“Go & practice till you reach perfection” this was the only lesson Eklavya got from Dronacharya. He belonged to a backward clave, this made Dronacharya deny him lessons in archery. But Eklavya considered him as his Guru, made his statue & feeling the presence of his Guru he practised the art in the forest. After years of practice he turned out to be a perfect archer.

Once Dronacharya & few of his students were passing through the forest 3-4 dogs were accompanying, their bark disturbed Eklavya who was practising. The dogs moved forward from the group. After sometime the dogs returned, they had arrows stuck in their throat. There was no sign of violence or pain but their sound had ceased. They looked around for someone who might have done it but found no one. The shot was from distance. It was done only by tracing the sound.

Walking further they saw a man with a bow in his hand, they knew this was the arches they had been searching. Eklavya did not fail to recognize his Guru though his Guru did. After hearing from him what made him a good archer Guru was sure Eklavya was the best archer he had ever formed.

Sherly had made up her mind to win Olympics when she was in school. She participated in competition & practised running. Her parents took it just as enthusiasm in childhood. But fate played its dirty trick on her, she fell ill & while recovering she realized her legs were lifeless. Her dreams to win Olympics were still alive.

After 2-3 operations & by using special type of footwear she would walk. She returned to school & continued with the studies. During the sports meet, her teacher was surprised to see her name in the list of participants. She tried to make her understand, where walking was difficult, running seemed impossible. But she was adamant. Her parents were called. They tried to explain her, but she pleaded in her innocent voice. They allowed her to participate. The race started but she could not complete. But on the 2^nd day she completed.

She started practising & took part in many competitions. In 1956 she took part in Olympics & won gold medal. It was the victory over her disability.

In both the stories their dreams came true by practice. Practice made them perfect. They never gave up. There are dreams & hopes in our mind & they can be achieved only by practising.

After a performance in the court, King Akbar told Tansen that he was the best singer.  Tansen thanked the king but corrected him humbly by saying that there was someone who could sing better than him, his Guru. On hearing this Akbar was delighted to hear Guru sing. But Tansen made it clear that his Guru would not come to the court & he does not sing for earthly rewards.

King Akbar & Tansen started off to Guru’s  residence, a case on the hills. At dawn, Guru went to the river, bathed & started singing in his melodious voice. The whole surrounding was immersed in his voice. While returning Akbar asked Tansen, “There was some magic in his voice that’s incomplete in yours. What makes his voice so different? Tansen replied, “Huzoor, I sing for thee, but he sings for divine.”

Tansen sang with an intention to satisfy the king & win earthly reward whereas Guru sang for his own satisfaction, with full involvement & found more happiness in it.

Once a sage was passing through a village. He saw men working in the scratching sun, seemed like Mother nature was being cruel to them. They were carrying heavy stones.  He approached one of the worker & asked, ”What are you doing ?“ He replied angrily, ”Can’t you see what am I doing?”. He asked another person “What is being constructed?” He answered,“ I don’t know I have nothing to do with it.  I get my pay at the end of the day then why bother.”

The sage continued. On enquiring with another worker he knew a temple was being build. Further he“Why are you so happy?” asked the sage. “I heard a temple in being constructed here.  I wanted to help. It is a rare opportunity one gets in ones life.  No other work can make me happier.” did not find a man who was working happily in the hot sun

In this story we come across four people who thought differently. The first one is working due to compulsion & is not at all happy to work, second, with an aim of earring, third was partly involved in his work, fourth working happily.

If we do something on our own without any compulsion we do it better. It’s something we do for our satisfaction & not to satisfy others. Even if it is a small thing we did, we will be able to find greater happiness & beauty in it.

Slavery existed in America when Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President. A debate to bring an end to slavery was going on. In northern states, public supported this view. Industrial development was taking place & they needed free mobility of labor. On the other hand, in southern status agriculture was the main occupation & the number of slaves one had, determined ones power.
Government started taking necessary steps to eradicate slavery. In South, masters started selling their slaves to different places. Once a child of a slave was left behind, he was not grown enough to start working. A woman started looking after him. After 2-3 years his mistress put him in charge of the garden. Very soon he turned out to be an expert in the assigned work. By seeing his interest to know things and ability to grasp quickly his mistress decided to educate him. He was sent to a nearby school. He passed out with highest marks in the district.

For his high school studies, he was sent to town. To meet his necessities he worked in a laundry. He would spend his night in a farm on the outskirts since he had no place to live in the town & would return before dawn.  After a year or two the owner of the farm discovered it. But he let the boy continue because his stay had put an end to the robbery that had been taking place. He struggled hard to cross the hurdles whites created for him. It is hard to swim against the current.

He passed his high school with flying colors & wanted to continue his studies. It was sure he would not be admitted in a college in southern states. So he moved north & got admitted in a government college. He had to live in hostel and to meet his expenses he started laundering. He completed his post graduation & went for Ph.D.

After completion of his studies, Government offered him a job. He started a research and invented many things. One of them was, he made seventy-six substances out of groundnut grain. Later, a university was found in his name.

 ” Success comes from knowing that you did your best to

become the best that you are capable of becoming“.

Continue reading Journey to Success →