THE SECRET OF SUCCESS
Single-minded Pursuit of Goals
ON April 12th 1983, a young Indian soldier, Kailash Chand, of the 10th Para Commandos, was returning by train to Jodhpur from Pune with other jawans after completing their training.
The 5-Down Ahmedabad-Agra Fort Express was moving at full speed between Jawali and Somesar stations. Kailash Chand was by a window enjoying the breeze when suddenly he saw a jawan falling out of the open door of the next compartment. Momentarily stunned, he lost no time in pulling the chain to halt the train. But as luck would have it the system was inoperative and the train continued to speed along.
Kailash Chand shouted for the guard who was in the next compartment. Unable to attract his attention because of the din of the fast-moving train, he decided that something needs to be done. With utter disregard for his own safety, he rushed out of the compartment, grasped the safety bars of the train and inched his way towards the guard’s van. With flailing legs, the paratrooper managed to reach after about ten agonizing minutes. The guard brought the train to a halt, but it was for the soldier to convince the engine driver that he should reverse the train six kilometres and pick up the fallen soldier. The loco-driver pointed out that he could not take the train back without official orders: The jawan insisted that the soldier be picked up first and the consequences faced later. As a result, the seriously injured soldier was picked up and rushed to hospital. His life had been saved.
Self-fulfilment lies in putting aside all thoughts about oneself and relentlessly pursuing one’s goal.
The Government of India awarded the ‘Vishisht Seva’ medal for bravery to Paratrooper Kailash Chand. Narrating the sequence of events, he said that while inching his way towards the guard’s van, he had been thinking only of the fallen soldier, not his personal safety. All he wanted to do was to stop the train somehow, to save the soldier.
To save the soldier, Kailash Chand had to forget his own safety and after that nothing could stand in his way. Similarly, to succeed in life, one must do what Kailash Chand did. One should put aside all thoughts about oneself and relentlessly pursue one’s goal. Personal considerations are what people give importance to but success demands a single-minded pursuit of the goal even if it be at the expense of personal security.