The Winning Toss

A group of children were representing the school in a festival of music. Group entries in various categories had been invited and many teams from four states were participating.

One of the teams was being led by its music teacher called Zubini. She knew that the team was very talented and had practised very hard. The auditions started. With their hearts in their mouths, they cleared round one and were one of the ten teams shortlisted from a total of twenty seven.

The second round was tougher. There was an amazing display of talent. It was a joy to see the shining faces of the participating children. There was so much enthusiasm and energy all over. With hearts pounding and limbs trembling, Zubini’s team performed. This performance brought them to stand as one of three. The next and final round would be held on the next day.

The team leader made them practise in the late evening too. At the same time, she was careful not to over tire them, for freshness was an important thing that factored in musical performances. She realised that her team was really good and had a fair chance to win. But somewhere she felt that the children were lacking confidence. Their body language was lacking buoyancy and poise.

The teacher was worried. That night passed. In the morning she told them that before the competition they would all pray in the little temple in the premises. So they all prayed fervently. Each child prayed for success. The teacher prayed for confidence.

Once the prayer was over, she took out a coin from her purse and said, “I am going to flip this. If it’s heads we win. If it’s tails they lose.” She flipped the coin. Heads it was. “Yayyy!” The children shouted out in glee. “Shhh,” she said, “Now this is a secret between God and us. We are going to win! Give it your best; and do it with a smile … Come back with the trophy!”

They performed. A scintillating performance they put up! Their faces beamed; their faces exuded confidence. They made it to number one, without a doubt!

Later, while they were celebrating with the teacher, one of them said, “Ma’am your coin flip came true! That was wonderful!” She said, “My dears! Just go over what I said- ‘Heads we win; Tails they lose!’ Had I flipped ‘tails’ they would still have lost; we would still have won! It was a win-win situation for us all the way! Confidence is the deciding factor when the race is amongst equals”!

Teachers are as important as parents in grooming a child. A bad teacher admonishes and complains. A good teacher teaches and explains. The best teacher encourages and applauds!