CHAPTER ONE- THE SPREADING DISEASE DEGREE-FAMILY PRIDE-JOB

This is the new three word definition for competition in the world of education.More and more students are falling prey to this allconsuming disease.The plague of competition is a modern malady that has been made rampant by factors like booming population, static supply of educational opportunities,and parental pressure among others.So when did competition stop bringing out the best in students,as it was intended to,and become a blood-thirsty battle for supremacy?

CHAPTER TWO- I AM LOVING IT

! For some competition is good,even if it means burning the midnight oil and losing sleep over fleeting thoughts of not performing up-to-themark for months prior to the exams.As Neehar Jathar,an aspiring IIT-ian and someone who can identify with the ‘go-getter’claims,“I love competition,because it brings out the best in me and it provides some challenge to my life without necessarily harming anyone.”Jathar is taking competition head-on by working hard and aspiring to join the crème-de-la-crème in the country’s best technology institute.
Academicians believe that ‘healthy’ competition traditionally has been the most effective way to bring out the dormant brilliance in students.It is the absence of competition that breeds mediocrity.Standards are raised only when there is a healthy friction among students.Competition,to put it tersely, gives you an unbiased review of your work and as Kiteish Jain,an MBA aspirant who is currently juggling his academic aspirations with a gruelling job at India’s largest IT firm explains,“Competition is like a reality check and it tells you with exact accuracy as to how good you are and where you stand in the pecking order.”

CHAPTER THREE- COMPETITION,YOUR BEST FRIEND?

So does competition really push you to perform better or is it merely a necessary evil? “Healthy competition is essential to provide that extra bout of motivation to do well and continuously raises the standard and betters the student’s outlook,”reasons Dr Kaival Lakdawala,an eminent psychologist.If competition was such a bad idea,the Olympics wouldn’t have stuck around for centuries.
   “Healthy competition builds your personality,”believes Laxmi Pillai,a HR Lecturer.She is spot on.Competition is crucial in helping you cope with success and failure in equal measure,use it wisely and without burden and you will realise that you should sing when you win and when you lose,you must persevere.In this way you will build for yourself a wall of healthy self-esteem.The key to dealing with competition is long term planning after reviewing your strengths and weaknesses.
   Rituja Ajmera,a tenth class student who successfully leveraged her competitive streak to switch gears from being an average student to becoming a consistent topper in class seven,eight and nine,shares her story,“I realised that a student disliking competition was like a fish who was uncomfortable in water.I used this realisation effectively and improved my performance.”

CHAPTER FOUR- PAST THE TIPPING POINT   

However,not many can comprehend the positive quality of competition and misconstrue it to be a demon like phenomena that has to be overpowered at any cost. In keeping with this,one can cite a million examples and the one that comes top of the mind is that of the 2006 World Cup Football finals.It was 110 minutes on the clock and the French football captain Zidane’s head crashed into the chest of opponent Italian player Marco Materazzi.Zidane stomped away in anger, after receiving his red card.A most competitive football world cup final had turned horribly ugly.Is this the darker streak in competition? Certainly, yes. Competition turns sour when wining is everything. Healthy competition does not become sick overnight. It’s a culmination and an assortment of many factors and that includes pressure from parents, peers, teachers and last but not the least, the society.There are many instances when competition goes past the tipping point when you give it undue importance. The very fact that competition assumes the identity of an obsessive monster, who exists as a means for you to realise your self-worth sounds scary. Ajmera’s plight stands testimony to this. “When I reached class 10, I noticed things around me were changing - my parents were demanding more from me and ‘why aren’t you studying?’ was a frequent refrain at home. My friends christened me a ‘book-worm’ and my teachers smiled at me more often and kept throwing in free advice. It all made me hungrier for marks. It wasn’t worrisome but it was just uncomfortable. As my exams drew closer, I panicked and the result - I scored mediocre marks,”she recalls.

CHAPTER FIVE – COMPETITION IS KILLING

But unlike thousands who commit suicide or get into bouts of depression,Ajmera found her feet when she took up arts as her choice in her  junior college.But not many have the maturity to deal with aftershocks and if a suicide statement by an anonymous student where she promises to “haunt my teachers as a ghost”is to be believed,competition is a definite killer for those with feeble nerves. “More than anything else,pressure from the peer group and that from parents are the top causes for suicides amongst students,”avers Dr Vivek Chincholkar,a leading psychologist, “and since today self-esteem is always being linked to performance,one always needs to keep in mind that poor performance should never be given the opportunity to govern emotions.”He also emphasises the fact that failure has to be accepted with a lot of dignity and the mantra to grow over it is to persevere to do better and not resort to cowardly steps like suicide.Dr Chincholkar also warns parents not to chide their children over marks and compare them with their peers.

CHAPTER SIX- PRESSURE-COOKER COMPETITION

But is anyone listening to what experts opine? Take a look around and you know the answer. We live in the world of ‘pressure-cooker competition’which is a heady concoction of parental pressure along with the ever-increasing expectations from peers (read as ‘friend-turnedcompetitor’),teachers and mentors.And although we know that the steam has to let out from the pressure cooker once in a while,lest it explode,no one pays heed!

CHAPTER SEVEN- SO WHAT CAN I DO?

Remember the true essence of competition lies in competing against the situation and not against the rival.And there are rules to the game.
Rule one- Reiterating the fundamentalalways remember it’s not about beating your competitor but about beating competition. The logic being - you beat one and another will spring out.You beat competition and you beat them all
Rule two - If necessity is the mother of all innovation then competition is the father.So to beat competition,innovate,figure your own way out.Just because the herd is doing it shouldn’t be a reason for you to do it.
Rule three- You should be your only competitor.Look to better your own timings. Imagine a runner running a race in 9.5 seconds whilst you do it in 10 seconds.To beat his time you must first beat your own.This is the essence of healthy competition.
Rule four - There might not be life outside earth but there is life outside studies.Learn to relax and have fun just as well as you learn your chapters.
Rule five- Stand up,speak up.You have a mouth and you have a voice so what stops you? The best way to shrug off pressure is to let your feelings be known,unedited.
Rule six- Seek help.When you are wounded do you wait until you bleed to death or do you seek help? So why hesitate when it comes to dealing with competition.Remember to see a psychologist if the stress gets too much,that’s the reason why they run a practice.
Rule seven- Move on! A sure way to beat competition is to follow your heart,because no two hearts beat alike.Don’t be disheartened by failure take the new road and discover your destiny.