“It takes twenty years of hard work to become an overnight success.” Well, I think that’s true. I was a tall, skinny boy with a broken front tooth in my youth. No body cared about me. He used to wander in the woods near our house for hours without any companions, alone on the path of unknown destination, alone on a journey with no destination.
I sat in the back pew of my class, avoiding my teacher’s stars. I used to put a hand to my mouth while laughing to cover up the ugliness of my broken black tooth. For me life was a meaningless struggle without any productive results. Dawn faded into days and sunsets turned into night in an endless circle.
One day our teacher made a joke, everyone was laughing, I was laughing too, but I covered my mouth to hide my broken tooth. My teacher was watching this; he came up to me and slapped me across the face. Everyone in the class was stunned, I froze in fear, I didn’t even know my fault. Then he spoke “why do you always cover your face when you laugh, what are you afraid of, your colleagues, everyone has one complex or another. Do not be afraid of people. Face the world head-on and it will give you”. you the way… the way to success.
I am now the editor-in-chief of three monthly magazines and the largest bidding website in Pakistan. When I was awarded the national acting award for my contributions to the tender, I remembered my teacher’s slap in the face and my eyes watered. It was the slap that changed my destiny.