We hear stories of geniuses who made it big in the world. But let's stop and ask ourselves what exactly these geniuses did to deserve so much praise and applause. Their talent was encoded into their genes. They were exposed to the kind of circumstances that would help them discover that talent. And they, as humans, used the above conditions to their advantage to become prodigies/geniuses in the field of their talent.
What it takes
That is not to take anything away from the achievements of these great people. As even for a talented person to succeed in today's world requires a great deal of courage, determination, intelligence and copious amounts of common sense.
But before you start thinking “Any one can be successful in their field of choice if he/she tries hard enough”, let me remind you that not every aspiring music director is born with the same sense of music as A.R. Rahman, not every wannabe cricketer has the same spatial and kinesthetic sense as Sachin Tendulkar, and not every future mathematician has the genius of Ramanujam.
A toast
Among the elite achievers of society are some men and women who made it to the top on the back of just pure hard work. It is to them that I wish to raise a toast as they are my inspiration. These are people who started out with nothing except that burning in their guts to become the best in their field of interest.
They were rejected and laughed at by strangers, for dreaming so big, encouraged but also secretly written off by friends and sometimes even scolded by parents for coming up with such “stupid” ideas. They were not born with a gift. These are the people who truly shaped their destiny. They had nothing to keep them going except for their single minded dedication towards their goal.
In the near future I hope to discover my goal in life. And when I do I hope I will be just as stubborn, just as determined and just as dogged, as these achievers, in my pursuit of that goal. And from the bottom of my heart I wish the same for you.
Hussain is a Std XI E student Chettinad Vidyashram.
