I can remember only two incidents that made me feel jealous.
Both of them happened while I was at college studying for my degree.
One day I met an old classmate and asked him what he was
doing. He told me that he was studying for his degree at one of the top
institutes in the country. I could not understand how he managed to get an
admission there. He was not a brilliant student. He went on to explain how his
father had used his influence to get him an admission. His father was a highly
placed official. I felt it was unfair. I felt jealous. After sometime I
realized that my feeling jealous was only hurting me. It did not hurt him in
anyway.
Much later, I met another old classmate at a café. He was
sitting near me and asked me if I knew him. I said ‘no’. I did not recognize
him since he had changed a lot. He told me his name and mentioned that we were
old classmates. I then remembered him. He had failed his exams. I asked him
what he was doing. He told me he was studying for his degree at one of the best
institutes. I did not bother to ask him how he managed to get an admission
there. Obviously, he had the right connections. Since he had failed his exams
he must have reappeared for the exams and passed. It was unlikely he could have
got good results. I felt it was unfair. I felt jealous. A few months later, I
met another old classmate and told him that this person who failed his exams on
the first attempt is now in a top institute. He said ‘Yes, I know but he is
dead.’ I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. He said they are from the same
town and that he had died of leukemia a few weeks ago. It was difficult to feel
jealous about anybody anymore.
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