while.
My KBC Hot Seat Experience
Honestly, this was the first time that I had applied seriously for KBC, sending SMSes on all 10 days in a row when the questions for the audience were put.
However, I couldn’t win anything close to the amount I had expected.
“This will not look good on National Television. I made a complete meal out of it. Everyone will joke about my lack of knowledge now. People will think that my GK is weak. Why did I apply to KBC? I had one chance. Why do I screw up all the big opportunities that I get? Will I ever make it big in life? Maybe this is what it’s supposed to be like. I will keep trying, keep failing, and one day I’ll die.”
My immediate thoughts after leaving the hot seat.
Fortunately, I have grown up a bit now. So, it took me a few hours and a lot of family support to get out of this line of thought.
Okay big guy, stop boring us & tell us what you learnt.
Sure. On that night after I left the hot seat, I couldn’t sleep (which is rare for me). I thought about this experience and my other experiences in life. What have I learnt and how do I go forward from here?
Here’s the answer I gave myself:
It’s difficult to react sensibly immediately after failure
If you attach yourself with a goal, which we should mostly avoid doing, not achieving that goal (at that time) hurts. You feel a very strong wave of disappointment and/or anger which makes it difficult to react sensibly at that time. And it’s okay. Cry, shout, talk to family/friends, vent it out. Take your time to move on. But move on. After a day, a month, a year, the time can be different for different people, but move on and make good use of your remaining years on earth.
Every experience has a lot of positives, your perspective matters
How many people have ever made it to the hot seat of KBC? 1000-2000 people at max! I am among those lucky few. I got to be a part of the whole experience – all the auditions, the TV shoot, actually being in the hot seat. I got the chance to see, meet, and talk to the Star Of The Millennium – Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. There’s tonnes to learn from just seeing the way he conducts himself during the show. I also met Mrs. Anjana Om Kashyap and Mr. Sharad Vivek Sagar. I got the chance to tell them about my startup, ProBano. It got covered on national television. I also met lovely people during the audition and shoot - my fellow contestants, people who work with Sony TV. Got to learn a lot from them as well.
One piece of paper, can’t decide your future
Even when my performance in the biggest exams/opportunities of my life haven’t been that great, I haven’t done too badly till now. I have a startup named ProBano which has provided career guidance to 20,000 students across India till now. I have an extremely small, yet valuable contribution in rural India upliftment and employment generation. If I keep working hard and learning from these experiences, fingers crossed, I will help a crore more students make the right career choice soon. What I do consistently over a period of time will matter much more than my performance in singular events.
One piece of paper, can’t decide your future
I help students understand the same all the time. Obviously, it’s difficult to accept this once the situation comes upon you. But we have to swallow this bitter pill together.
If you have not scored the desired marks in an exam, whether it be your school’s final exam, JEE Main, NEET, CLAT, CAT, GATE, SSC CHSL or CGL, UPSC CSE or ESE, IBPS/SBI PO, or any other exam, it’s okay.
You tried, you failed, but you learned something. That’s the most important thing.
If you have not done well in an exam and need help in figuring out your career ahead, or if you have done well also but are confused, you can email me at adityabose@probano.com, I will definitely do my best to help out. 😊
You can also download our Career Guidance App by clicking on the link below 👇🏼
Download Mobile AppAah yes, what was the question I answered incorrectly?
The question was for ₹3,20,000. It was:
Q. Which of these countries has its National Sport as Kabaddi?
- Pakistan
- Nepal
- India
- Bangladesh
I answered incorrectly and fell down to ₹10,000. :D
