"Want To Improve Your Rank?" Ria Dabi's AIR 15 Score Is Unsatisfactory For Some, It Seems

Ria Dabi AIR 15: Two sisters securing top ranks in the back-breaking Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams is a made-for-praise success story. Five years after officer Tina Dabi clinched AIR 1, her younger sibling Ria cleared the test with an impressive AIR 15. The news was shared by Dabi, whose sister, like her, cracked UPSC in her first attempt.

Their parents must be chuffed for the girls having overturned the 'Sharma ji ka beta' catchphrase to 'Dabi ji ki betiyaan.'

But it seems some well-wishers, or so they claim to be, aren't entirely dazzled with the junior Dabi's rank. Placed next to her sister's, a score of 15 appears to be nothing if not an opportunity for vast improvement. The stereotype about Indians forever unsatisfied with their achievements, even striving beyond the first place, rings true to some extent, particularly on days that exam results (of any kind) are released.

On social media, which is abuzz with feel-good moments (such as of this woman with a visual impairment cracking UPSC) celebrating success, certain observations around the event are sticking out like sore thumbs.

Like anchors asking Dabi if she would have another go at the exams in the hope of scoring a higher rank.

One TV anchor just asked Riya Dabi (AIR 15) whether she is thinking of improving her UPSC rank in another attempt.
*facepalm*

— Somesh Upadhyay, IAS (@Somesh_IAS) September 24, 2021

Ria Dabi AIR 15 Rank: When Any Achievement Is Never Enough...

What does the asking of such a question imply? Does it show that onlookers, at large, are not pleased with Dabi's rank and are feeling entitled to have expected a number close to her sister's? Or does it hold insinuations that Dabi herself should not be too content about her score, regardless of how proud she may be of herself for having fulfilled her dream at 23?

Last year, a teen girl from Lucknow topped the 12th boards with a perfect 600/600 score - a dream number for so many, students and their parents alike. And yet, criticism rang louder than applause. How could she have scored so much? On social media, there was miserable feedback for the girl, but hardly any for the real culprit: the Indian education system.

Who decides what score is satisfactory? 

If you hit the goal, a hundred hands ready to pounce will pull you down. So really, will an AIR 1 ever be enough too?

That's the way our education system and its trigger responses are designed. It never permits a person to take gratification in their own &t=2s">hard work. There is always room for improvement, always room for running the rat race perceptibly better, always room to accommodate another insignificant expectation. You either compete with another or ruthlessly with yourself.

Pausing to pat your back is seen as complacency here. But how can someone climb higher if they don't stop once in a while to stop, breathe, look around and bask in the glory of how far they have come? 

Views expressed are the author's own. 

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