THE WHOLE HOG

I was raised in a small town of an adjoining state of Delhi- the capital of India. Our sleepy town would see its men folk leave towards Delhi in the morning hours and return later in the night after their respective works. As children, we were accountable for many activities of our lives and followed strict directives from both elders at home and teachers at school. At a relatively young age, we were introduced to always perform to the best ability.

The memories of watching batches passing out of the school and following their success stories of joining institutions of repute guided many of us. The chasms of teenage were overcome easily as a set of friends would keep balancing each other’s hormonal instincts. The focus of the desired end state of the student life never was lost amidst the fog of life’s teenage stage. It was difficult for many to retain the balance as everything around and inside us changed at a rapid pace. This eventually led to the creation of the paths that we all took to commence our respective professional and personal lives. There were no short cuts for many of us and we always took the harder rights instead of the easier wrongs. There was simply no turning back but to go the whole hog each time that we moved any needle.

The harder rights of life remind me of the history of many a Kings and Emperors. It is at the point where they needed to go the whole hog that they probably missed their definitions and paid the price. The famous Battle of Buxar fought on 23 Oct 1764 in India saw an Emperor and two rulers of princely states (called Nawabs) losing to a lesser force of British East India Company (EIC). The Mughal Army appeared stronger in number with 40,000 men as against a 10,000 men army of the EIC. The Army must go the whole hog if it must be declared the winner. To achieve the victory, the General must be in clear picture of the war theatre and guiding his forces to move ahead. After all, the defenses of those days were laid at defined distances and cannot be altered thus thinning the lines. Historians summed up that this battle was lost by the larger Army due to lack of coordination as the Emperor never came out of his tent to lead his forces into the battle. He did not go the whole hog and bargained a different position with the EIC. The victory by a smaller force brought the EIC unprecedented rights over the rich parts of East India and their monetary returns compounded. The EIC did not stop here and went the whole hog to expand its reach to Delhi which eventually saw the Imperial Durbar being held three times in 1877, 1903 and 1911. The company had gone the whole hog to achieve its aim of maximizing its shareholder’s profits and to carry out the business in the way its leadership deemed best. The decisions of the leadership of the company have long term effects and a closer scrutiny would reveal that the decision’s results reach their whole hog.

The Emperor managed to live the day of 23 Oct 1764 and then waited for another 12 years before he could set towards Delhi- the so-called capital of the Mughal Empire. Had he gone the whole hog with the other 2 components of his forces on the day of the Battle of Buxar, his history might have had a different connotation! He took a strategic decision of not participating in the battle to achieve an easier alignment and his achievement narrative changed that day. He never could become the Emperor the Mughal Empire needed at that time when European Forces had found their feet into the riches of India.

Alexander too had the great desire to be the ruler of the World. He had the charisma to pull off stunning victories even when outnumbered. He could rally his troops even when their morale was fledgling, and he could keep them away from their homes to move from one campaign to another. He had a General called Clitus who had also served under Alexander’s father Philip. Clitus was aware of Alexander’s instincts and kept by his side to give him wise counsel.

In the autumn of 328, however, a tragic incident took place. After a difficult war, Alexander was in a drinking party in the palace at Maracanda in Sogdia. Many of his courtiers were flattering Alexander for the difficult win. Some called him the son of Zeus-Ammon and belittled Alexander's human father Philip, others made jokes about the commanders who had been defeated and killed by the native leader Spitamenes. This was more than Clitus, who had served under Philip and knew the dead commanders, could stomach: he started to praise Philip.

Hearing his words, Alexander felt offended, and in his drunken rage pushed aside his bodyguards and ran a lance through Clitus, who died on the spot. Alexander had gone the whole hog albeit not in his usual self. The result was a dead General who had the capability to advise his King. When the king was sober again, he understood that he had made one of the greatest mistakes of his life. For three days, he considered suicide but then he decided to accept life again as his other men built up the narrative that he could rest upon. This may have been comfortable to Alexander but set a new standard of flattery. From now on, hardly anybody dared to correct Alexander any more. The hog was not going to be whole again for Alexander from this point onwards. True to its core, the half hogs continued to trouble Alexander from here onwards and his race came to an end in an abrupt manner. The man who set upon to conquer the World died at 33 in Babylon. Shortly before his death, Alexander was supposedly asked who his empire should go to. His answer was said to be "to the strongest man." There was nobody strong enough to hold his empire together. His generals fought over his land and in the end, it was divided up into multiple states. The effort was all but vain as none could go the whole hog after Alexander’s attempt.

In any form of existence, it is vital to complete the details to the finest possible end. This would ensure that the act and the result would match. Humans do have the intrinsic capability to go the whole hog to deliver the result. Many targets have been achieved because some humans thought that they could achieve them. A Nepalese climber climbed 14 highest peaks in 189 days to smash the existing record by more than 7 years! In his own words, this feat was grueling but humbling. He brought forth his determination, self-belief and positivity. These traits helped him reach the whole hog each time he took that first step at the base of the mountain. In this amazing display of tenacity, another accompanying climber became the youngest climber to scale the 14 highest peaks. It was only possible as they went atop each of the peak to register their final step. The whole hog of each peak culminated in the whole hog for the 14 peaks and that too in a record time. This is the spirit of going the complete way to get magnificent results.

An Emperor sitting inside his tent or a youthful King losing his self- control do not go the whole hog and along with them many others also miss their intended destinies. This goes on to prove a point that human destinies are interlinked. The right end provides succor and relief to the achiever as also to his connected humans. Each problem has a solution and once the action is decided- it is best to pursue the whole hog effort. Do not give up till the end and keep the effort focused in the right direction.

Do you have it in you, eh!!! The whole hog approach is demanding and punishing but in the end the result is equally satisfying. The world around is changing at a rapid pace in every dimension. Let us go the whole hog way and scale up the efforts.