Keep The Faith — You Will Prevail
I remember a long time ago talking to Shiamak Dawar about his dancing career. It was a rare moment of candour during some meetings we were having about an event. He said ‘you have no idea what it was like deciding on a career like dancing way back then. First of all the only dancers were girls who pranced around in films. To add to this challenge not only was I a man, I was a Parsi. All the elders in the community thought I was mad. So evening after evening I used to practice my guts out and the only thing that kept me going was faith.”
Recently I was watching an interview with Virat Kohli. He talked about a time when he realised that to really break into the international level he needed to lose 12 kgs and fast. I still remember his words, “I used to go to bed with a bag of chola next to me. My stomach used to be growling with hunger. My mother was really angry because she wanted to feed me some nice Punjabi paranthas. But me? I kept imagining myself in the Indian team as I ate one chola at a time!”
The third story is about an industrialist who once spoke to me in confidence. He said that “when I first came to this town there was a certain arrogant business owner who used to treat me like dirt and ignore me at functions and parties. He did everything possible to wipe out my business. I thought of giving up and going back to my home town many times. But I kept going. Now my business is ten times the size of his.”
I couldn’t help asking, “so now what happens in functions and parties?” He gave a boyish smile and said, “he still ignores me, but I go up and give him a big ‘hello’ and discuss the weather with him.”
Faith. It’s the inner absolute certainty that you will prevail. No matter what the odds. Faith can build cities. Construct ships. Climb mountains. Amass fortunes. Take over corner offices. Create towering companies. Make the impossible possible. Make the unlikely likely. Do you have unshakable ever-present faith? I don’t. But I try. It’s not easy. In the teeth of challenge. When success looks very daunting. When efforts after efforts don’t work.
Like a huge battering ram on a castle door each blow shakes the foundations of your faith. Is there a way out? Actually there is. Stop imagining the worst. I like to tell people. If you can imagine the unlikeliest scenario like getting run over on the road. Then why not imagine winning a million dollar lottery also. Both are as likely.
Don’t look ahead. You only start pondering a series of scary scenarios which are most unlikely to happen. Look back. Look back at the number of times you got lucky. The number of times you were saved by chance. The number of times you dodged a bullet. The number of times someone unexpected helped you.
I wrote a poem about this for all of you about stuff like this.
Every time throughout your life
I have always placed what you needed
I have put a road where you needed to walk
I have put stairs when you needed to climb
I have put signs when you lost your way
I have put an umbrella when rain was coming
I even put little boats when you had to walk on water
And handles when you slipped down a mountain
So I wonder why
When there is a little darkness
You do not trust
That I will light a lamp in time
Now let your resolve be strong
And your heart be still
I have always been there
And I always will!
