Story
When we think of Mahabharata, we immediately remember Krishna, Pandavas, Kauravas and other prominent characters. But there is one character which we usually tend to miss, even when he teaches us one of the most important corporate lessons. And that is Eklavya.
A son of the hunter chief of the forests of Hastinapur, Eklavya was passionate about learning archery from Dronacharya, the royal guru of Pandavas and Kauravas.
When Eklavya approached the guru, he refused to impart knowledge to Eklavya as he belonged to a lower caste. Also, being the royal guru, Dronacharya was forbidden to teach anyone else.
Eklavya was heartbroken, but he did not give up. He hid behind trees, watching the guru teach the princes and practiced throughout the day with dedication and passion. Years later, when Dronacharya discovered about him, he realized that Eklavya was actually better than, or at par with, his best student Arjuna.
Although Eklavya self-learned archery, he was so good that even Dronacharya felt threatened. And so, he asked for Eklavya's right thumb as a "Guru Dakshina", as an archer could never shoot without his right thumb.
But the story doesn't end here. Although Eklavya didn't blink an eye before cutting off his thumb for the guru, he persevered and learned to shoot arrows with his fingers.
If you want to excel in your career, you need to manoeuvre through the obstructions and work passionately towards your goals.
Your commitment to fulfilling the deadlines, your agility to learn new skills and flexibility in adjusting to the dynamic conditions of the business are required to sail through challenges.
It is your passion to succeed that counts, not just in your professional but also in your personal life.
Even today, when people think of passion and devotion, they think of Eklavya and not Arjuna.
Moral of the story
- Teacher has very little role to play in your learning. At best, he/she can be an inspiration and give broad directions.
- Most of the learning comes from your own hard work and dedication and through regular and continuous practice.
- You can learn by simply watching how other skilled people are doing it. No formal instructions are necessary.
- You need to love the topic that you are learning. If you learn for some other potential gains (such as becoming famous, or getting a good job), your learning rate will be limited (as in the case of Arjun). The best learning comes from the love for the topic.
- You need to look inside and discover your innate talents. Don't get too much influenced by what job market, your friends or your parents are saying. Listen to your own heart. Try to observe your feelings while you are studying. Try to find out, which topics give you a high. Those giving you a high are probably the topics where your innate talents lie. Pursue those topics and you are much more likely to excel.
- Become the best in whatever you do. Your yardstick for comparison should not be your classmates nor people of your town or country, it should be people all over the world doing the same thing. Rank yourself among the best and aspire to surpass the best. Remember the famous movie maker Vidhu Vinod Chopra (maker of Munna Bhai movies, 3Idiots etc.). His father used to say "Galli ka mochi banna hai to bano, but become the best mochi." It doesn't matter what you do, but you be the best.
Conclusion
Practice Makes a Man Perfect
Perhaps one of the most told advice in my student life. Still, in this age of plug and play or click of a button, we have to keep reminding ourselves of this.
When teacher Dronacharya denied the request of Eklavya to teach him archery Eklavya did not give up. He practiced, practiced and practiced and (that's why) became good at archery.
Self Mentoring
When Eklavya practiced, of course, he did not have a mentor so he has to mentor himself, rely upon the experiences and learn from things happening around him.
Today, we also do more or less the same thing. Or we must do. For example, I learned to be punctual from my office bus driver. I learned to be simple but elegant from my manager. I try to be calm like M. S. Dhoni though I fail miserably sometimes. Some of my friends are trying to become as confident as Harvey Spector or Don Draper. Movies like the darkest hour or Forrest Gump or Books or even a good article can teach you something good in life.
It's where you reach and not where you start
One of the most important lessons I learned from this story is it's not about where you start but where you reach.
Eklavya was denied training by Dronacharya because he was not from the Royal family still he went on to become the best archer. And that's because of his pure determination and dedication.
So it does not matter in what religion, community or family and place you are born you can achieve anything you want if you believe in your dream and work hard for it. India's former president and the chief scientist APJ Abdul Kalam is an excellent example of this. And there are many more and who knows it could be you as well.
Having good circumstances can be at your advantage or disadvantage. For example, one of my friends ended up being a doctor because her whole family practices medicine. However, deep in her heart, she wanted to become a writer and still believes she would have done much better.
Compare with Yourself to be the Best
Eklavya went on to become the best Archer because he never had anyone to compare his performance with. I feel Arjuna the royal prince was better than all his cousins and brothers but since he was comparing himself with others he could not achieve what Eklavya could.
Sometimes because of mediocre people around we fail to recognize our true potential. All the great people in various fields could go attain those heights because they always surprised themselves and surpassed their own records. The Nadals, Federers, Ronaldos or even Tendulkar or any great sportsperson for that matter could become best in business because they outclassed themselves every now and then.
Source: Mahabharat
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