Treat stress, anxiety, nervousness and worry merely as nouns, the head of CBSE has said to students appearing for their board exams in a letter that also carries an encouraging message from a Harry Potter book.
In the note to students to mark the first day of the 10th and 12th Boards, CBSE chairperson Anita Karwal recalled how she studied hard, revised and still found the time to listen to her favourite songs when she appeared for the examinations.
"What I don't remember is what my results were," said Karwal.
Over 28 lakh students have registered for the board examinations, which are conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and began yesterday.
"Marks do not define a person. So, do not permit stress, anxiety, worry, nervousness to stay longer in your being than a few moments. They are just 'nouns'. After all nouns cannot rule lives!," she said in the letter sent to schools across India.
The bureaucrat also recalled a few lines from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' to stress the importance of confidence and hard work.
In the book, Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore had some advice for Potter.
"...Dumbledore says , 'it is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities'. Choose wisely children. Choose confidence and hard work," she said in the message that has gone viral on social media sites.
Karwal added that she was in the first batch of students under the 10+2 system of the CBSE, which holds exams across the country for students in classes 10 and 12.
The system replaced the Higher Secondary examination, which was held after the 11th standard.
The class 10 board examination was reintroduced from this year after the government decided to do away with the Comprehensive and Continuous Evaluation (CCE) adopted earlier.
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