Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Great BOOT-POLISH Competition of 1958* - II

"FROM RAILWAY PLATFORM TO THE PATH OF GLORY"
The New York Times, 15th of September: He resides at the New York Railway platform, he earns his bread by polishing other's shoes all day but today he is on top of the world. Meet Sebastian, the winner of the Great BOOT-POLISH competition. Sebastian is the winner of 1,00,000 dollars and his happiness knows no bounds.....


Andrew was shattered, he was taken aback, 30 days of sheer hard work led him to absolutely nothing. He was totally unnoticed, someone who was worth nothing stole the show. After all, what was Sebastian? He wasn't even educated or had a proper schooling, then how could he win everything? How could Andrew loose to him? It was shameful...

But wasn't this quite obvious? A boot-polisher like Sebastian who is a professional at polishing shoes ought to win the competition, after all he was the best! But, was it fair that Andrew's hard work was not rewarded? Was it fair for Sebastian to win the fight when there were so many others who had worked so hard? Was it fair for the organizers to allow Sebastian to participate in the competition? You would not invite professional painters to a painting competition and then declare them as the winners leaving all others fooled!

Fair or unfair, one thing was sure - Andrew was cheated, by himself! Yes, he cheated himself by participating in this mega trick. He cheated himself by not realizing his value. He cheated himself by getting carried away. He cheated himself by his haste for making it BIG. He cheated himself by ignoring the universal truth

The truth that his destiny was inscribed to his fortune before his birth and he couldn't change it, in fact, no one could. His path was laid and he had to walk it, there was no looking back neither any alternate ways. He had to find that path, he had to hunt for it and then explore it's true potential. Wasn't it true what Shakespeare had said about us? This world is a stage and we all are actors. Our roles have been pre-defined, we need to realize it and play our parts. And this was where Andrew cheated himself, by not playing his part, by not realizing his role and it's purpose.

What role will you play in this world or Will you cheat yourself?

THE END

* - This is purely a work of fiction, any resemblance to similar stories, old or new is purely coincidental. No part of this maybe copied or reproduced without the permission from the blogger.

1 comment:

Mansi said...

avi, da things u hav written abt andrews' struggle to win da trophy jus showed me one person n tht was 'u'.

1 thing i'd like to clarify is, u told its was andrew's fault tht he cheated himself n he shd explore his destined path.....but whts da point widout taking 'risks'(as paulo coelho in BRIDA said) n waiting for da path...he took da path n found it to be wrong n andrews thts 'u' would never stop ur search of ur path...