The tension that everybody put into your head the day you entered the tenth standard (``So now you're in the tenth!'') will finally spill over on Monday, June 29, when you, along with all other students counting anxious moments, will know where you stand: whether performance matches expectation, whether the marks obtained will get you a seat in a college of your choice and with the preferred combination.

You may fare better than you expected to. There may be some of you who are satisfied with the marks you get. But many of you may not be happy with your marks. Some of you may have even failed for no fault of yours. You may have studied properly, but forgotten. Others may have not studied properly. You may have had some problem in the family, which you kept thinking about. Or it may have been a case of simple bad luck...

I can't tell you ``don't be upset''. because you obviously will be.But what I can tell you is not to despair. Speak to your parents or elders. If you feel they are unable to understand your problem, have no hesitation in approaching your family doctor or a counsellor.

I remember two instances of former SSC students who didn't fare as well as they wanted to. These are representative cases, which may help students cope with perceived feelings of failure and give parents an idea of how to help their children.

When Preeti (name changed) failed in her SSC exam, she was shattered. She wanted to stop studying, she stopped going out, meeting friends, and thought life was simply not worth living. Her parents, who were initially very upset, then took charge of the situation on the advice of a counsellor. They adjusted their work schedule to be with their daughter more often. When Preeti would wake up every morning to study for her October exam, her mother would also wake up with her. Her engineer father would return home earlier than usual and give his daughter coaching in mathsand science. For every test that Preeti gave prior to her exam, her parents would encourage her to do better. Today, Preeti has managed to overcome her past and is a successful dress designer.

In the other case, Rinita, a highly motivated student, wanted to be a doctor since she was in the fifth standard. But when her HSC marksheet did not show the desired marks, which meant she didn't qualify for the MBBS, she felt she was a total failure. She could not even manage to think of an alternative career. In her state of acute depression, she wanted to end her life.

No amount of talking by her worried parents helped enhance Rinita's low self esteem. When her parents brought this to the notice of their family physician, he suggested they seek professional help, which meant going in for psychotherapy. ``But there is nothing emotionally wrong with our daughter,'' chorused her parents. After some cajoling, they brought Rinita to me. In the sittings, spread over six months, I told Rinita that if she could notbecome a doctor, there were several other similar areas which could give her satisfaction. Rinita then went in for physiotherapy, and is at present practising, and successfully, in the USA.

These are not exceptional examples, but representative of the kind of problems students and parents may face in the event of perceived failure. Those who are rigid, perfectionists, tend to repress aggression, lonely and introverted may get more affected by poor.

results. All we need is vigilant and understanding parents. If they follow the tips (see box), they may not even need to see a counsellor.

(The writer is a psychiatrist)

`Showers washed away commuters hopes too'

It has nothing to with the forces of nature. It has nothing to do with poor infrastructure.

Instead, it concerns those who promised to break our routine. The routine that begins with just one day of incessant rain, year after year. For the past few weeks, we saw a whole lot of rotting muck being shovelled out from the railwaytracks. And the mind's eye saw rain being sucked into these drains. But like you do every year it pours, you rescheduled trains, terminated them and blanked out indicators on platforms, while the broadcasting system stuttered: ``Due to flooding on tracks following heavy rains, suburban trains have been disrupted. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to commuters. Please bear with us.''

For years, we have allowed ourselves to be kept in the dark. While you chose to broadcast such inane messages (in three languages, thank you!), we waited on the dirty platforms. And like adaptable fish in polluted d(rain) water, we took to the crummy rail compartments. We have taken it all silently, even the view from outside that as inhabitants of this overburdened city, we are used to it. We crammed into buses and begged before cabbies and automen, only to move an inch an hour. Propelled, as it were, by wind and water, we waded homeward. This year, you gave us a sliver of hope. But it was easily washed away by theheavy showers.

-- An angry commuter