Learnings from Wild India: Competition & Success
Competition:
Competition, for some, is a way of life. It is a struggle for existence.
However there are spheres where one doesn’t need to win at the cost of other. Too often we try to compete with others. When someone does something that gets appreciation, we too try to do the same thing. I remember from my college days, during our cultural programs, some students used to shine in certain popular competitions like Antakshari. Immediately, about a 100 odd students started mugging up popular hindi songs to participate in the program. Those students were forgetting that the successful guy in that competition was really passionate about songs. No amount of preparation is going to bring you to the same pedestal as that passionate individual. We see the same thing happening day in and day out in our lives.
We try to follow in the footsteps of others rather than creating our own path. The perils of following someone can be clearly experienced when you are trying to cross a marshy area. The following shots of Indian Moorhen can perhaps explain the situation better. These Indian Moorhens can run on the water surface as the surface tension is sufficient for them. In this case, one moorhen is chasing another. The moorhen running ahead breaks the surface tension in the areas where it places its feet. The moment the chasing moorhen places its feet on the same spot, it sinks.
The morale of the story is don’t try to outrun your competitor who is ahead of you or is number 1 in your field. Try a different route or tactics instead. Else, the chances of sinking like the moorhen is very high.This is true for individuals as well as for corporates.
We should understand that everybodys life path is different. We forget that we are unique and we too have potential. The challenge is to identify your talent and nurture it. Dont give up howsoever unglamorous your field of interest might be. Today, wildlife photography and filming has become glamorous. So I get many calls for internship. It becomes difficult for me to advice each individual. I hope people can read this and introspect.
Success:
What is Success? Does it mean the ability to satisfy your basic needs? Or does success mean something more?
Does success mean ruling over your own small world, being the king at your home?
I feel the word “Success” has ruined many talented people. People chase success and become more concerned with the outcome forgetting that the journey is important too.
One should realise that Success is a by product.
It is important to pursue your passion and be happy. Keep on pushing yourself to dig deeper, to hone your craft. The more you persevere, the more refined will be your talent.
Thinking about success can be limiting. Whereas the theories we used to learn in MBA days used to ask us to set a goal and plan, too often when you achieve that goal, the game is over. After that you don’t know what to do. For example, is your goal to just make money, buy a couple of apartments or cars?
According to Jim Collins, one should have a BHAG ie. Big, Hairy and Audacious Goal. However, when the scientist starts out in his career will he or she dream of getting a Noble Prize? Or an actor starting in his career think of getting an Oscar award? It may be incomprehensible or unthinkable for the person at that time and may distract him or her. So people settle for a lesser goal.Too often people don’t realise their potential because they had dreamt less.
There is also another reason why the so called Big, Hairy and Audacious goal will not work. At times, an individual may not have found his/her life’s calling. For example, Robert Wise, Who was an Oscar winner as Best Director and Best Picture for “West Side Story” in 1961 and “The Sound of Music” in 1965 originally started work in the film shipping room in RKO studio in Hollywood. He used to carry the prints to the projection room for the executives to see if they are all right. He then moved to different jobs and finally landed up in the editing department. Later on he independently started editing. If Robert Wise would have tried to dream big and wanted to get an Oscar award when he was working in delivering prints to the projection room, he would have been really frustrated and would have given up. He wanted to be happy in his job so he requested to move to different departments. Later on he continued working in editing department which made him happy and brought him name and fame. Years later, the studio fired a director mid way and asked him to complete the job as director. When he was editor, he used to visit the sets and interact with the people, so it became easier for him to step into the shoes of a director. In an interview he had said “I didn’t want to become a director all along. I didn’t really think about it that way. You know, I just took it one step at a time. Once I got to be an editor, I learned the game, I learned about film-making and directing, and I wanted to move on and became a director.” (Quote from the book Aunt Bessie’s How to Survive a Day Job While Pursuing the Creative Life by Joel Eisenberg).
If the person is truthful to his/her work and realises his/her potential then the sky is the limit. So it is important that one shouldnt be distracted by the thoughts of success or failure and continue his/her journey to achieve excellence in whatever he/she is pursuing.
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Wonderful images.
This is the one of the best blog posts I have read in recent times. How well you described the concept of success. I really like how you narrated the ‘surface tension’ reason in case of moorhen. I hope you won’t mind me sharing this post on social media with others in future.
Thanks Saru.
I am happy that you liked it. You can certainly share this article as well as others, as my main aim is to create awareness.
If you observe a tiger trying to hunt, it will carefully observe its prey and try to move close and at times it will retrace its steps and try from another angle. The tiger, an intelligent animal, doesn’t run down its prey. We humans are perhaps momentarily brain dead when we try to run down our opponents who had a headstart in the game. I was just trying to show the perils of just trying to outrun your opponent by brute force.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
And just wanted to know when are you uploading the full video of Ganga Arti?
I am holding back, as I want to shoot in Varanasi and integrate those to create a powerful study.
Wonderful amalgamation of pictures and description.
Thanks Namrota! I am happy that you liked it.
Hi Sachi Da!
May I take liberty to call you so .. The Best, I would say – you said a story with a few snaps,infact created a narration for theme…
Loved it …Please let me know, how can I view your documentary file -A Call in the Rainforest”
Regards
Abhilash
Hi Abhilash,
I am happy that you liked this article. I have been thinking and analysing and finally thought of sharing my views in this article.
You can view the “A Call in the Rainforest” in youtube http://youtu.be/arac6fnLQtE
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
Bravo! Wise words indeed
One of the great blogs on wild life indeed ! Following it TFS 🙂
If i were to summarize, one should understand his strengths and weaknesses. Once you know them, you can beat anybody using your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses so nobody else can demean you.
Thank you for enlightening us with a great write-up.