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Journalism of Courage
Academic pressure often pushes students to focus entirely on grades. However, sometimes the rebellion stems from simply choosing not to care. The Ba***ds of Bollywood star Raghav Juyal recently shared in an interview with Yuvaa that he once failed his 9th grade on purpose, not out of inability, but as a conscious decision to break free from the stress of performing well.
“9th mein isiliye fail hua kyuki hum 4-5 ladko ne decide kar liya tha ki yaar fail hote hain iss baar, kuch alag karte hain (I failed in 9th grade because me and 4-5 other guys had decided, ‘Let’s fail this time and do something different),” Raghav recalled. “Toh humne kiya yaar bohot ho gaya yaar, 8 saal se hum lage pade hain pass hone mein. Maine kaha, ‘Ab kya karna hai? Yaar fail hote hain.’ Poore saal tension free rahenge, canteen mein khayenge, aayenge, teacher bahar bolegi bahar khade ho jayenge… fail hote hain yaar. Maine kaha haan yaar yeh toh kitna pyaara idea lagg raha hai (So we went ahead with it, man, enough is enough, we’ve been struggling to pass for 8 years. I said, ‘What do we do now? Let’s just fail.’ We’ll stay tension-free the whole year, eat in the canteen, roam around, if the teacher calls us out, we’ll just stand outside… let’s fail, man. I said, ‘Yeah, man, this actually sounds like a really fun idea’).”
He added that the decision brought an odd sense of relief rather than anxiety. “Ekdum se relaxed feel hua… aisa laga body se kuch bojh hatt gaya hai. 4-5 ladko ko nirvana praapt ho gaya hai (Suddenly, I felt completely relaxed… as if a weight had been lifted off my body. It was like 4-5 of us had attained nirvana).”
When the host asked what the consequence was after he failed, Juyal replied, “Consequence yeh hua ki mujhe bohot bhi ek toh unn doston se alag rehne ko keh diya tha mummy-papa ne. Toh sabko doosre school mein admission dilaya gaya (The consequence was that I had to stay apart from those friends because my parents said so. So, everyone was admitted to a different school).”
Sonal Khangarot, licensed rehabilitation counsellor and psychotherapist, The Answer Room, tells indianexpress.com, “Sometimes, constant pressure to excel leaves no room for authenticity or rest, and failure begins to feel like freedom. I am often told that we need an escape from our everyday life, a holiday or moving to an absolutely new country away from our lives.”
Psychologically, she mentions that such a decision isn’t really about wanting to fail; it’s about wanting relief from the endless cycle of expectations, comparison, and fear of not being “enough.” In that moment, choosing to fail becomes an act of rebellion and self-preservation. It’s the mind’s way of reclaiming control in an environment that constantly measures worth by performance.
When a child deliberately underperforms or gives in to peer pressure, Khangarot states, the healthiest parental response is one “rooted in curiosity, not control.” Instead of reacting with anger or disappointment, parents should try to understand the “why” behind the behaviour: what emotional need or pressure their child was responding to.
“Open, non-judgmental conversations help rebuild trust and signal safety, which is essential for a teen to reflect and take accountability. Setting boundaries—like changing schools or friend circles—can help, but it must be balanced with empathy and involvement. The goal isn’t punishment, but reconnection,” concludes the expert.
