This chapter opens with a few lines from an old Bengali poem, urging those who live in this world to set aside the false show and hold on instead to what truly matters.
So much comes our way, every single day, as we move along life's road.
Is all of it really equally important?
Ayan had moved up to the ninth grade by now.
It was that age when studies, sports, hanging out with friends, and every new curiosity all pulled at him at once.
Coming home from school, he'd set his bag on the table and open his books first.
But the phone lying beside those books seemed to call him more loudly.
One day Rahul told him, “A new video's out. Have you seen it?”
Ayan closed his book and picked up his phone.
— “No, not yet.”
— “It's brilliant! Just five minutes.”
The five-minute video ended. Then another. Then another.
By the time Ayan finally set the phone down, almost an hour had slipped away.
The book on the table sat exactly where he had left it.
He opened it. A few math problems were waiting to be solved.
He got stuck on the very first one.
It occurred to him — “Let it go today. I'll do it properly tomorrow.”
The next day at school, the teacher asked to see the notebooks.
Ayan opened his and stood there silently.
The problems in it were unfinished.
The teacher looked at him for a moment and said, “You're capable, Ayan. But being capable isn't enough — you also have to do the work on time.”
Ayan lowered his head.
The words were simple enough. But that day, they left a small mark on him.
Even so, the habit didn't change.
A few days later, an inter-class football tournament began at school.
Ayan loved playing.
Afternoon after afternoon slipped away on the field.
There was nothing wrong with playing. Sport keeps the body healthy. Friendship, teamwork, discipline — there is much to learn on the field too.
But the trouble was, Ayan slowly lost the balance between time for play and time for study.
One day his father said, “Play, by all means. But you have to save some time for your own future too.”
Ayan smiled and said, “Don't worry, Baba. The exams are still far off.”
His father said nothing more.
Because some things simply cannot be explained to a person in words. Time itself, one day, reveals what those words meant.
The exams drew near.
Trying to manage everything at once, Ayan finally understood — time cannot be stored up for later.
The chapters that could have been studied over a month now had to be finished in a handful of nights.
While his friends calmly organized their revision, Ayan was flipping through pages as fast as his hands would go.
Sitting to study late one night, it suddenly struck him — “If only I had studied a little bit, every single day!”
But those days were no longer his to have.
The exams ended.
On the day results came out, Ayan did not get the marks he had hoped for.
Rahul had done well.
Ayan stood there quietly, the results sheet in his hand.
Walking home, he thought, for the first time — is every kind of pleasure really worth the same?
What had that hour-long video actually given him?
Were those extra hours of play truly worth more than his exam results?
No. But he still didn't fully know the answer.
He was only beginning to understand — some things in life bring joy in the moment. And some things build the future. Confusing the two for each other causes trouble.
That night, Ayan sat down with his book open. He had left his phone at the far end of the table.
He didn't know how long he studied.
But that night, for the first time, it occurred to him — simply letting time pass isn't enough. Where we choose to spend it matters too.