You'll get there!

After hours of work he gets up from his study table leaving his research marked as he finds it difficult to pen the next few lines of a book that he is writing. The time is 3 a.m. He is feeling weary from working for nearly 16 hours in a small room, which has turned out to be a routine that has been going on for the past one and a half years.

In a pensive mood he goes towards the mantelpiece which is filled with books that are left in a disorderly manner crammed with cigarette buds and a bottle of scotch which is almost over. From his window he looks at the dark clear sky that is filled with stars in solitude, contemplating of the sacrifices he has made, the time and effort invested and his goal that he has to attain.

It is too late to turn back. No matter how weary or frustrated this scribe may be for the moment, he will keep fighting the pain and hardship he is going through in order to get what he wants no matter how long it takes. The time lapse is not as long as these things go. Often a writer is working on a book or play that he knows will not bee seen by the public for two or three years, at the earliest.

Do these works appear spontaneous and modern? They do indeed! Sometimes such plays seem to hit off the mood as if they had been fresh minted only a few seconds before. Come to that, just as fresh are the daffodils that are blooming in a garden or a bulb bowl. And yet, so the gardeners tell us, the flowers can be seen in a dissected bulb even before it is time for planting it.

The point I wish to make, and it is a favorite one of mine, is that success in any endeavor is not a sudden thing. And if you decide one morning to become the number one athlete in the world, a top lawyer, a film director, a great writer, a great scientist or even a world leader, it is foolish and childish indeed to be disappointed that you have not arrived at your goal that night.

Certainly, the daffodil burst into flower almost overnight, and the newspapers bring us news of an actor/actress or musicians over night success. Such eminent beings as champion boxers, world leaders and great writers appear at times to have sprung, like Venus, full-fledged from the foam of the sea.

There is a "Hey, presto!" about such happenings which has a great appeal for us all. But it is important to keep in mind that magic is illusion, and what seem to appear spontaneous in the air is somewhere else all the time and usually is not what it seems to be.

The daffodil has been gradually growing. The actress has been apprenticing for nearly four years. The boxer has been fighting since he was five years old. A president/prime minister has been a politician for nearly two decades. The novelist has been writing and researching for years. So, whatever your objective may be - to be a great guitar player, actor, politician or writer- whatever it is, you'll not go there by someone waving a magic wand. You have to grow towards.

Thank heaven this is so! The human mind and character cannot sustain changes that are too sudden. Like a cold glass filled suddenly with hot water, we are liable to crack. We have seen on television how many celebrities have "cracked" due to their overnight success in showbiz, which many say that success came too soon for them.

But bring about the change gradually, and it is surprising what we can stand or achieve. We will be in a possession in improving ourselves from what we have become. The longest marathon in the world is won by running just one step at a time. The tallest buildings in the world were put up by laying just one brick at a time.

The greatest masterpieces in literature have been written by penning just one word at a time. Plan your ambition. Then plan the main steps. Then split up the steps into little stages. Then start quietly on the first tiny piece of work. Keep on! Keep on going without being shaken up by the obstacles you may face and you'll get there in the end.