THERE IS A TIDE IN THE AFFAIRS OF MEN

 



“But, Life is just a party,

and parties weren’t meant to last.”

Prince (Musician)

 

“Where is Jack Ma?” People are asking this question, world over. They are, also, worried. Some say, that he is ‘laying low’; and some  suspect, that he has been jailed by the present Chinese government…If the latter is true, it’s really sad!

Jack Ma’s story is an inspiring success story… A simple teacher, who, once, taught English, could go about building such a vast business empire – Alibaba and Ant Group – to be crowned as ‘Asia’s Richest Man’… yes, it’s the stuff straight out of a fairytale book!

But, there he was – Jack Ma… A great business magnet and a philanthropist… and, yes, a great icon for millions…

Shakespeare,  through Brutus (in Julius Caesar), says this:


“There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat,

And we must take the current when it serves.,

Or lose our ventures.”

 

This has been the secret of ‘Success’ for almost all the ‘big whales’ out in the sea called ‘Life’… They all venture into the sea when there is flood… when the current serves them!

But, then, the tide can turn, any time, for any ‘big whale’! Jack Ma was, once, a darling – the poster boy – of the same Communist government. But, in one sweep, the same regime can nail you on the poster as - ‘WANTED’!

Is it only applicable in China, or is it applicable everywhere in the world? What about the ‘Jack Mas’ in our own country – the darlings and the poster boys of our own government?

The ‘tide’ turns, Sir… The sea works according to its own rules!





If we do not sail the ‘full sea’,  our voyage will be bound in shallows and in miseries… Is that our fear?

Good health, strong relationships, three meals a day and a sound sleep at night – and yes, quiet dignity – are these the consequences of not sailing a full sea?

I do not know…

I do not know when was Jack Ma the happiest – when he was a simple teacher or when he was a mighty tycoon!

Virginia Woolf concludes:

“The flower bloomed and faded;

The Sun rose and sank;

The lover loved and went.

And, what the Poet said in rhyme,

The Young translated into practice.”







GERALD D’CUNHA 

 

Pic’s: 1. Unknown source 2. pixabay

 

Video: 1. The Outcome 2. HW News English

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