"Hey, Kannan! How are you?" Prakash greeted his friend, who visited his room.
"Not good. It has been two years since I completed my education. I have still not got a job. I am feeling frustrated. I thought if I met you and talked to you, I could feel better. Hope you free today" replied Kannan.
"When it comes to spending time with friends like you, I am always free. I have a practice of visiting my uncle once in a few months. I thought of visiting him today. But, no problem. I can schedule it for next week."
"I don't want you to change your program because of me. I can come next week."
"It is fine. My visiting my uncle is only for the sake of courtesy. I can visit him next week. Let us go out somewhere" said Prakash.
The two friends went to a restaurant and had their lunch. They then went to a movie and returned to Prakash's room in the evening.
They chatted for a while on various topics.
"Are you applying for all the jobs you are eligible to apply?" asked Prakash.
"My experience has been that there is a lot of competition for jobs in big companies. About one thousand people attend an interview for fifty posts. So, I have stopped applying for jobs in big companies. I apply only for other kinds of jobs" said Kannan.
"I think it is a wrong approach. You could be one of the fifty people selected for the post. If you stop applying to big companies, just because you were not selected by some big companies after being interviewed, won't it amount to restricting the opportunities available to you?"
"I think I don't have the good fortune of getting a job in a good company. When fate is against me, my attempts at fighting against my destiny will be futile."
Deciding not to talk further on the topic, Prakash changed the topic, by talking about their mutual friends.
When the topic turned to Gurumurthy, one of their close friends, Kannan asked, derisively "How is he? Has he started another business now?"
"Like you, he also says that his fate is not good. But he keeps trying to do something or the other" said Prakash.
"He became an insurance agent. When he could not make much headway in that line, he got into network marketing. He failed in that venture also. What business is he engaged in now?" asked Kannan, in a mocking tone.
"Kannan! It is not fair to make fun of him. Like you, he also has not got a job till now. But he keeps thinking, 'if I can't get a job, what else can I do?' He explored self employment or business opportunities he could take up without much investment. That's how he ended up pursuing insurance and network marketing activities. Well, he didn't succeed in his efforts. But, he won't give up. He will try something else!" said Prakash.
It appeared to Kannan that Prakash's words carried a hidden message, 'While you have been blaming the fate and not even making use of all the opportunities that come your way, Gurumurthy keeps trying something new, even after repeated failures. You have no moral authority to find fault with his ways.'
"I take leave of you. As advised by you, I will apply for jobs in big companies also" kannan told Prakash, while taking leave of him.
Thirukkural
Section 2
Materialism
Chapter 62
Perseverance
Verse 618 (in Tamil):
poRiyinmai yArkkum pazhi anRu aRivu aRindhu
ALvinai inmai pazhi.
Meaning:
Misfortune is not disgrace; not gaining requisite knowledge, and not persisting, is disgraceful.
(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'vidhiyin pizhai' by the same author.)
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