A Short Story On Competition
He walked in swiftly past his dad towards his bedroom.
“Dad, wake me up at 5.45 tomorrow. I am terribly tired.” Niren’s voice was heard from inside.
“Niren, could you not spend a few minutes to talk with me?”
“Dad, I am tired. 16 hours at office. How could a boss be so inconsiderate?” he replied, but he was also seen walking into the hall to occupy that little space next his dad on the couch.
Throwing his arm around his son’s shoulder he asked “What happened Niren? I have been assuming it’s because of your interest you work until late. Otherwise, I would certainly have asked you the moment I saw you tired few weeks back”
“yeah it was my interest initially and now compulsion. Leave it dad. I will be alright soon" he wanted to close the topic.
“listen, are you being asked to work until late hours?”
“…mm.. not exactly dad”
“then?”
He thought for quite a while. His dad was patiently looking at him. Niren in that composed environment created by his father could think clearly.
“they call it competition, dad. He who does more, they say, wins the race.”
“Do you toil yourself to do more”
“I am afraid I may say yes. But I am not very clear as to where the boundary of more is. I am nearly confused. Though I tend to get along with the conventional world I am certainly not for it. I mean the competition”
“why?”
“You tell me Dad. Why should one compete for anything in this world?”
“Niren, I believe you have your thought process correct but for a slight confusion. You have almost answered your question” he looked at his son’s tired eyes for a while and continued “yes, as you asked, why should compete for anything is this world? Believe me everyone has everything to be availed in this world and in surplus. However in this polarized world, as with human emotions and thoughts, there has been an imbalanced accumulation of everything, be it either wealth or health”
“am I right is believing that competition is wrong?”
“yes you are. Do you believe I love you and your little sister?”
“yes I do.”
“Will you believe if I say, I can assure a happy life to only either of you, based on some criterion?”
“No I won’t”
“why”
“you are our father. Its hard for me to think of you liking a win-lose situation between your children”
“Good. If it is that difficult for a dad to think so, do you think the creator, God, would ever have thought about win-lose situation among its creations?”
“I am not sure I have understood”
“well. Is the so-called competition not about creating winners and losers? When one has to believe that the universal law of unconditional Love was laid by the creator, the ideology of competition certainly violates it. Isn’t it? ”
“I believe I get what you convey. But, is the entire world not functioning around that ideology? Is everything wrong?”
“Niren, it has evolved over years. The culprit has been human desire. As it grew, the potential of the desires getting exploited expanded too. There happened to be rulers/lords. They understood that potential and made use of it. Finally, fellow humans get exploited for their own desires. Competition, once that happened only for entertainment, is now into our daily activities. It has gone so deep into our blood that your each and every action is measured at your work place. You call it performance measurement and rewards.
“do you mean to say one’s performance should not be measured?”
“need not be if it were a perfect environment. Freedom means responsibility. Assume an office where there is no weighing of tasks. Those who take freedom for granted, and those who desire to accumulate and become more and more, create the necessity to induce competition. They have made life so hard that at this juncture a competition-free world has become an incomprehensible entity for humans”
“I understand your words. But if there were nothing called competition, what else can drive this activity world?”
“Passion. Develop passion over what you do. Or do what you are passionate about “
“How will it make any difference?”
“It will. Competition induces inside you, fear; fear of losing. It will make you look around to measure yourself against others. Passion gives you the freedom. It gives you joy. You only do what you are supposed to do. The boundary is defined by you. And you never look around”
"Will I not stand odd out of this world where fear of competition implies incompetence?"
"Why do you have to care? yet beware, you may touch unreachable heights or, you may hit rock bottom in what they call as achievements. But it is not a concern for those who are driven by passion. Because they become fearless."
“I get it clear now. What am I supposed to do?”
“wake up with a fresh mind and let your moments be passion driven. I do not say that you shall then come home early. But take care of your health. Goodnight Niren. I shall wake you up at 5.45”
“Goodnight dad. I love you” he left to his bedroom
The creator watched his son with a smile.
“Dad, wake me up at 5.45 tomorrow. I am terribly tired.” Niren’s voice was heard from inside.
“Niren, could you not spend a few minutes to talk with me?”
“Dad, I am tired. 16 hours at office. How could a boss be so inconsiderate?” he replied, but he was also seen walking into the hall to occupy that little space next his dad on the couch.
Throwing his arm around his son’s shoulder he asked “What happened Niren? I have been assuming it’s because of your interest you work until late. Otherwise, I would certainly have asked you the moment I saw you tired few weeks back”
“yeah it was my interest initially and now compulsion. Leave it dad. I will be alright soon" he wanted to close the topic.
“listen, are you being asked to work until late hours?”
“…mm.. not exactly dad”
“then?”
He thought for quite a while. His dad was patiently looking at him. Niren in that composed environment created by his father could think clearly.
“they call it competition, dad. He who does more, they say, wins the race.”
“Do you toil yourself to do more”
“I am afraid I may say yes. But I am not very clear as to where the boundary of more is. I am nearly confused. Though I tend to get along with the conventional world I am certainly not for it. I mean the competition”
“why?”
“You tell me Dad. Why should one compete for anything in this world?”
“Niren, I believe you have your thought process correct but for a slight confusion. You have almost answered your question” he looked at his son’s tired eyes for a while and continued “yes, as you asked, why should compete for anything is this world? Believe me everyone has everything to be availed in this world and in surplus. However in this polarized world, as with human emotions and thoughts, there has been an imbalanced accumulation of everything, be it either wealth or health”
“am I right is believing that competition is wrong?”
“yes you are. Do you believe I love you and your little sister?”
“yes I do.”
“Will you believe if I say, I can assure a happy life to only either of you, based on some criterion?”
“No I won’t”
“why”
“you are our father. Its hard for me to think of you liking a win-lose situation between your children”
“Good. If it is that difficult for a dad to think so, do you think the creator, God, would ever have thought about win-lose situation among its creations?”
“I am not sure I have understood”
“well. Is the so-called competition not about creating winners and losers? When one has to believe that the universal law of unconditional Love was laid by the creator, the ideology of competition certainly violates it. Isn’t it? ”
“I believe I get what you convey. But, is the entire world not functioning around that ideology? Is everything wrong?”
“Niren, it has evolved over years. The culprit has been human desire. As it grew, the potential of the desires getting exploited expanded too. There happened to be rulers/lords. They understood that potential and made use of it. Finally, fellow humans get exploited for their own desires. Competition, once that happened only for entertainment, is now into our daily activities. It has gone so deep into our blood that your each and every action is measured at your work place. You call it performance measurement and rewards.
“do you mean to say one’s performance should not be measured?”
“need not be if it were a perfect environment. Freedom means responsibility. Assume an office where there is no weighing of tasks. Those who take freedom for granted, and those who desire to accumulate and become more and more, create the necessity to induce competition. They have made life so hard that at this juncture a competition-free world has become an incomprehensible entity for humans”
“I understand your words. But if there were nothing called competition, what else can drive this activity world?”
“Passion. Develop passion over what you do. Or do what you are passionate about “
“How will it make any difference?”
“It will. Competition induces inside you, fear; fear of losing. It will make you look around to measure yourself against others. Passion gives you the freedom. It gives you joy. You only do what you are supposed to do. The boundary is defined by you. And you never look around”
"Will I not stand odd out of this world where fear of competition implies incompetence?"
"Why do you have to care? yet beware, you may touch unreachable heights or, you may hit rock bottom in what they call as achievements. But it is not a concern for those who are driven by passion. Because they become fearless."
“I get it clear now. What am I supposed to do?”
“wake up with a fresh mind and let your moments be passion driven. I do not say that you shall then come home early. But take care of your health. Goodnight Niren. I shall wake you up at 5.45”
“Goodnight dad. I love you” he left to his bedroom
The creator watched his son with a smile.
posted by Saravanan at 4:31 PM
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