Essays

Rohan and I are good friends. We sit next to each other in class. He is a good-looking person who is popular with others in the class. He is popular with everyone in school.

You could say that Rohan has the kind of charisma and flamboyance that makes everyone look at him wherever he goes. He reminds me of The Lone Ranger' who never ceases to get attention.

Being popular has many advantages. Everybody knows Rohan. He is a prefect, a house captain, the school soccer captain and our spring star. He excels in everything he d6"es except his studies where he is merely fair Nevertheless, he barely manages good results and I help him whenever I can.

The school children like him a lot as a prefect because he is very fair to everyone, He never bullies or takes advantage of anyone. So his popularity is well-maintained. As the school's soccer captain, he gets tremendous applause whenever he enters the playing field to lead the school team against an opponent. He has the flair and ability to score goals and last year we were the Stale Champions. A huge part of the credit goes to him. In the 100 m and 200 m sprints he reigns supreme. No one has yet come close to beating him. He runs with ease and confidence. He already holds the State records for these two events.

Thus it is easy to -see why he is so popular. He is able, there is no doubt about that. Together with his amiable and happy-go lucky attitude, everyone has grown to like him- So he gets fan letters now and then. Some girls are so infatuated with him that they send him love-notes and sweeties. The teachers are so pleased with him that he gets special attention in every subject. The canteen man is so proud of him that Rohan occasionally gets some free titbits and drinks.

As for me, I am just his friend. I can see the advantage a popular person has. As we are good friends, I get to share some of the advantages. Blushing girls smile at us, or rather him, as we walk by. I get extra attention from the teachers too because I sit next to Rohan. 1 get some sort of glory reflected off him wheasnever he is always in the limelight. I must admit it is fun to be popular.

However, I never imagined that popularity has its disadvantages until Rohan failed his end-of-year exam last year. Many things changed because of that.

Now, everybody knows that Rohan has failed. The news spread like wildfire to each and every corner of the school. School children started to look at Rohan in a way that I have not seen before, it with not-so-pleasant looks. The teachers chastise him for slackening in his studies. His soccer skills has suffered and the way things are turning out, I doubt he can defend his sprint titles successfully this year.

Rohan asks me why people have started behaving so differently all of a sudden. I tell him that I do not really know. Maybe people expected too much of him. Since he did not perform to their expectations, they lost faith in him.

Rohan understands one thing very clearly now- Anybody who is well-known must suffer the consequences when things do not go well for him- He realizes now why film stars hire bodyguards to protect themselves from the very fans who admire them so much. Popularity turns into a prison very quickly, A popular person is trapped by his own popularity. Everybody sees him and judges him. When he shines they applaud loudly. When he fades, they laugh at him. There is much truth in the saying that "when you laugh, the whole world laughs with you; when you cry, you cry alone."

Well, Rohan is not actually alone in his moment of despair. I am still his friend. Some of us still are, He is very thankful for that and he says so. He admits that popularity has its advantages and disadvantages too. He cannot avoid it. He can only enjoy the advantages and bear the disadvantages as best as he can. Knowing Rohan, I know that is exactly what he will do.