Cricket, Success, Eame & Humility
The fortunes on the cricketing field are governed, we're told, by glorious uncertainties. Why then do a billion people oscillate between anguish and ecstasy - anguish when eleven men have a combination of skill and fortune working their way, and ecstasy when it is the other way round? Perhaps it is in the DNA of cricketing fans to react in this manner. However. at times when success is elusive, much is made of how players "let success go to their heads". The blame for failure. however, is not to be laid exclusively on the players for the issue extends to much beyond cricket. Fame, despite its transience, manages to fool most achievers into believing that they are larger than life. The 11 cricketers on the ground become targets of public anger and disappointment. Let's face it. dissecting their performance and behaviour and at times even lifestyle-is our national preoccupation. As a people, we're obsessed as much with the game as with the players themselves. To be able to handle success with a level mind is an art, and it is more often acquired than inborn. Abe Lincoln said: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character. give him power". Add adulation to power and you have an even more potent formula, for the high of being lauded by thousands tends to go straight to one's head. Yet, there is much to be said about keeping your head on your shoulders when life is treating you well. Scriptures take the position that success along the path of dharma is obtained by the individual who is devoid of ahankara. The Mahabharata tells us that "Victory is certain to be where Krishna is... victory is one of his attributes, as also is humility". One only has to contrast the characters of Ravana and Ram. or that of Duryodhana and Yudhish- thir, to see that popular folklore sends the message that ultimate victory is not on the side of the powerful who lose the ability to be humble And at the end of the day, what kind of success is 'big? How powerful is 'powerful'? No man in living memory has been a true ruler of the world, though some have tried to be one. Even if an Ozymandias were to become Samrat Chakravarti or sovereign of the world, what would a few decades spent thus mean in a 4.5 billion-year-old history of this planet, which in turn is nothing more than a nano-fraction of the known universe? The Gita repeatedly reminds us,.our existence on this Earth is brief and death is certain. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan said: "There is no obligation THE SPEAKING to be pleased with success or pained with failure. It is the ego-consciousness that both enjoys and suffers..." It follows that the larger our ego. the greater the likely mental os- cillation between the highs of success and the trauma of failures. Our cricketing super- heroes could do well to keep in mind Henry Miller's observation: "Fame is an illusive thing- here today, gone tomorrow. The fickle. Shallow mob raises its heroes to the pinnacle of approval today and hurls them into oblivion tomorrow at the slightest whim; cheers today, hisses tomorrow; utter forgetfulness in a few months". But then, why blame only cricketers and other celebrities? An inflated ego is not the special preserve of achievers only. Most of us, having achieved comparatively lesser material or professional success, often let the ego get the better of us. And this is precisely why we need to do some soul-searching.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Anshul Chaturvedi kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Anshul Chaturvedi Speaking Tree , Times of India
Cricket, Success, Eame & Humility
The fortunes on the cricketing field are governed, we're told, by glorious uncertainties. Why then do a billion people oscillate between anguish and ecstasy - anguish when eleven men have a combination of skill and fortune working their way, and ecstasy when it is the other way round? Perhaps it is in the DNA of cricketing fans to react in this manner. However. at times when success is elusive, much is made of how players "let success go to their heads". The blame for failure. however, is not to be laid exclusively on the players for the issue extends to much beyond cricket. Fame, despite its transience, manages to fool most achievers into believing that they are larger than life. The 11 cricketers on the ground become targets of public anger and disappointment. Let's face it. dissecting their performance and behaviour and at times even lifestyle-is our national preoccupation. As a people, we're obsessed as much with the game as with the players themselves. To be able to handle success with a level mind is an art, and it is more often acquired than inborn. Abe Lincoln said: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character. give him power". Add adulation to power and you have an even more potent formula, for the high of being lauded by thousands tends to go straight to one's head. Yet, there is much to be said about keeping your head on your shoulders when life is treating you well. Scriptures take the position that success along the path of dharma is obtained by the individual who is devoid of ahankara. The Mahabharata tells us that "Victory is certain to be where Krishna is... victory is one of his attributes, as also is humility". One only has to contrast the characters of Ravana and Ram. or that of Duryodhana and Yudhish- thir, to see that popular folklore sends the message that ultimate victory is not on the side of the powerful who lose the ability to be humble And at the end of the day, what kind of success is 'big? How powerful is 'powerful'? No man in living memory has been a true ruler of the world, though some have tried to be one. Even if an Ozymandias were to become Samrat Chakravarti or sovereign of the world, what would a few decades spent thus mean in a 4.5 billion-year-old history of this planet, which in turn is nothing more than a nano-fraction of the known universe? The Gita repeatedly reminds us,.our existence on this Earth is brief and death is certain. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan said: "There is no obligation THE SPEAKING to be pleased with success or pained with failure. It is the ego-consciousness that both enjoys and suffers..." It follows that the larger our ego. the greater the likely mental os- cillation between the highs of success and the trauma of failures. Our cricketing super- heroes could do well to keep in mind Henry Miller's observation: "Fame is an illusive thing- here today, gone tomorrow. The fickle. Shallow mob raises its heroes to the pinnacle of approval today and hurls them into oblivion tomorrow at the slightest whim; cheers today, hisses tomorrow; utter forgetfulness in a few months". But then, why blame only cricketers and other celebrities? An inflated ego is not the special preserve of achievers only. Most of us, having achieved comparatively lesser material or professional success, often let the ego get the better of us. And this is precisely why we need to do some soul-searching.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Anshul Chaturvedi kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Anshul Chaturvedi Speaking Tree , Times of India