Like her other classmates, Asma dreaded Thursdays because on Thursdays their weekly test papers were returned to them after assessment. The night before Thursday, Asma couldn’t sleep. This particular Thursday appeared more fearsome to her because she was supposed to get math test paper which had gone really terrible.

She somehow managed to sleep for a few hours and went to school fearing the unpleasant revelation which the future held. The math teacher entered the classroom with checked test papers in her hands, everybody exchanged worried looks and she started distributing the papers. Asma received hers with a note saying that she had flunked her test and needed to work harder next time.

Asma’s world shattered. Tears started to flow down her cheeks. She had failed the test by one mark only. Her friend comforted her and came up with an ingenious idea to relive Asma from her misery.

“All you need is a single mark; you should change the answer of one blank and tell the teacher that she has marked you incorrectly. Since you are a good student, the teacher won’t even know about this mischief,” suggested her friend.

Scared of her mother’s scolding, Asma acted upon her friend’s advice.

With pounding heart, she went to her teacher and told her as planned. The teacher did not believe her at first. But considering her overall good reputation in the school and behaviour in the class, her teacher rechecked and corrected the answer and passed her in the test.

Though Asma had passed the test and wasn’t scared of her mother’s reaction any more, she had a guilty conscience and a disturbed mind. She spent rest of the time at school thinking about this insincere deed. Her guilt besieged her so much that when she went home she burst into tears and told her mother about the awful sin she had committed.

Her mother took her in her arms and said explained sweetly, “This test holds no value in front of honesty and sincerity. This was just a test which you won’t even remember next year but the guilty conscience and the fact that you cheated your teacher will haunt you for the rest of your life. And this will shape your personality and determine your success or failure in life.”

The next day she went to her teacher, confessed her crime and humbly apologised. The teacher was so impressed by this act of honesty that she gave her a grace mark — for her honesty and braveness to accept her mistake, hence Asma passed her test!

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 2nd, 2015