September 24th, 2007 was not a normal day
in Johannesberg, South Africa. It was the ICC T20 World cup final was between
India and its arch-rival Pakistan. It was the last over and Pakistan still
needed 12 runs with only one wicket in hand. The in- form batsman Misbah-ul-haq
was on the strike and Dhoni had to make a vital decision on who would bowl the
last over. At the one end, there was the little known Joginder Sharma and at the
other was Harbhajan singh, the most experienced bowler in the team. Many
thought that veteran would be preferred over the inexperienced and what
happened after-wards still remain history. Joginder sharma bowled the last over
and India became champion. Because in order to win you have to think different
and Dhoni did the same. The real risk lies in living riskless living. To
succeed you have to take chances and there is always risk in doing so. And so
is the proverb that fortune favours the brave.
It is a latin proverb traditionally attributed to
Terrence (c. 190-159 B.C.) It’s common translation of the latin phrase
-"fortis fortuna adiuvat”. The latin word ‘fortis’ does mean brave and ‘fortuna’
refers to the Goddess Fortuna. ‘Adiuvat’ is literally translated as helps or
aids. The basic meaning of the saying is clear. Succeeding or being a winner is
not just a matter of luck. A person who takes action, acts boldly, takes some
risks and strives hard to achieve a goal is more likely to succeed, win or be
rewarded than someone who doesn't. However it is very tough to make bold
decisions. But to be successful one must work hard and to work hard one have to
make bold decisions and for that, one has to make the first move: Boldness is
the opposite of hesitation. Whenever you're feeling hesitant in interaction
with others or making a decision for yourself, learn to swallow your pride and
make the first move. Over-thinking is often cause of hesitation. If you can
say,"i want this”, you've said enough to make your decisions.
In 1969 Indira Gandhi moved ahead to nationalise
fourteen major commercial banks. At that time most banks in India had continued
to be owned and operated by private persons. Businessman owned the banks were
often accused of channeling the deposits into their own companies and ignoring
the priority sector. Also there was a great resentment against class banking in
India ,which had left the poor (the majority population) unbanked. After becoming
prime-minister Indira gandhi expressed the intension of nationalising the banks
in a paper titled, ‘Stray thoughts on bank nationalisation’ in order to
alleviate poverty. After the nationalisation of banks, the branches of the
public sector banks in India rose to approximate 800 percent in deposits and
advances took a huge jump by 11000 percent. Nationalisation also resulted in a
significant growth in the geographical coverage of bank branches that rose from
8200 to 62000, most of which were opened in the unbanked ,rural areas. This
decision was welcomed by the masses and soon Mrs. Gandhi was applauded for her
crucial decision of nationalising the bank. This decision made her a masiha in the eyes of poor and she was
at her new heights of her popularity. So fortune favored her because she was
capable of making strong decisions.
Julius Caesar also transformed his fortunes when
he marched on Rome, declaring ‘alea iacta est’ (the die is cast) as he crossed
the Rubicon river. The utterance was a commitment of his fate to fortune. While
Caesar was a professional soldier, many of his victories were achieved by
taking bold risks which exposed him and his troops to significant danger, but resulted
in memorable victories.
In one of the famous poems ‘The Road Not taken’
Robert Frost has ended his poem saying,” Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
took the one less travelled by ,And that has made all the difference”. These
lines depict about the dilemma of the person and the successful decision that
he takes aftermath.
One of the interesting incidents is related to
the life of J.C.Bose. Bose gave a lecture at the Linnean Society at the
gathering of scientists. He was to explain them about the response of the
plants towards the stimuli. He had come to the conclusion that plants can feel
pain like animals; that when we pinch them they suffer; and that they die in a
few minutes after they are poisoned. Bose started the experiment by injecting
poison into a plant. The plant should have shown signs of death in a few
minutes. On the contrary nothing happened. The learned audience started
laughing. Bose showed admirable calmness. He thought quickly. The poison didn’t
killed the plant and so it was not going to harm him also. With full confidence
he got ready to inject the poison into himself. At that instant a man got up
and confessed that instead of poison he had put similar colored water. He conducted
the experiment again and the results were positive. The decision that he took
to inject himself with the poison was seen as a great example of
self-confidence and it elevated Bose to the next level.
There are endless instances which make this
proverb true and aptly justified. If we find the literal meaning of fortune
then it is defined as ‘chance or luck as an external, arbitrary force affecting
human affairs.’ Action embodied in one’s effort is the real key to success as
well as happiness. Action or effort may not produce the desired result but
happiness or fortune never come without effort. As David Mcnally says,” There
is no guarantee of reaching goal with efforts made, but there is a guarantee of
never attaining goals that are never set”. We should focus on our attempts and
endeavour rather than on fortunes and the results that are beyond our limit. Lord
Krishna also said the same thing to Arjuna in Gita. He said,’ karmaniye vadhikarste ma falesu kadachan’.
We have the right to perform the prescribed duty but we are not entitled to the
fruits of action. Success is the courage to undertake the journey that you
believe in. And ask any successful man about their story and the unbelievable
beauty of the story is that each and every person would reply that they didn’t did
anything for reward. They did because they believed. You must have courage to
undertake the journey and crucial decisions. And Krishna said exactly what 1000
of years later today the icon of million of managers all over the world Steve
jobs said. He said ‘journey is the reward’ and Krishna said karma is the reward.
- SHASHI PRAKASH
