In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled?
Key Takeaways
- The fable of the squirrel and the crow emphasizes the value of hard work versus idleness.
- The protagonist learns that hard work is essential to achieve success, as illustrated through his academic struggles.
- Despite setbacks, including failing mathematics, he perseveres and eventually passes his board examination with merit in Biology.
- The Holy Gita inspires him to focus on duty rather than results, reinforcing the idea that hard work has no replacement.
- Throughout his life, he faces social norms and poverty, yet he maintains hope and a desire for self-improvement.
In his primary classes, he had read a fable. The story was about a hardworking squirrel and a lazy, loudmouthed crow. Entering into an agreement, they jointly started farming. The condition was that both would contribute their share.
The fable
The crow was shrewd and scheming. He did not like working. It was slacker and garrulous who believed in not doing work but enjoy. Squirrel, as usual, was hardworking and diligent. It told crow that it was time to plough the field. Crow laughed and brushing off the proposal, it did nothing but rest. Squirrel ploughed the field.
(a) Squirrel’s hard work
Days passed. The squirrel would ask from the crow for its share of work. Still, the crow had the same old thing to do. It would laugh at the squirrel, which diligently worked. Ultimately, the day arrived when their crop was ready to harvest. According to their agreement, the squirrel again requested the crow to do its share of work. As usual, the crow didn’t do but caw, perching on a branch. Squirrel started harvesting and thrashing its share of the crop. Crow didn’t work except for peering at a branch and cawing.
(b) Crow – the loser
The work was over. The squirrel collected its share and stashed it at a safe place. It left the crow’s share at its disposal. Crow did nothing. Its share was lying in the open. A stormy rain damaged its share, and it could do nothing but repent.
(c) Moral of the fable
The fable explains the importance of diligent hard work and sincerity. The story is not intended to correlate with any person. It is to underline the importance of hard work versus idleness. People often want to take shortcuts in their lives and try to achieve everything without hard work. They act like the crow of the fable. Is there really any option to hard work?
Resolve
One of his classmates was sharp and a brilliant student. He would easily remember syllabus. His classmate was neither laborious nor did he honour the hard work but was arrogant about his superiority.
Contrary to his classmate, he was not gifted. He earnestly wanted to be like him in studies. After giving serious thought and enough mental churning, he decided to work hard. It was the only means he could compete with his classmate.
(a) Class test
There used to be a weekly class test in his school. He thought to start from there and take it seriously. The test was designed to test the learning speed of a student over the past week. He sincerely started working on his studies. In the class test, he scored the highest marks, beating his classmate. The whole class clapped for him, and his class teacher congratulated him. He felt elevated.
(b) Encouragement
Encouraged by his petty success, he felt confident. The whole of the class started reckoning him and recognising him. He was especially good at biology. Before opting, he had not heard about it. It was his inner consciousness which told him the name of the subject and he chose it. Biology was now his most favoured subject.
(c) Performance
During his classes, he would promptly answer to the questions put up by the teacher. He noticed that whole class kept silent when he used to stand up and answer the questions. His level of hard work was progressively increasing.
(d) Ray of hope
Mathematics was his weak point. Trigonometry, Mensuration, and Algebra were like Greek and Latin. Despite his sincere personal efforts, he was not capable of commanding them. There was a ray of hope. He was comfortable in Geometry and to some extent, its theorems.
(e) Failure and Determination
He did his best but couldn’t do well. A great jolt was awaiting. He didn’t pass his board examination because of mathematics. He had to repeat the class. His work proved futile. There was no respite. He received a full quota of thrashing at home. It shattered him. It was a blow for a boy of thirteen. After early hiccups, he again stood up and started walking to clear his board examination.
(f) Confidence regained
His sincere work continued. He thought to focus on Geometry because it required less effort. Soon he gained confidence. He practised solving questions along with the rest of the mathematical topics. As expected, he did well in his Geometry paper compared to the rest of the topics. In his examination, his score improved considerably, and he passed the board examination with good marks and merit in Biology.
Hard work has no replacement
He had learnt that there is no alternative to hard work. Yet, he had to learn smart hard work. During his time, it was a rather novel idea. Later in his life he learnt it by trial and error. He would often be disheartened if he didn’t get results proportionate to the work he put in.
(a) Holy Gita – Source of inspiration
He often remembered the famous holy Gita verse saying that one must do the duty without expecting results. It became an umbrella to guard him against unwanted rain and hail that almost always showered. He would often become restless due to repeated failure in his efforts. It intrigued him as to how people get what they wished in relatively less work.
(b) Books showed ways
He was not capable of comprehending the reasons. Struggling and wading through the squall, he tried to decipher the causes of his lack of success. Like a sailor who has shipwrecked, he tries hard to save his life and struggles for his existence.
Later in his life, books like “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe gave him an illusion of adventure. So did “She” by William Hagard. They also offered him some measure of consolation. This helped him to overcome the feeling of rejection and unfulfilment.
Impediments
He tried to excel in fields of his liking. Photography, reading and touring were his favourites, but they were limited to a superficial hobby. During his student life, he developed a liking for them. Yet, he was incapable of pursuing them seriously. This was due to a lack of money and resources. Thus, when asked about intricate details, he couldn’t answer.
(a) Background
He belonged to a low-middle-class family. Out-of-the-box thinking was a luxury. The average family head of the time only expected their progeny to take a job after graduation. Earning and contributing to the family coffer as soon as possible was the ultimate expectation. It was considered a strong negative point if a person didn’t start earning. It used to be the stereotypical life where the personal choice was treated with disdain as selfish. A deviated person was tagged as unworthy, hence neglected.
(b) Social norms
Being a part of the social order, he was ordained to follow suit. Incapable of obeying the selfish norms because of his joblessness, and later with meagre earnings, he was considered useless. He made his best efforts and genuinely wished to be a part of society. Nonetheless, he was ignored. His “family members” demeaned and insulted him.
Realties of life
Life’s harsh realities, like poverty and rejection, taught him a bitter lesson. The piercing feeling of not having enough to sustain compounded this lesson. He did not celebrate occasions and fulfilment but never lost hope. At the mature age of more than seven decades, he still feels fire within. Still wading to figure out what exactly he wants.
What do dear readers think? Please do share your stories and views about the topic. If the article resonated with you, please disseminate it and express your thoughts in the comment box below.
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