A life of modest victories and devastating failures

Life is ebbing down the nondescript lane of mediocrity into the bottomless crevasse called anonymity...every ounce of rapidly dwindling energy intending to stem the rot is only hastening the inevitable. This course of terminal decline emerged as a direct fallout of the best laid plans going haywire..raw instinct conceding a crushing defeat to the might of time tested wisdom of the wise and the experienced.

Self belief and confidence have taken a brutal body blow which has seemingly doused out all hopes of extrication from the ruins of what was not too long ago a landscape teeming with tonnes of positive energy.

The halcyon engineering days couldn't have been in stark contrast to the present day mess.

Life back then was never gratified with just ascending to the top of the heap. The onus was always on keeping two steps ahead of a chasing pack hot on the heels, epitomising the cliché that staying at the summit is incredibly tougher than reaching the same for the first time. There was no time to rest on the laurels because the competition didn't just get more intense and fierce with every passing battle, adverseries also had the chance of scrutinising and nullifying the numero uno's strengths and exploiting his weaknesses in a frenetic bid to topple him. But the very sniff of any pursuer getting close used to send adrenaline coursing through the veins with a fury so wild that it remorselessly wiped out the tiniest traces of complacency that could have inadvertently seeped in.

Not all was smooth sailing though. Two particular instances stood out after a lacklustre first year. With branch subjects making their bow, the real competition would begin in right earnest - one war, six battles. Just at the onset of the third semester exams, however, a debilitating illness threatened to run riot over a meticulously formulated plan to set a blistering pace first up. What ensued next was a remarkable triumph of mind over body...the mind would just not allow the body to succumb to the crippling effects of the illness as it inspired a thrilling second fastest sprint across the finish line. Going into the following semester, the deficit to the leader was sizeable but not insurmountable. Yet third sem had set a scorching marker for the rest of the pack...here was someone who was going to take some stopping when hostilities would resume.

Fourth, fifth and sixth sems were no strolls in the park but three convincing wins on the trot, fuelled by the momentum gained from the third semester exploits always ensured that the nearest of competitors lurched beyond an arm's length and not breathing down the neck. With each victorious battle, the lead was swelling until seventh sem brought about a bizarre twist to the tale. The final finish line was beginning to hover above the horizon, when in an inexplicable lowering of the guard, five members of the chasing pack suddenly wheezed past.

The aura of virtual invincibility was strewn apart as the hunter got hunted down but the war was not over yet...one final battle remained. Not relinquishing the overall lead was scant consolation for a narrow defeat in a closely fought battle. A point was needed to be proved. 'Alls well that ends well' goes an adage , and in a virtuoso display of skill, timing and finesse, the hunter coasted to an emphatic win in the finale of a gruelling campaign that also sealed the war decisively in his favour. Competition was ruthlessly snuffed out as the adversaries were left trailing once again for one final time, by a yawning distance in his wake. Victory tasted saccharine sweet because the hunter was well too acquainted with the bitter pills of two failures amidst four wins.

Everything has been on a downward trail since then. The futility of expending valuable energy to win those battles became all too obvious and painful to bear when lesser guys with far less ambition and effort got lucky breaks at critical junctures that catapulted their careers to dizzying heights. For the once proud hunter, opportunities to soar became too few and far in between as a catastrophic combination of ill-luck and a flickering focus borne out of languishing at a wrong place for far too long, wrecked havoc.

Things have come to such a passe that the perils of life in the private sector have started rearing their ugly heads. Virtues like 'sincerity', 'loyalty' and 'dedication to job' have long since ceased to have any meaning as they are conveniently forgotten at the whims and fancies of corrupt and totally inept bosses. Instead mudslinging and the rate of pampering of over inflated egos have become essential to rise up the perilously rotten echelons.

But as in football where no match is lost till the final whistle is blown, life is never a cause to be hopelessly abandoned. Often in football, teams with their backs to the walls, patiently build from the back. They believe that one backward step can lead to two forward steps.

Likewise, a backward step in life can often be the precusor to two forward steps. A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner. Success is destined for only those people who slug it out, never get fazed by setbacks and do not lose sight of their goals. Only losers attribute failure to a lack of inspiration or motivation in a bid to hide their lack of sustained focus, effort and determination.

For as long as there is life there is hope...as long as there is hope there is a reason to live....as long as there is a reason to live..life is beautiful and worth living..