Struggle and Success

When we study the lives of successful people, the one common thread that we see binding them all is that they never gave up. They kept on trying and bettering themselves every time that they failed.

Success and struggle are two sides of the same coin; you can’t have one without the other.

Struggle can be hell - but it is a necessary step. Struggle hard, and you are sure to find success, as sure as day follows night.

We often have difficulty appreciating the truth behind this because we are so far removed the people who struggle and succeed – be it Walt Disney or Dhirubhai Ambani

So let me tell you about something much closer to you, something that you can see for yourself, because it’s right at the heart of Bangalore.

Sarada Math is the women’s wing of the Ramakrishna Ashram. In Bangalore their centre is on Nandidurga Road, just opposite Cafe Coffee Day, where apart from a temple they also run a primary school and a charitable dispensary for the underprivileged.

If you can, spare some time to visit it, because it is a beautiful place, not noticeable from the outside. With tall trees, a fruit garden and flowering plants, it's almost like an oasis in the concrete jungle that surrounds it. It is a serene and quiet place that somehow defies the roaring traffic just outside its gates.

See it once to get a measure of its serenity and then consider this.

When they received the land to build this ashram, it was a barren place devoid of a single blade of grass.

In fact it was actually a deep hole in the ground that was being used as a garbage dump.

From a barren garbage dump to a green oasis. And the transformation brought about by a small band of women monks living on charity.

In a country where women face challenges in every sphere of life, here are a band of women monks, who have made the impossible happen, all by themselves.

Think of the challenge they faced. Reflect on the difficulty of their task. Go take a look to see what has been accomplished.

And then think. Are your challenges stiffer than what they faced ?

‘Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.’ So says the Bible.

Struggle, and you will find success.