Everyone knew that Stuti was the best speller in the whole class. She could spell difficult words like "encyclopedia" and "amendment" very easily. She would get perfect scores during the weekly spelling tests.
Ms. Daisy, her English teacher, made a rule for the spelling tests that any child who doesn't get at least 60% would have to copy each word fifty times for next week's spelling test. Seema, who sat next to Stuti always struggled in spellings. Last Thursday, she received 56%, and this meant a weekend filled with copying each word fifty times.
With each passing spelling test, Stuti’s confidence grew and she decided not to study for her next spelling test. The test began. Ms. Daisy pronounced each word and repeated it. It was going smoothly, until she said the word, "Handkerchief".
Stuti scribbled h-a-n-d-k-e-r-c-h…i? e? Which is it? Her mind was blank, and as Ms. Daisy started to move on to the next word the panic set in. Stuti realised that Seema would know the spelling, as she had written it fifty times. Stuti glanced at Seema’s paper from the corner of her eyes, she found her answer there and quickly finished the word with the letters "i-e-f".
Stuti remained tense, her palms were sweating and her heart was beating at a 100 miles per hour. This was her first time cheating in her life. She thought, ‘Is this the way I want to keep my perfect record, by being a cheater?’
Frantically, she erased what she had written earlier and replaced it with what she knew was the wrong answer. She wrote "e-i-f". As her sweaty hands released the pencil and passed the test up to the front, she sighed with relief. She thought, ‘So, what if my perfect scores are no longer intact? At least my honesty is.’
Moral: There is a saying, "Honesty is the best policy." Every time that you are dishonest, do pratikraman. Without doubt, one who repents their mistakes is an honest person. Dadashri says that honesty is the highest religion of all and dishonesty is the best foolishness.
Related links-
Animated cartoon Video- Dishonesty is the best foolishness
Magazine: Speak truth...but what kind of truth?
Experiment Corner: Magic of Pratikraman
