Rome was not built in a day. It had perhaps taken centuries. To begin with Rome was only a conglomeration of a few hamlets; then it became a city state; then a state and finally a vast empire. So anything big and great need many years of hard work, undaunted by obstacles of failures.
Only a few days before the examination, most of the students begin to study seriously. The days prior to that is wasted in futile pursuits. Such students cannot hope to do well in their examinations nor can they come out with flying colors. Luckily if they get through, they pat themselves; if they don’t, they blame their luck. It is no use burning midnight oil at the last minute cramming information that cannot be sustained for long. They do not realize this simple fact. Studying late into the night is very unhealthy and adversely affects the vision.
It is not only in the case of studies, but in the case of success in life too that one needs steady and continuous work. Civilizations did not develop in a country or two. Nor science or technology is the result of the efforts of one individual or a single experiment. It is because hundreds of people zealously worked for generations together that we now enjoy easy and comfortable life. Most of those people who had so toiled are not known to the history, they are the people, who never cared for fame, who were not deterred by failures, whose only aim was to go ahead steadfastly in their work.
They are the people unwept and unsung. It is certainly because of the undaunted efforts of these unknown heroes that we stand at the place we find ourselves. It is the case with every human endeavor – be it science or art; religion or civilization. Mahatma Gandhi did not coin non-violence or civil disobedience.
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Ahimsa has been preached by generations of eminent souls and in fact it had become our way of life when we claim we are vegetarians; and for centuries of foreign rule the only expression of discontent has been non-violent disobedience; the grand culmination of these principles and practices was in India’s attainment of independence. But when the struggle was on, people were not daunted, they solidly stood behind Mahatmaji.
When we turn to the nature and watch a bird making its nest, we will certainly be amazed for its patience and perseverance. A clumsy bird like the crow, brings dry sticks and twigs from a tree in its beak, puts them at the join of two branches, arranges and rearranges them until it finally takes the shape it wants! It does not give up its job – a stick may fall now and then and the wind may blow off its partly built nest. Still it persists.
This is the kind of perseverance we need to cultivate. We have got to realize that obstacles will certainly come on the way; and the path to success is always strewn with stones and thorns. We must keep our spirit alive and upright, until we reach the destination. The jungles are dark and daunting. But when once we cross these woods and reach the other end, the joy is boundless and the journey will become worth the trouble.