Would VVS Laxman’s lone batting battle be any less glorious had India lost? Well, it may seem so, for, winning is the statistical reality that will linger in memory once the match itself fades into the maze of time. But his effort was valiant by all standards and odds. For it exemplified a never-say-die human spirit that refused to declare defeat even when it stared him in the face. Eventually, it was this sheer stoic refusal that made defeat beat a retreat, in a classic repeat of Indo-Aussie cricketing history. VVS was actually lucky, for, the win, though incidental compared to his feat, was what made it also sweet.
Of course, cricket is just an agent provocateur to take a plunge into the philosophy of patience. The alibi, however, is that it is a practical philosophy, not just idle musing. So, let’s now look beyond cricket and get to the larger lesson from Laxman’s level-headedness that landed him the last laugh: The art of staying put to succeed. Whoever said the patient ones will rule the earth must have been quiet a patient bloke, having had the patience to observe and conclude thus. Or, probably, it was a wild but prophetic expression of angst by an impatient man on the verge of giving up. Whatever, history and human exprience prove beyond all doubt the winning virtues of sedate tortoises over hasty hares.
It is not that fortune does not favour flair and flamboyance. But energetic enterprise is no substitute for endurance. Sure, speedy sirens like Sehwag are indeed a spectacular sight to behold. But none can deny the element of lottery in them; whereas, the likes of Laxman are akin to money in the bank (someone said that about Sunil Gavaskar)! And we know what matters most on a rainy day, on a sticky wicket. The patient plodder is less likely to slip than a smooth skater. So in the arena of life too!
Of course, patience seems like an easy and lazy option, not upto the tastes of the racy homo sapiens of today. But that’s because patience is often taken to mean passivity, which, incidentally, is not wholly a vice either. Whereas idleness is. Really, patience is a product of passivity and perseverance. A patient person does not shun action; he only postpones or even proscribes an external reaction. If we care to look beyond the instant and the outward, it will be obvious that the mind behind the calm face is working at a feverish pace, and if it can show, will sweat more than the muscles. From a purely karmic perspective too, thought is action. A patient person works his grey matter to know the trend of wind and tide so that he can ride home with minimal rowing. An impatient man on the contrary is all action, but fighting against the flow, only to be status quo!
Patience is not without its flip side. An unjust and unequal world throws up so many challenges for physical and financial survival that patience almost seems like a stint in fool’s paradise. It is not easy to watch the crowds pass by while you remain rooted. But in a circular world which itself is always on the rounds, those up front can also be deemed to be behind. And often it is so, a truism that not just tortoises but even tottering politicos have proved to our torment. Indeed, ‘Patience pays’ is also a motto that even the material minded of all shades, good, bad and ugly, would gladly concede. After all, waiting it out to wear out the opponent is a time-tested tactic.
Patience does not preclude anger. Rather it adds value to it, for patience under pressure or provocation demands greater courage. A person on a short fuse actually dilutes indignation. But when patience gives away after a legitimate gestation, the resultant rage carries a force of conviction that is difficult to withstand. Patience, therefore, is a state of mind. Obviously, a patient person exists in a moment or at a particular situation and may not carry the virtue as a permanant personality trait. If so he would be a saint. Patience may also be born of fatigue or owing to absence of options. But even if it be only by default it is not a bad habit either. Given the external imponderables and our own limitations, patience is actually the only choice. Better to court it willingly rather than import it grudgingly!
I have been an impatient person all my life, much like many of you. The doughty and the dogged are objects of respect, rarely of emulation. I have often mocked at inaction, unable to distinguish between the impotence of the weak and the prudence of the wise. Life has always been about the here and now as if the country, clock and calendar are ever waiting to do my bidding. It has taken quite a few direct hits to realise how effortlessly one can rush into the trap, a minefield often, of self-exultation and foolishly tilt at the windmills of time and tide. And how stupid it is to always seek to win when the cosmic compulsion is all about persevering pursuit with no such guarantees at all. While from the start, as with Laxman’s batting, the pleasure was in the patient play, less in the result which could go any way.
Aah, what a wisdom from the willow! And that I suppose is enough test of your patience! Anyway, just writing about it itself has been quite a trial of mine!
e-mail the writer at [email protected]