In the Beginning...

Perhaps the most painful step for a child, who is aspiring to walk, is the very first step, and yet it cannot be frightened of the risk and stop trying, and I cannot think of a child who began to walk at the very first trial. There is bound to be falls, though the parents and siblings would be ever ready to support and hold the child, and yet it has to fall to the ground and rise up again… and after a few trials, it get the confidence without anyone telling that it can now stand by itself. Such is exactly the kind of experience every one of us go through in life, especially when we embark on something significant and noteworthy in life: if the very first step is put forward with confidence and assurance that life will not let us down, then the rest is history.

But one of the greatest impediments in the very first step is fright, fear of the unknown; fear of the failure, and fear of redicule. And luckily a child does not need to worry about any of these, because everything is part of its learning experience; the innocence of the child knows no fear, and redicule. I have seen in children that when they try to walk and fall to the ground, they do not mind getting up and proceeding further. But if there are some others to express sympathy to it, then it begins to cry, and refuses to move forward. There are many of us adults who are afraid of letting a child walk by itself, and even if that means falling a couple of times.

Any big enterprise or project or collaborative venture has to begin with a humble beginning, and some of the richest and most noteworthy Fortune 500 companies have all had beginnings which are not even worth mentioning, but that is how the world treats each of us. How and where we put our first step forward is going to determine our future steps. If I am bold and determined already at my first step, then I am sure to move ahead with greater courage and strength. But unfortunately we adults cannot run away from fear of failure, of redicule and of uncertainty. These are part and parcel of any first step, and those who are too frightened of these cannot proceed further in life.

Every great enterprise did not take full shape within a day; all that is required to build a sky-kissing multi-storey building is a single brick placed in position at the foundation. Now where and how this first brick is placed is going to determine the direction of the building. I need not be the best mason in the world to determine where and how I am to place the first stone; there are people all around me, and all that I would required to do is to identity the best person to help me in this enterprise, and rope him/her into my enterprise; thus every great or small project can take full shape only when it is the fruit of a collaborative enterprise.

I have realized that many of the fairly big works of mine have always begun as a silly attempt from my part, and as I continued to keep the momentum and interest, the silly attempt had taken wings and begin to have an existence of its own irrespective of me. I had not been trusting in my own capacity to carry it forward, but slowly as I tried to toy with the idea, I realize that once the seed has sprouted, all that the plant requires is sunlight and water. The soil would have all the other nutrients which are required for the plant to let it grow to yield flowers and fruits. The very first step has the potentiality to bear manifold flowers and fruits, and therefore I need to make sure that the seed is well-formed and is mature to undergo the harsh process of dying and being reborn. Just as every beginning is the end of one process, every end is also the beginning of another greater process. I am part and parcel of this ennobling, enriching process!