As students across the country enter the final lap of preparation for the upcoming CBSE board examinations, last-minute panic and stress are becoming common. In many Indian households, these exams are often treated as “life-deciding”.
Trying to ease students from this pressure, former HCLTech CEO Vineet Nayar recently shared a motivational message for students drawing from his own experience as a teenager facing board exams.
In a recent motivational note shared on X (formerly Twitter), the billionaire philanthropist urged students to look beyond the marksheet. Recalling his own journey, Nayar shared a powerful message: “If board exams decided life, half the CEOs would be unemployed.”
A memory from his own exam hall
In a post on X, Nayar recalled walking out of his Chemistry board exam convinced he had messed it up. He described being in “full panic mode” until a cousin asked him a simple question: Will you die if you fail?
The answer was no. But the question changed his mindset. Two days later he had Mathematics. This time he studied calmly, walked in steady, and did well.
“Exams test memory. Life tests courage,” Nayar wrote in the X post summarising his lesson from the incident. “Boards are a level in the game. Not the whole game,” he added.
Nayar’s recommended strategy for students
Nayar offered a simple, actionable strategy for students: sleep well, study hard, and give it your best shot. He encouraged students to look in the mirror and repeat: “Not life or death. Best shot. No fear.”
He also had a lighthearted tip for managing household stress. “Occasionally shout: ‘Dad, omelette please… and don’t forget the mango shake!'” he joked, suggesting that students should let their parents handle the worrying while they focus on staying steady.
‘Boards are important, not destiny’
Nayar urged students not to treat board exams as a life-or-death situation. According to him, fear magnifies the pressure far beyond reality. “If board exams decided life, half the CEOs would be unemployed,” he wrote on X advising students to give the exam their best effort, and then accept whatever result they get instead of obsessing over one outcome.
Nayar described exam anxiety as a “bully” that survives on fear and advised students to completely derive it from its main source of food.
Proof from his own marksheet
To reinforce his point, Nayar attached a photograph of his board exam marksheet. It showed a score of 355 out of 500 — roughly 71%. The message was clear: a non-perfect score did not stop him from becoming a billionaire, a corporate leader, author, and philanthropist.
Anxiety among students typically peaks around the time of board exams driven by expectations from family, peers, and society. Nayar’s post reframes the exam not as a final judgment but as just one milestone.
Who is Vineet Nayar?
Former CEO of HCL Technologies and founder of the Sampark Foundation, Vineet Nayar is one of India’s IT veterans who also has an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion.
A prominent author and philanthropist, Nayar is known for his “Employees First, Customers Second” management philosophy and for growing HCL’s market cap significantly during his leadership tenure.