Blog

February 2011

The action of today becomes the destiny of tomorrow. – Chinmaya

In life, there are no miracles. When we choose our goal and work for it with all the necessary zeal, dedication and single-pointedness, we undoubtedly reach the goal.

Let us make it very clear to ourselves – there are no short cuts to success. Success gained through short cuts is always short-lived. Only short-sighted people take short cuts, but they too soon come back with cuts all over!!

A wealthy businessman was about to enrol his son in a famous University. But he was taken aback when he realized that his son has to study for four years to get his basic degree, and that with all the eight semesters packed with tests, assignments, projects and exams.

Frowning, he flipped through the catalogue containing all the course details and asked the college Principal, “Why does my son have to go through so many semesters? Can’t you make the whole thing shorter? I want him to get out of it quickly!”

“Certainly, he can take a shorter course,” replied the Principal politely. “It all depends on what he wants to make of himself. You see, it takes 20 – 30 years for an oak tree to grow, but a mushroom springs up overnight.”

We all have heard of Dr T M A Pai, the world-famous doctor, educationist, banker and philanthropist, who has been recognized as the one who has established the most number of educational institutions in his lifetime. He is well known for building the University town of Manipal in Karnataka.

He was the first to start private self-financing medical college offering MBBS in India. Kasturba Medical College in Manipal and Mangalore, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences were all established by him. Later on, he went on to establish Syndicate bank. He is also responsible for the popular Pigmy Deposit Scheme.

Initially, Manipal was nothing but a barren hillock which was considered as wasteland.

When Pai went there and shared his mighty vision of establishing schools and colleges within every 5 km in South Kanara District, all labelled him as a mad crack. Disregarding all the discouraging comments from the public, Pai, after making a small hut for himself in that barren land, persevered hard to materialize his dream vision.

Today the journey he started is passing through a destination which is called the Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG). It overlooks running of three well-established Universities, close to 20 Super speciality hospitals, more than 1.5 Lakh students and 50,000 employees.

T M A Pai was conferred the Padma Bhushan by the Govt. of India in 1972. He was awarded the degree of D. Litt by Karnataka and Andhra Universities. The Indian Govt. has also brought out a stamp commemorating Pai in 1999 for his philanthropic achievements.

There is a price tag for every achievement. Nothing comes for free. Heated gold alone becomes the ornament, beaten copper alone becomes wires and chiselled stones alone become the worshipful idol. To gain the strength of the steel, one has to go through the hottest furnace.

When it comes to hard work, very few turn up their sleeves while some turn up their noses. And the majority of us never turn up at all!!

You cannot climb the staircase with both the hands in your pocket!

There are some others who have greater faith in the omens seen all around and the prophecies they signal. But they hardly have any faith in themselves or in the effort they can put forth in achieving the goal chosen.

When William, the Conqueror landed in Hastings and stepped on the English soil, he stumbled and fell. This was regarded as an ill omen by the soldiers who let out a cry of dismay. But William was a man of tremendous optimism.

“What a wonderful thing has happened,” he exclaimed. “I have already ceased the land with both my hands.” These words of the conqueror were greeted with a loud cheer by his soldiers who then marched forward with redoubled enthusiasm. Needless to say, William went on to make history conquering the English soil. We may get discouraged many times but we are not a failure until we begin to blame somebody else for our failure and stop trying.

Let us therefore not unload our responsibilities on the stars of the Astrology or on the evil-noble omens of the superstitious. It is our past actions that have brought us here, and it is our present actions that will carry us forward into the future. Hence the future lies in our own hands and it depends on how we utilize our present moment.

It is said, God has given us two ends- one to think and the other to sit. Success depends on which we use. Head? – we win. Tail? – we lose!

There is nothing impossible in this world, provided we keep trying hard with patience. Even the ordinary water is capable of cutting the hardest of rocks, not because of its strength but because it keeps flowing on and never gives up.

Great saints were none other than sinners in the past who always kept trying. Big shots were only small shots who always kept shooting!

Albert Einstein, the world-famous scientist, says that it was not that he was very smart or extraordinarily intelligent, but it was only that he kept trying a little longer!

It is so well said, “Winners never quit. Quitters never win”!

God has totally entrusted us to ourselves. Time, energy, resources and the life principle are common to all. But what to do, what to think, what goal to choose and how to live life etc. – the choice is ours. There is no interference from the Divine whatsoever. When such total freedom is given, a terrible thing happens – there is none to blame!

Let us, therefore, be careful of every act done in the present moment, as they alone determine us and our future world.

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