Right to Bounce Back.

My daughter asked me: Father! Suppose a candidate qualified in the civil services examination. Doesn't s/he have the right to celebrate her/his success?

I replied with great ease- Yes,of course. He or She has every right to celebrate.

She asked me further-Does one have the same "right to mourn his failure" if one finds oneself out of the selection list in such a way that despite a great deal of preparation his/score failed to touch the cut-off marks in the merit list by a hairbreadth margin?

                                      ***

I began to think as to how I should respond to this question. For me the question so posed appeared to be a trap. 

 In line with the answer given in the first case I could have replied by that logic-yes, why not?

But I took time to respond.

After taking some time I prepared myself to give a considered reply.

I said to her- In case one just couldn't touch the cut-off marks that doesn't give him any right to mourn. In fact, right to mourn doesn't exist at all.Though disappointment in such cases may be one's temporary state of being. And that's natural.

In so far as the question of any right is concerned, that right is not the "right to mourn failure" but it's "right to bounce back " with double energy and a recalibrated strategy of preparation.

I continued to add-A little reflection would further reveal her that this "right to bounce back" is more a self-imposed duty upon such a borderline candidate to prove his mettle than a mere right as explained above.

       Thus for a candidate who remained on the borderline;"to bounce back" is both his inherent right as well as a self-imposed duty.

    She understood what I intended to mean.

**************************************************

उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ते कार्याणि न मनोरथैः। न हि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगाः।।

जिस प्रकार सोते हुए सिंह के मुँह में मृग स्वयं नहीं प्रवेश करता, उसी प्रकार केवल इच्छा करने से सफलता प्राप्त नहीं होती है.

अपने कार्य को सिद्ध करने के लिए मेहनत करनी पड़ती है.

Have you ever heard of a deer coming and entering the mouth of a lion while he sleeps?

 In that case, why are we led to believe that we can achieve success by merely thinking about it or coveting it?

 One can achieve success only by working hard and through dedication.

**************************************************

                          09.07.2023.

                       R.R.Prabhakar.

                          09.07.2023.