One mark for Honesty.

When I was probably in 7th std, I secured half a mark more than my partner. It was first time that I earned more than her.  She, out of jealousy, checked my paper thoroughly and found that I was given a mark extra. Our teacher had asked us to correct any mistake made in totalling the marks or any other problem well in time. So, I, left with no other choice,  had to tell our ma’am about the counting mistake in my paper. 

I told ma’am that I had been given 1 mark extra. She counted the marks and made the correction. I had been given 16/20, which she clarified as 15+1=16. By seeing this, me and my partner,  both looked at teacher in total surprise. And to which our ma’am replied with a gentle smile, “One mark for honesty”.

That incident still remains etched in my heart. I had never being rewarded for honesty, just read in stories, but never experienced before that day that I remember as clearly as this one. My teacher taught me a deep lesson through her kindness. 

Though, I didn’t really want to be honest at that time just to lose 1 mark, nature had found it way to teach me a valuable lifelong lesson.