Aslam, Akram and Ali were three young friends who studied in the same class. They would study together and help each other with their homework.

However, there was a healthy competition between them in studies as each was determined to do better than the others in class.

It was the time of their annual exams. The three friends put in extra effort to prepare for their exams. They studied hard and spent countless hours going over their notes.

When their exams started, the three friends felt confident and did their best in every subject. They would always come out of the classroom happy. The last paper was of math, all three were happy as they had practiced everything and were confident. However, when the question sheet was given to them, there was one question which the three friends had completely missed. The question was mandatory, so there was no option for skipping it. They started doing the paper, but soon they noticed that one of their classmates, who was notorious for cheating in exams, had a piece of paper hidden in his sleeve.

The boy opened the note and hid it under his answer sheet, Akram could see it clearly and he found out that the piece of paper had the formula for solving the question that they did not know. Both Akram and Aslam were tempted to cheat too, they looked at each other and winked. They gestured to the boy cheating to hand them the piece of paper, or else they will tell the teacher. Ali, who always had a strong moral compass, saw them winking at each other and tried to stop them.

“Ahem, ahem…,” Ali tried to draw their attention.

At this, Aslam and Akram looked at him and Ali glared in an annoyed way to stop them from making such a huge mistake and to remind them of the importance of integrity and honesty. Cheating would not only be unfair to their classmates, but also to themselves. They would not be able to enjoy the satisfaction of earning a good grade by their own efforts.

Feeling guilty and ashamed, Akram and Aslam put the thoughts of cheating out of their minds and focused on the exam. They finished the exam with their heads held high, knowing that they had done their best and had not cheated.

When the exam results were announced, the three friends were thrilled to find out that they had all done very well. They had worked hard and earned their grades honestly. They felt a sense of pride and accomplishment that they had not felt before.

When the three friends finished school, they looked back on their time together and the lessons they had learnt. They were grateful for the experience and knew that they would always remember the importance of integrity and honesty in all aspects of life. They realised that cheating would not only harm others, but also themselves as they would not be able to enjoy the true success and satisfaction of achieving something through their own efforts.

Years later, as they went on to pursue their own careers, they didn’t forget the lessons they had learnt about cheating. They knew that integrity and honesty were the foundations of true success and happiness, and they were determined to live their lives by those principles.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 6th, 2023