STANDING OVATIONS

















Pic.: Anand Ashokan




On one Sunday, in my Public Speaking session, I got a standing ovation. I felt I was on top of the world. The next Sunday, my speech fell flat. Someone else got the standing ovation. I felt defeated, sad…

Better sense dawned on me, soon.

Is winning the cup the only purpose in life? I asked myself. If so, where is Carl Lewis now? Where is Martina Navratilova? Where is Henry Ford and where is Queen Elizabeth? What went wrong with Ben Johnson, Maradona, Mike Tyson and Michael Jackson?

I had immensely liked Marlon Brando in some of his great movies. But, when I read, later, about the hell he was going through, I felt disturbed. Same thing about Rajan Pillai. I had admired his rise to power and lifestyle…

The other day, I overheard two young boys arguing about another fallen tycoon. One said, “The tycoon died like a dog.” The other said, “So what? He lived like a king!”

It, really, made me think!

Being on top can never, never, never be permanent. The only place to go from the top is DOWN! Yes, they say, the legends live on. But, they all learn to come down and accept their fall gracefully. But, the ones who think they are invincible, invariably, go crashing down!

I will never consider myself successful, till I haven’t learnt to accept my defeats gracefully…

Yes, every Sunday is different. I will never take my Standing Ovations too seriously.



GERALD D’CUNHA


P.S.:

In 1990, THE DAWN CLUB had published a small book by the title – ‘The Zest’. It had carried some eighteen short and medium-sized passages written by me. The book instantly became one of our very popular books; and, eventually, it was reprinted several times.

We guess, one of the main reasons for its popularity was that it spoke to the reader in ‘first person’… He felt as though he was talking to himself… a soliloquy. Yes, the reader could instantly connect to the voice in the book… and, the message simply seeped into his heart!

The above passage – ‘STANDING OVATIONS’ – is a popular passage from the book.



Comments

Sunanda Shetty said…
Success shd never go into our heads. Nice post, inspiring... Sunanda
November 28, 2013 at 6:00 PM
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