The False ‘ Once in a Lifetime train”

There is a saying in hindi which has stuck with me since childhood

der aaye durust aaye ( better late then never).

But what i have seen in my experiences allow me to take the message a bit further

aaj der hui to kya hua, kal fir train aayegi ( what if you missed the train today, tomorrow there will be another)

What it essentially means is that one should not be stuck to this notion that the opportunity is like a once in a lifetime train and once you miss it, you have lost it. It happens all the time though. I remember since my childhood, there were these false one time trains which we created for ourselves. Till we were in junior school, it was the marks obtained in std 10. If one does not get more than 90%, its a missed train. I missed it, and amazingly, a new false one time train was announced, this time, IIT JEE. If i could not clear it, it was a missed train. I catched this train, after 2 failed attempts and with a bad seat ( read bad all india rank). And i thaught that since i have catched the train of opportunity, all is set. No need for further hard work, planning, studying, anything at all and no more once in a lifetime train to catch.

Guess What , i was wrong. I new train was announced, Good CGPA ( >8.5)

WOW , i thought. Must be some kind of a treasure hunt. Wherein you get to know the clue to the next location only once you crack the previous clue. But wait, its different. Even if you don’t crack the previous clue, you get teh clue to the next location. So what is it actually ? A fool`s treasure hunt maybe. It was i think the biggest realization of my whole life. And it empowers you so much more to play the game with this realization. This knowledge, that there is no — once in a lifetime train and you can afford to miss a train, or 2 , or 100; you will still be in the game , is the single most important thing i have learnt till date.

Look around you, the people. They have all taken different trains to reach wherever they have reached in life. So how can it be that the so called -once in a lifetime trains are same for everyone. Remember the least bright student of your kindergarten, or std 1. Where is she/he now. Chances are that she/he would have missed more trains then you. So is it given that today you are ahead of her/him. I doubt.

I doubt because, life , like career is not a straight line. Some trains are worth taking, some are worth missing, and some if missed, can be caught later.