A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were leaving for an evening walk. She was listening to Ilayaraja’s playlist. The song that was playing was “வெற்றி நிச்சயம் இது வேதசத்தியம்”. [Vetri nichayam idhu veda sathiyam—translated: Victory is sure, it’s Vedic truth]
Pausing the song, she looked straight at me. I sensed an impending event. Unaware of the headphones on, she yelled. “If success is assured, why have I not felt success?”
The time bomb was ticking. I countered, “Who told you that you have failed?”. This works with my wife always. A return question as an answer.
“Let me rephrase the question back to you. How long do we wait before giving up hope for success?” The bomb had gone off. I hinted we leave for a walk. Without a word uttered, we traveled half a kilometer.
She looked at me and gestured with her hands. “Your answer, please”
I knew my time was up. Her wait was for one of my motivational stories. But I had none in my kitty. Wanting to surprise her, I choose a non-mythological one this time.
The Bajau tribe of Indonesia has an amazing capability of deep-sea diving. They can be underwater for long durations. Called the Sea Nomads, they can reach up to 200 feet in depth without equipment. They stay underwater for several minutes. That’s impossible for a layman.
The entire quest of the Bajau tribe is to catch the biggest fish that outscores the others. The larger the fish, the deeper its location. Here lies the dilemma of the divers.
How deep can one go in search of the most significant catch? If the closer he remains, the smaller is his catch. The deeper his journey, the risk of not returning looms large. Everyone who waits for success faces a similar dilemma. How long do I wait?
A Bajau child grows to learn the art of catching a fish. They also learn about boat maneuvering, finding the spot, and comprehending the unpredictable nature. Likewise, we too undergo education, vocational training, and choosing a stream for a living. Their day begins with fishing and ends with the caught fish. Both of us are judged on what we bring back in the time allotted.
What I see is a pattern emerging: similar routes, similar spots, similar depths, and similar volumes of fish. There is consistency here. Perhaps it’s very identical to our case too. Then what differentiates them within their tribes?
The one who does more explorations, experimentations, and enhancements has a greater chance of success. A time will come when the pressure becomes too hot to handle. To dive deeper and deeper, hold your breath longer. There is a critical limit the lungs have. They need to drop their chase and return to the surface. What would you do?
Decisions made during these moments determine success. They immediately understand one thing. To stay in the game, their return to the surface with a catch (no matter small or big) is mandatory.
Finally, what I allude to is that even risk-taking has a limit. One needs to be present and alive to win another day. Not be foolish to chase risky things for greater gains. My opinion is that Bill Gates & Steve Jobs are more successful than Elon Musk or Gary Vaynerchuk or Jeff Bezos.
She was still confused. Her eyes told me the fact. “What is the moral of the story?”
A painting is not judged by a single stroke but by a series of strokes. No matter how imperfect they appear in close quarters, they make pure sense when viewed from afar.
Everyone has a clean canvas. Paint your picture on it with your imperfect strokes. The portrait will emerge in time.
[Note: Painting na Ravi Verma but for me Painting Varuma?]
