As I stepped out dazed after my first JEE paper, we made our way to the mall near my exam center

JEE has two papers each on PCM, with a break in between. Physics and Chemistry went well. I found Math was abnormally hard. I wanted to check my answers. But my parents made a rule that we would not discuss the paper. It was stowed away in the car’s trunk

My mom’s phone started to ring

My mentors were calling. My friends mothers were calling. She walked far away from me and answered the phone. “Math was pretty easy this time, right?”. “How was Aviral’s Math, it was smooth sailing for our son”. My Mom discussed quietly with Dad, knowing that I had a really hard time with Math

My Dad refused to discuss the paper with me as I cooly ate my lunch, not knowing this

Just beside us sat a JEE candidate and his mother. The mother was seemingly furious. She called his teacher and put the phone on speaker. “Sir, he didn’t even get this Physics question. “How stupid are you? How didn’t you get a simple Chemistry answer?” His mother may have been channelling her anxiety. The teacher only added to it

But the poor boy was speechless, stunned in silence as he barely said a word

All this was happening as there was still one paper to go. I had no idea that people were saying Math was simple. On one hand, my parents refused to discuss the paper. On the other hand, our neighbour was discussing it with everyone. As it would later turn out, Math was actually hard. I had an excellent second paper. I was saved by my parents from the anxiety of having falsely “screwed up” Math

I made it in the JEE, and I am fairly certain the boy next to me didn’t

The JEE is not just about skill, effort, and sacrifice but also about emotional temperament. The same is true about career success. You could have a team or leader who looks out for you, controlling their emotions. You could have a team or leader who throws your under the bus, losing control over their emotions

Whatever skill, effort or sacrifice, you are unlikely to make it in the second case

Success and happiness in work life are eventually not about the money, power or fame you have. You get your salary once a month. You get a promotion once in a few years. You get widely recognized and awarded once in 4-5 years. But you work with people every day. People will make or break how you get to success, and how happy you are.

Choose the people you are with, as soon as you can