The exams of the first semester of the M.B.A course was fast approaching. With only a month left for the exams Ashwini was running from pillar to post, trying to grab whatever notes she could. She was also busy visiting the professors and securing their help and guidance to complete her projects. Then she was also spending lots of time in the library to go through the books and make her own notes. Her performance was not all that bad in the first semester, but it was not really commendable. So this time she was working harder to improve her second semester results. 

It was almost 3 in the afternoon she felt like having a grub She went to the canteen bought a couple of sandwiches and as she was about to eat, Rakesh, her classmate joined her. 

Rakesh was a handsome good looking young man. He was very jovial and liked to take initiatives in many things. Though his initiatives were not always successful but he took pride in his conduct. He was something of an overconfident bully who believed that he was a cut above the rest. Ashwini normally avoided him, but today he had come with the very intention to have a serious talk with her. 

Rakesh started the conversation asking her, why she was always busy. Ashwini focusing on her sandwich answered that she wanted to improve her results. Rakesh smiled at her took a sip from his coffee cup and said “For that you don't have to work so hard, you have to be witty”

"How?" Ashwini still muching her sandwich asked him promptly. Rakesh drew the chair close to her and said, “Look we have a core group of eight, each one of us have joined for tution with one of our professors and before the exams each one of us will have a fair knowledge about the question paper and then we will share it in our core group .” By this time Ashwini had finished her sandwich, she cleaned her hand with the tissue paper and throwing it on the empty plate, she said, “Rakesh , your way of thinking is as stupid as you are, I want to be a top notch executive in my life and with your methods, I will turn out to be nothing more than a mediocre clerk. So please do not bring your nonsense ideas to me. I cannot decieve the remaining twelve for benefiting the core eight. ”

As Rakesh kept staring a her, Ashwini picked up her bag and moved out of the canteen very coolly. 

After this incident Rakesh tried to bully over Ashwini many times. He even tried to socially boycot Ashwini . But her grit and determination were far greater than the mischief conducted by Rakesh in the campus.

It is seven years since both Ashwini and Rakesh completed there M.B.A. As on today Ashwini is a senior exacutive in Microsoft and Rakesh is still searching hard for a strong footing.

Friends, I have narrated this incident to you only to share a strong feeling that I have. Through manipulations you can surely run some distance, but you can never win the race. Give it a thought.