BY THE SWEAT OF YOUR BROW

 

“It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out,

It’s the grain of sand in your shoe.”

Anonymous

 

Who are we in this world – ‘The Outsiders’ or ‘The Insiders’?

 

So much fuss – and abuse – is made of these words!

 

When Barack Obama became the first Black President of America, we got to hear that he was an ‘Outsider’… which, basically meant, that he was not White, not wealthy and did not come from a political dynasty, and, above all, he made it on his own!

Did we hear the similar narrative, when Mr. Modi came to rule Delhi? Remember the folklore – ‘The boy who once sold tea at a railway station in Gujarat’?

Pritvi Raj Kapoor was an ‘Outsider’. But, we never said the same about his decedents. So, right from Raj Kapoor to Taimur, all have been painted in one brush as ‘The Insiders’!

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Ma and men and women like these will, always, be called the ‘Outsiders’… but, not their sons and daughters. Donald Trump is an ‘Insider’ as far as his ‘Tycoon’ status is concerned; but, he is an ‘Outsider’ as the President of his country.

I, often, ask myself: “Am I an ‘Outsider’ or an ‘Insider’, here, in this city?”

The stories of struggle are there in every one’s life. Amitabh Bachchan’s father was a huge literary legend… Their family was extremely close to Nehru/Gandhi family… He came to Bombay with a ‘sifarish’ letter’ from his illustrious father, introducing his son to K. A. Abbas, the producer of ‘Saat Hindustani’. But, all these ‘blessings’ were not enough for Amitabh to make his mark in the glittery-chocolaty galaxy of Stars. It took many years and ‘flops’… It took many sleepless-nights and heart-burns for him to make a breakthrough.  He is still there around, kicking, at 77… But, I don’t think, that he ever saw himself as an ‘Insider’ or ‘Outsider’ in Hindi film industry.

Singers, Actors, Politicians, Sports persons, Business persons, we all, have our respective stories of struggle. When we come up in life, all that we can offer to our own kids is some ‘ease’, some ‘comfort’. The rest, our kids have to do on their own merit. If our kids lack the fire in their belly, the whole narrative of ‘Insider Vs. Outsider’ is senseless.

By the way, the comparison dates back to the days of ‘The Mahabharatha’… Arjun was the privileged Prince. But, without his talent, skills and dedication, Drona’s training wouldn’t have made him the Legend he became. On the other end, we had the tribal boy Ekalavya, who had no privileges, but possessed incredible amount of fire in the belly. He, too, had the burning desire, dedication, inspiration, skills and talent… and, he, too, became the Legend in his own right. While Arjun never abused his privileges, Ekalavya attracted in him the blessings of God!

Every ‘Insider’ was once an ‘Outsider’. The meaning of these words, to me, simply is this: ‘If you have fire in your belly, you are an ‘Insider’; if you don’t, you are an ‘outsider’…

Watch these videos:

 

 

Were these gentlemen – our ‘Heroes’ – ‘Insiders’ or ‘Outsiders’?

Did they stake their claim without any struggle and heart-burns?

What about the fire in the belly?

“By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken. For, dust you are, and to dust you will return.” With these stern words (Genesis 3:19), God had sent His maiden children out of the “Eden Garden’ – and asked them to ‘earn’ their ‘food’…

M.S. Dhoni hung his cricket gear, yesterday… He was not only a great cricket Legend, he was, also, a wise man!

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic.: The Last Man Standing/M.S. Dhoni Quotes

 

Videos: 1. Deepak Rana Official 2. Hiren Android 3. The Quint