TAKE THAT CALL

The young archer bowed in front of his teacher’s idol and raised his bow for the aim. One after the other, the arrows left his bow as the string gave them momentum towards the intended target. His aim was perfect and all his shots hit the bull’s eye with great precision. His gaze froze at the target’s line and the arrows cut across the air to sizzle the target. The new master was emerging and had majored in his art. His teacher was merely an idol who had never given any course correction to his art.

Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed the Lunar Module on Moon’s surface on 20 Jul 1969. A debate raged for days together to decide who would step out on to the lunar surface first- Buzz or Neil. Neil Armstrong was the Commander of the Apollo-11 mission and Buzz Aldrin was the Lunar Module pilot. Should the Commander of the mission get sacrificed in case of an emergency or the Lunar Module Pilot? Their seating positions inside the Lunar Module decided the history’s turn that day!!!

The young archer was Eklavya. He was summoned by his virtual Master when he saw a dog’s mouth stuffed with arrows as Eklavya ’s practice got disturbed by the dog’s barking. He fired arrow after arrow and kept the dog’s mouth opened without any physical injuries to the dog. The Master and his stunned pupils examined the dog and realized that Eklavya had picked up his art merely by focusing on his Master’s idol and zeal to learn the art of archery. The master asked for his gift for training him with virtual presence and Eklavya willfully sacrificed his right thumb as per his Master’s diktat.

Eklavya could never shoot precisely fired arrows again and neither Buzz Aldrin could step out to the first man on Moon. Logic sometimes defies clarity. Had Eklavya refused that day or had Buzz Aldrin demanded to be the first man on lunar surface citing the vulnerable Commander’s position of Neil Armstrong? Who knows what history would have been? What is it that defies humans to take that call which can make the difference between achievements and the also ran?

In almost all lives, situations keep on emerging out of nowhere. Many of these situations rattle the motley humans and majority of them try to subvert or avoid the confrontations. This is the most likely reason for not being able to take that call and to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. Coupled with the lack of the will power is also a sense of either gratitude or fear or lethargy or obedience or a combination of many such traits. It is a natural phenomenon to many humans to just give up when the odds are stacked against them. They merely raise their heads and immediately surrender when the situation appears to be big. Most of the times the fight is over even before the fight has begun.

What would have happened had Eklavya refused to the demand of his virtual master? The various options would have then raked the Master’s mind as his task of creating the best archer amongst his royal pupils would not have been accomplished. Maybe, Eklavya would have challenged the royalty at various occasions and emerged victorious or Eklavya might have been punished for his defiance. Both Eklavya and the Master would have weighed their respective options as moments ticked by them. Eklavya was alone in those moments and his call was to follow the Master’s demand. He willfully cut his right thumb and sacrificed his entire talent in that one moment. Why did he train so hard? Was he not confident about his art? Was he scared? Arjun would have still won the war even if he was the second best to Eklavya and if Eklavya would not have sided Arjun’s enemies. The Master could have easily guided Eklavya to remain neutral in case his services were sought during “Mahabharata”. Many such questions can now be posed to gauge the gravity of situation on Eklavya’s mind. The outcome of the entire episode was that Eklavya had taken a call which a student should take and provide a gift to his Master. The questions would continue to arise still!!

Buzz Aldrin could have staked his claim to step on the Lunar Surface when the craft touched down. The biggest stumbling block was the design of the craft wherein the door opened towards Neil Armstrong’s side. It was a design issue. Did the designers factor that Commander of the mission would be compromised in case of any emergency at the Lunar Surface? Who took that call to design such a door from where the Commander of the Mission only could come out easily and without damaging any equipment of the Lunar Module? Did Buzz think that there would be next missions wherein he would have been the natural choice to be the Mission Commander and would re-touch on the Lunar Surface? Or did he think that in case something went wrong, he would have the opportunity to retract safely to the mother ship?

The questions that history poses are difficult to answer many times and the mind can be sent into the tail spin. Debates and arguments rule the roost as humans sit down to dissect the decisions of the past. Do those decisions affect the present day humans? Aren’t many of the humans still doing a great injustice to their very own existence by not taking the right calls and not performing their assigned duties? What do they wait for as they let the issues struggle under them? The entire humanity suffers as many of us keep waiting for someone else to complete the task. Humans have a wonderful ability to let the chaos prevail and grow in each situation. Basically, this reflects the inability to take the initiative and seize the moment as it emerges. There are ample proofs in each situation analysis that the correct agents were available to diffuse the situation, but they did not react. The loss is of the entire humanity which faces the brunt of that particular situation.

This goes without saying that each human has the ability to take a positive call. The spheres are well defined wherein someone has to get up and face the wall. Scare should be met with dare and if the intention is positive then the public opinion should not matter. Stand up once and take the positive call- it would set the record straight for the entire life as human courage builds up with practice. So, go on and accept the life’s challenges with all the guts and achieve glory. Take that call as it matters only at that moment when the situation raises its head, a late response does not yield the best result.

Do not sacrifice your challenge if you can do better for this World. Future demands that humans take positive calls on the arenas of their lives and create better influences for whatever is left of this World.

Do you have it in you, eh??