STARS CAN'T SHINE WITHOUT DARKNESS

“Adversity introduces a man to himself.”

-      Albert Einstein

Mihir* is my student. He is in Class X1 and has been studying in one of the finest CBSE-schools. Some months ago, when he had come with his parents for his admission in our classes, he had expressed his desire to become a Chartered Accountant like his dad. Now, the goalpost has been shifted… A  counselor in one of the well-known Institutes, that prepares young aspirants for Management, Law and other competitive entrance exams, seemed to have convinced Mihir, that he was best-suited for MBA and not CA…

“Since then, he has become a lot casual about his goal,” Mihir’s parents said to me, this morning,  “He thinks MBA involves less work, unlike CA.” His dad said, “I don’t think MBA has come from his heart. He wants to do it because, he thinks, he needn’t work hard.”

Mihir was, seemingly, annoyed. He protested, “That’s not true… I am serious about MBA.”

“Then, why do you want to drop mathematics?” his mother asked, “You are good in it; but, you don’t want to work hard.”

I had to intervene to defuse the tension between the young man and his parents.

It’s never been about CA or MBA… It’s, always, been about whether we are passionate about what we want to do or not. Passion is something our parents or privileges we are born into, cannot ignite in us. At best, our parents, with all the support system they provide, can be only our cheerleaders. Similarly are our teachers, coaches and mentors… Yes, they reach out to so many… but, only a few shine. And, those who shine are, invariably, are those who believed in themselves, remained focused, worked incredibly hard and long, and, above all, went about doing against all odds…

Against all odds, I said. Adversities in life… This is how we refer to odds in life... When we swim against the current! Our strength, therefore, doesn’t come from ‘what we can do’. It comes from overcoming the things ‘we once thought we couldn’t’.

“In times of adversity and change,” says Howard Schultz, “we really discover who we are and what we’re made of.”

Mihir loves sports. So, we spoke about India’s performance in the on-going Asian Games. We spoke about the ones who have won Gold, Silver and Bronze… Invariably, many of them come from families with deprivation… They live in remote villages… Their parents are hardly literate and do odd jobs, like a rickshaw-puller or a farm hand… Their houses are built of tin-sheets… and, they go to local schools…

Yes, unlike Mihir and associates!

“Your parents are right, Mihir,” I told him yesterday, “If you do not give your best, you will get what you deserve in life. If you have passion and dedication, you can shine even as a grass-cutter or a dish-washer.”

We need to be challenged to bring the best out of us. Being casual makes us mediocre in life. The benchmarks ought to be higher… The Challenge ought to be greater. CA, MBA, Mathematics – these are not the issues in life… Am I listening to my heart? Am I following it? - yes, these are the issues.

“You need to spend a lot of time alone and in silence,” I told Mihir yesterday, “You have to listen to your heart… and, then, just follow it.”

Hope, our seventeen-year-old understands what I have told him. Like many of his generation and kind, he is born into fine privileges – highly-educated parents, great schools, a comfortable financial-cushion, the access to best kit and coaching…

And, maybe, that’s where the things are going wrong… Maybe, that’s why the stars are not shining…

 “Stars can’t shine without darkness,” says the anonymous quote. And, “There is no education like adversity,” says Benjamin Disraeli.

*Name changes

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Indian Express

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