Never give up!

“Hope is the well spring of life force. The death of hope is the death of the spirit. Nothing in this world is as strong as hope and a sense of mission.”- Dr. Daisaku Ikeda

What would you expect from a man who is wheel chair bound – cannot stand and moves his hands rather fingers with great difficulty? Certainly not to find him on Kaun Bangega Crorepati and winning 12 lacs fifty thousand with considerable ease because this is a dream one in a million like him, would dare to dream and achieve. Those of you who saw the episode will know that the man I am talking about is the young Yusuf Mallu. For the duration that he sat on the ‘hot seat’ opposite Mr. Bacchan, I too sat at the edge of my seat with gritted teeth marvelling at his irresistible passion and unbeatable spirit for life. He played with great confidence, keeping his calm. While I watched him, there is one thought which stayed predominant on my mind – as long as the human spirit is not defeated, nothing can stop us from achieving our dream. No setback, no tragedy, no handicap - Nothing at all. As long as we carry hope in our hearts, all is well.

And then two days later, I chanced upon the account of this man who lost all that he had taken years to build, in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. His story is heart wrenching and as follows – Mr. Kurosawa, a plumber by profession had a spate of consecutive job failures  before he finally managed to set up his own enterprise in May 2005. Shortly thereafter he renovated his house and built an impressive house-cum-showroom. After years of struggle he had just about begun to enjoy the fruit of his hard labour when the tsunami struck and washed away his house right before his eye, while he clung to the branch of a pine tree to save his life. How very difficult and painful it must have been for him and many others who go through similar circumstances. But such is life, difficult to foresee what even tomorrow holds for us.

What would you expect him to do under the given circumstances? - Lament endlessly over his misfortune? Far from it, this man wasted not a single moment in self-pity and lamentation. From the rubble that his house had been reduced to, he pulled out two things – one was a piece of scrap wood which he turned into a signboard that read ‘Gambaro! Ishinomaki!’ (Which means Don’t give up, Ishinomaki).These big, bold letters transfixed everyone who passed by and gave many a glimmer of hope and courage. This was also an expression of his feeling of wanting not to be defeated. The other thing he pulled out was his broken case of plumbing tools, which had the drilling machine intact albeit covered in mud.  Armed with the tool, he felt the sun of hope rise in his heart and two weeks after the tragic incident, Mr Kurosawa had his hands full with plumbing jobs in order to rebuild the devastated land.

I was inspired as I read his story. It reaffirmed to me the power of the human spirit – that as long as we decide not to give up the battle is not over. Nothing is lost. The only way to win is to stay undefeated no matter what happens; undefeated in the face of small or big adversities.

Priceless Jewel

Let me share a Buddhist parable (from the Lotus Sutra) with you   – There was once a man who visited the home of a close friend. He was entertained until he became quite drunk and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, his friend took a jewel of the highest imaginable value and sewed it into the lining of the guest’s robe, hoping to protect him from a life of want or worry.

The guest then set off for other parts. He fell on hard times and became so desperately poor that he was often forced to go hungry. Throughout this time, he remained completely unaware of the priceless jewel sewn inside his robe. It was in this state of extreme poverty that the man again encountered his friend. The friend informed him of the precious jewel affixed to his garment. Naturally, once the man learned of the jewel’s existence, he could become happy.

I was fascinated when I read this story and itched with the desire to share it with you. There is an important lesson to take away from it – The ‘precious jewel’ is an allegory for the state of ultimate happiness which exists in the heart of each one of us. But just like the man in the story, we are unaware of its existence in the depth of our own being. We need someone/something else to point it out for us.  And this is where faith/religion steps in. If despite having taken faith you fail to understand this and remain submerged in sadness, you are just like the man in the parable. 

I know some of you will find it difficult to believe that this state of ultimate happiness exists in each one’s heart. The creator is impartial and has given each one of us that precious jewel. It is just that some of us are aware of it while others are still ignorant about the fact. Some of us strive to polish that jewel each day; while some of us haven’t begun the process yet. But the sooner we start, the more we stand to gain. For then the ‘precious jewel’ fulfils every demand, every wish that we carry in our hearts.  Don’t believe me? – Experiment it for yourself.