New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday interacted with students from across the country over exams and said they should compete with themselves instead of others.

“You should compete with yourself. Stop competing with others and start competing with yourself,” Modi said in response to questions from students during an interactive session, “Pariksha pe charcha”, ahead of the class 10 and 12 board examinations.

The event was organised days after the Prime Minister launched his book “Exam Warriors”, a collection of anecdotes from his growing up years. During the interaction, he told students they were not talking to the PM but to a friend. “Today, I am a student and you are my examiner. You can give me marks out of 10 later. Don’t think of me as the PM but as a friend,” Modi said.

Some students urged the PM to make their parents understand that they should not put too much pressure on them for good marks. Modi asked the students not to doubt the intention of their parents, and also said parents should not put the burden of their own dreams on their children. Answering a question on how to handle stress, Modi said: “We all prepare honestly but if we don’t have confidence, we tend to forget things at the last minute. Self-confidence comes by challenging ourselves and working hard. We should always think of bettering ourselves.”

“People think concentration is a major thing that has to be learnt. But that is not true. All of us do thing throughout the day that require complete concentration,” he said.