THE LEGEND OF CHINESE BAMBOO







Pic.: Chetna Shetty

Late last night, Amit, who was my student, some twelve years ago, had shared an inspiring post on FB. Amit has a wicked sense of humor, and regularly writes with his tongue firmly in cheeks, either about cricket or about politics... but, never ever without making you laugh... So, last night, when I first sighted the post he had shared, I read ‘Rahul Dravid’, and assumed in my mind, that it would be something to laugh at before you went off to bed... Well, it wasn't something to laugh at; it was something to give you goose-bumps as you went off to sleep! Here it is... as it was:

“When I’m requested to speak to youngsters, I like talking about this phase of my life and liken it to the fascinating plant: The Chinese Bamboo. You can take a Chinese Bamboo seed and plant it in the ground, water and nurture the seed for an entire year and not even see a single sprout! Infact, you’ll not see a sprout for five years! But suddenly, a tiny shoot will spring from the ground...and, over the next six weeks, the plant can grow as tall as ninety feet! It can grow as fast as thirty-nine inches every twenty-four hours...You can, literally, watch the plant grow!
What was the plant doing during these five years? During these seemingly dormant period, it was growing its roots... For five full years, it was preparing itself for the rapid, full growth. Without this root structure, the plant simply couldn't support itself for its future growth...
Some would say, “The plant grew ninety feet in six weeks.”  I would say, “It grew ninty feet in five years and six weeks!”

So, keep watering and nurturing yourself. One day, you will sprout and may  grow as fast as a Chinese Bamboo tree...
Remember, no one becomes a midnight success... There are years and years of labor and pain behind that...

"God's delays are not god's denials."
- RAHUL DRAVID
  
Well, except for some punctuation and para presentation, I have reproduced Rahul Dravid’s words as Amit had shared...
We had been hailing Rahul Dravid as ‘The Great Wall of Indian cricket team’... When we read the above words of his, we know where his enduring power, his legendary patience would sprout from!
So, impressed and inspired, I had decided, then and there, late last night, that I would be writing one the legend of ‘The Chinese Bamboo’, today...
Today is 5th September... The Teachers’ Day in India... I find nothing better to write on... except the Chinese Bamboo!
I am a ‘Late Bloomer’ in life... a classic case of ‘The Chinese Bamboo’. When I look back at my own life, I can so well relate to the message of this story.... So many teachers in my life, for so many years - both inside and outside my class rooms... both the visible and the invisible... the obvious and the most unlikely... both the loving and the punishing... the empowering and the em-burdening... yes, so many teachers had planted this seed in me, nurtured and nourished, waited and hoped... believed and trusted... blessed and loved even in their bouts of anger and harsh words... even in their moments of fatigue and frustration...
I took many, many and mny years to sprout... But, I did in my own way, in my own God-intended space... and for the purpose He had intended...
So, as Rahul Dravid asks, I, too, ask often: “What was I doing all these years?”
In fact, I am just on my way to my own ‘ninety-feet’... More way to go... But, I can relate to the story, its moral, its truth...
Many a times, I have shared during our PD sessions the story of ‘The Chinese Bamboo’ and showed the video, as well. I have told my students what Rahul Dravid had told... Every teacher has told the same story... Every parent, every loving, caring and nurturing soul on this earth – whether in China, America, India or Africa...  yes, every where the secret of success has, always, been the same... “Plant your seed with all the love and devotion... Nurture and care with with all the commitment and passion... And, then, wait with all the hope, trust and patience...
Thank-you Amit, thank-you Dravid... thank-you all my teachers... thank-you all my students... and, abve all, thank-you ‘The Chinese Bamboo’...
The legend, also, has it:
“The teacher appears when the student is ready!”...
Yes sir, learning in life is all about this ‘readiness’... Nothing more, nothing less!
A Happy Teachers’ Day...




GERALD D’CUNHA

 Video courtesy: YouTube

Comments

Dipesh Khanna said…
Too good sir! Inspiring!
------ Dipesh Khanna
September 5, 2014 at 6:29 PM
Anonymous said…
Thank uou so much sir for teaching us and inspiring us... Vinita Sharma
September 5, 2014 at 8:06 PM
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