595. A Father's Advice

Industrialist Arumugam, the Chief Guest for the anniversary function of the college, addressed the students:

"I am not a person with good education. I have not even completed my schooling. I hail from a poor family. Having not had the facilities for education, my education stopped at the level of fifth grade. I don't know what message I can deliver to college students like you. I am standing before you, because I felt that courtesy demanded that I accept the invitation extended to me by the principal of your college.

"I think I will share with you some of the things taught to me by my late father. Like me, my father was also not well-educated. So, I don't know how far what he had taught me would be useful to you. But, I don't have other knowledge to share with you.

"There was a pond in our village. It had some water plants like lotus, lily etc. If you had observed water plants, you would have noticed that the flowers borne by those plants floated on the surface of the water. The stems bearing the flowers would be submerged in water. With some plants, a short length of the stem below the flower may be visible, if at all.

"Some times, the water level in the pond would be high and some other times, the level would  be low. But, whatever may be the water level, the flowers would be on the surface of water and the stem beneath the surface. This was surprising to me. Assuming that the water level in the pond was five feet, the length of the stem under the water would also be about five feet, won't it be?

"Let us say, the water level came down to three feet. The length of the stem being five feet, only three feet should be under the water and the remaining two feet should be protruding above the water. But it was not so. I didn't understand how this was possible. I asked my father about this.

"He told me, 'The length of the stem would match the level of water in the pond. If the water level goes up, the stem will extend its length to reach the surface of water. If the water level falls, the stem will shrink in length so as to be at the water level.' When I asked him why it was so, he told me that it was the way things worked in nature.

"Once he asked me to throw a ball ahead. He showed me a spot a few feet away and asked me to throw the ball to reach that spot. After I threw the ball a couple of times, he asked me to throw the ball to reach a spot, a little farther from the previous spot. When I said, 'I can't throw that far,' he told me, 'Have a determination in your mind that you you are going to throw the ball that far and then throw the ball.'

"The first time I tried, I couldn't throw it that far. My father encouraged me saying, 'You have thrown the fall farther than you did last time. This is an improvement. Keep trying and you will succeed. Following his advice, I kept trying and I was able to throw the ball to that spot. Not only that, subsequently, I was able to throw even farther than that distance.

"This advice given by my father had been the basis for my actions in my life. I cultivated the belief that if we set high goals and work towards them with determination and persistence, we would achieve our goals. I did things following this belief and I was able to achieve things. This is the message I want to convey to you today. How high you can go in your life will be determined by how high your goals and beliefs are. Therefore, set high goals, have a firm belief that you can achieve your goas and work with determination and perseverance. You will definitely achieve success."

On completing the speech, Arumugam received a big ovation from the students.

After the applause had subsided, one student got up and asked Arumugam, "Sir, I have a question. You told us about your father's advice to you. Can you tell us whether your father implemented this advice in his own life and achieved success?"

Arumugam looked at that student for a few seconds and then said, "I appreciate your intelligent question. The answer to your question is: My father did not utilize this advice in his life!"

There was a stunned silence in the hall.

Arumugam continued:

"You may be wondering why my father, who gave me this advice, didn't follow it in his own life. The fact is that my father didn't give me this advice. My father died when I was a child. I don't even remember his face.

"When I was invited to address the students of this college, I contemplated on what I could speak about. My first thought was to ask my secretary to write out an appropriate speech and deliver it. This is what I often do, when I have to speak in meetings of professional bodies I am invited to. Then I thought that if I could share with you a few things I had learnt in my life, it would be useful to you. But if I were to deliver a speech filled with dos and don'ts, it would sound like a classroom lecture. So, I chose to deliver my speech in the form of a story, by presenting it as an advice given to me by my father. I think telling you this truth at this point is fine, because I can see that the message I wanted to convey to you has been deeply ingrained in your minds. I could decipher this from the interest shown by you while listening to my speech. Thank you."

The ovation Arumugam received now was bigger than it was earlier.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 61

Possessing Zeal

Verse 595 (in Tamil):

veLLaththu anaiya malar nIttam mAndhar tham
uLLaththu anaiya uyarvu.

Meaning:

The depth of water determines how high an aquatic plant will rise;

zeal in the heart dictates how high a man will grow.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'appA sonna aRivurai' by the same author.) 

Verse 596 (Soon)
Verse 594