A Lesson of a Lifetime

It was a Sunday evening. South City mall was enduring its’ usual stampede of crowd. An array or disarray of depending on your point of view, had gathered in the mall that day also. God knows for what reason. It’s a mall after all, not a historical place where some tragic hero died.

Anyways, after ambling down the entire mall, I ended up in the food court. Not to eat anything, I love watching people with food, each displaying different body language and talking different talks. You wanna go people watching, come to South City mall’s food court.

Besides the KFC outlet, my eyes fell upon a group of young men. One look at them and you will know that you are gazing at the corporate kids. They had the same stern expressions upon their faces, tolerating everyone. I watched in amusement before my curious gaze caught the sight of one of them.

This bespectacled man was engrossed in the biography of Steve Jobs, balancing the thick hardcover book in his right hand. From his left hand dangled the carry bag of Starmark. He had bought the book that day and could not wait to get home for the sneak-peek. I was tempted to ask whether he had an MBA degree or not. To me that would have made a hilarious scenario – an MBA trying to learn from a drop out.

Seeing his eager indulgence, I wondered why this guy was reading this book. Then I answered myself – to become Steve Jobs, silly. Another question made me take another look at the oblivious man – would reading this book make him the next Steve Jobs? There are so many editions out there in the market. So many young men and women are reading this. Before the publication of this particular biography, there were millions of others similar types of books available in the market. Then why there was only one Steve Jobs? Why?

I presented this question to my uncle. I asked him why. Why so many readers yet only one achiever? He smiled at the question and told me a nice story as a reply.

We all know that our holy river Ganga washes away the sin of the mortals. The mythological story goes like this –

When this holy river began flowing over the earth, Devi Parvati got worried. She went to her husband Lord Shiva. Sitting by Him, she asked, ‘Why did you allow this river to flow on the earth?’

Lord Shiva looked at her puzzled. ‘Which river?’ He asked.

‘Ganga,’ She replied with a frown.

Lord Shiva smiled at the crease on the Devi’s forehead. ‘What got you so worried?’ He asked.

She drew in a deep breath and replied, ‘Now earth people will commit sins and wash it away bathing in this river water. We don’t have the use for hell anymore.’

‘Now, don’t be so worried Devi,’ Lord Shiva said with affection.

‘I am worried.’ She refused to share His composed demeanor.

‘Okay, let me prove to you that, you have nothing to worry.’

With this, Lord Shiva came down to Varanasi (the Holy city for the Hindus) , disguised as a leprosy patient. He lay on a dirty blanket beside river Ganga. A stinking odor surrounded the air around Him, blood along with thick greenish fluid oozed out of the scars. He called out to the people passing by, pleading for their help. In agonizing cries He begged for someone to listen and drag him away from the harsh sunray.

One of the passers-by came closer hearing the anguished voice. He took pity over the man lay dying on the street and bent forward to hold the corner of the blanket, careful not to touch the flesh of the patient.

Before the mortal finger touched the blanket, Lord Shiva cried out. ‘Please, before you touch this hear me out.’

The pilgrim stared bewildered at the sudden reaction.

‘If you ever have committed a sin and still touch the blanket,’ Lord Shiva continued, ‘you will be attacked by this disease and soon become like me.’

Hearing this, the man jumped a couple of steps back. He retreated further and this time ignoring the cries of the dying patient, he vanished among the crowd – without even a backward glance.

As the day glided into night, hundreds cam and went, some even ran away. No one dared to test the authenticity of the warning. They just disappeared. Scared.

Next day, Lord Shiva lay in the same place, crying and writhing in pain. This day was not much different from the last one; people came and went away without touching the blanket.

Then came a young man. He seized the scene at a glance and rushed towards the suffering man. As he leaned forward to hold the blanket, Lord Shiva repeated the warning. It made the young man jump backward. He stood still for a couple of heart beats. Then he turned around walked towards river Ganga. Stripping his cloths, jumped into the water and drenched himself head to toe.

After this the young man came forward, confident. He held the blanket and dragged it away from the sunlight.

Lord Shivae came back smiling. ‘You saw that Devi?’ He asked. ‘Millions will hear you but only one will listen. Only one among the millions will take a leap of faith, risk everything and take a step forward. The Holy water will wash away the sin of that one person. We still need hell.’

My uncle chuckled as he finished telling the story. I chuckled back. Unless you are ready to take risk nothing will do anything. Have faith and act upon it.

‘Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.’ – George Seaton

‘Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.’ – Martin Luther King Jr.