“There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.”
You have struggled for that one thing all through your life; that exalted moment of triumph and rejoice, that construct of ecstasy, that unapproachable slice of conquest and victory… Then, when you have almost reached the end of your journey (and you know that this might be your last chance), victory suddenly comes to you, but goes off in a jiffy, before you can cling to it… Read further if this sounds interesting…
This old fisherman was a respected figure among his peers; more so since he was the oldest of them all. However, people believed him to be too old to fish out in the rough and rambunctious ocean. A fatigued physique composed of perceptible network of veins and bones, a belittled fishing boat, and some mangled fishing equipments were the distinction and definition of his identity. Little did they know that the old man cherished a surreptitious ambition; of catching the biggest fish in the ocean. He wanted to present the envious catch to the small boy whom he had adopted.
And one fine day, the old man actually set out in the ocean, to give his ambition one last try. When in the middle of the ocean, he was cajoled by arduous circumstances; rain, storms, starvation, sleeplessness… When he had lost all hope, he felt a sharp tug on his fishing rod. Then a great thud, there was something that lashed strongly against his fishing boat. What he saw next was unbelievable – he had caught a big fish – the biggest he had ever seen in his whole life!!
The old man would definitely remember his gruesome struggle with his pride catch all through his life. The fishing rod was too wretched to hold on to the huge fish. And the fishing boat was too small to accommodate the fish. He knew he had to sail back to the shore with the fish in the water, tugged to the fishing rod. And so he did. The ocean and its dwellers were not that conciliating, though. He saw a row of sharks approaching; and he became intimidated out of wits – not for his own life, but for the sake of his “catch.” He impelled himself to face the circumstances, and the remaining part of his journey back to the shore was a witness of his struggle to save his catch from the roughshod sharks. It was raining heavily when he reached the shore, but the entire fishing community had come to the shore.
The old man hauled up to show the grooviest and envious catch of his lifetime. What he pulled out made the people on the shore awestruck with astonishment and disbelief. It was a massive skeleton of a huge fish, the biggest skeleton that the people in the fishing community had ever seen!!
Well, this is the masterpiece of Ernest Hemingway, the Nobel Laureate in literature. Something that has gone deep into my nerves and cognition. It gives me the motivation to struggle, and to keep struggling throughout. The old man in this masterpiece – “The Old Man and the Sea” – resembles the common man, who could be anyone like you or me. But his struggle is not common; it reflects the struggle of the mellowest grade, which is difficult for a common man to achieve. It also tells that ambitions (just like dreams!!) are to be conserved and adorned. Who knows they might turn into a reality some day. And if not, some defeats are more triumphant than victories.
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This post was written on 5/23/2006
- Michel Eyquem de Montaigned, French philosopher and essayist, in “Of Cannibals,” Chapter XXX
You have struggled for that one thing all through your life; that exalted moment of triumph and rejoice, that construct of ecstasy, that unapproachable slice of conquest and victory… Then, when you have almost reached the end of your journey (and you know that this might be your last chance), victory suddenly comes to you, but goes off in a jiffy, before you can cling to it… Read further if this sounds interesting…
This old fisherman was a respected figure among his peers; more so since he was the oldest of them all. However, people believed him to be too old to fish out in the rough and rambunctious ocean. A fatigued physique composed of perceptible network of veins and bones, a belittled fishing boat, and some mangled fishing equipments were the distinction and definition of his identity. Little did they know that the old man cherished a surreptitious ambition; of catching the biggest fish in the ocean. He wanted to present the envious catch to the small boy whom he had adopted.
And one fine day, the old man actually set out in the ocean, to give his ambition one last try. When in the middle of the ocean, he was cajoled by arduous circumstances; rain, storms, starvation, sleeplessness… When he had lost all hope, he felt a sharp tug on his fishing rod. Then a great thud, there was something that lashed strongly against his fishing boat. What he saw next was unbelievable – he had caught a big fish – the biggest he had ever seen in his whole life!!
The old man would definitely remember his gruesome struggle with his pride catch all through his life. The fishing rod was too wretched to hold on to the huge fish. And the fishing boat was too small to accommodate the fish. He knew he had to sail back to the shore with the fish in the water, tugged to the fishing rod. And so he did. The ocean and its dwellers were not that conciliating, though. He saw a row of sharks approaching; and he became intimidated out of wits – not for his own life, but for the sake of his “catch.” He impelled himself to face the circumstances, and the remaining part of his journey back to the shore was a witness of his struggle to save his catch from the roughshod sharks. It was raining heavily when he reached the shore, but the entire fishing community had come to the shore.
The old man hauled up to show the grooviest and envious catch of his lifetime. What he pulled out made the people on the shore awestruck with astonishment and disbelief. It was a massive skeleton of a huge fish, the biggest skeleton that the people in the fishing community had ever seen!!
Well, this is the masterpiece of Ernest Hemingway, the Nobel Laureate in literature. Something that has gone deep into my nerves and cognition. It gives me the motivation to struggle, and to keep struggling throughout. The old man in this masterpiece – “The Old Man and the Sea” – resembles the common man, who could be anyone like you or me. But his struggle is not common; it reflects the struggle of the mellowest grade, which is difficult for a common man to achieve. It also tells that ambitions (just like dreams!!) are to be conserved and adorned. Who knows they might turn into a reality some day. And if not, some defeats are more triumphant than victories.
________________________________________________________________________
This post was written on 5/23/2006
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