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The tortoise and the hare

Most of us have read (or rather, listened to) this one as the first in the series of morals that are programmed into us soon after we are born. I use the word 'programmed', because we just accept what we are fed at that time, and the number-crunching over those maxims happen much later. Well, it is the number-crunching or ruminating over that story that I was doing last night that leads to this post on my blog.

Well, what will you prefer to be? The hare, or the tortoise? Before you shoot off the argument that because the tortoise wins in the end, I want to be him, we need to ponder over something else.

What is your attitude towards life? Do you rest when the target is near? Or do you get more charged up and want to finish off all work before you rest? On my part I must say that I love to maintain a clean plate, and want to rest calm and peaceful at the end of the day. Thus, if I were the hare, I would have crossed the finish line and then rested under the tree. The moral of the story should have been, "Arise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached!".

From another viewpoint, imagine that the hare did sleep before the finish line, and also lost the race. Well, should the tortoise still be your role model? I don't think so. Which of the two show more promise? Who will be able to escape if a hunter comes round? Is life just a one-ball game? I strongly believe that I will still stick with the hare for my role model, because after all he shows that there may be cases when you fail, and that you are just human, but then we must wait for the right moment to come to be able to prove our mettle. Winning every race is not my idea of life! There must be room for a few failures. Otherwise, you begin to get ideas about not living up to your expectations, of not being able to deliver a 100 out of 100 even if you got 99.5, and then you begin to contemplate the futility of existence.
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Comments

  1. phatichar4:50 AM, May 11, 2005

    Hey, that was a neat analysis. Yeah, I also personally feel that just cuz the tortoise won, doesn't make it a role model. A more focused rabbit is more like it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. anubhav10:24 AM, May 11, 2005

    well i beg to disagree...

    let's understand this it is because nature has made hare faster than the tortoise it had a brighter chance.

    i would give it for tortoise because even though it knew it's weakness and it's chances it gave it's best...

    i think that's what matters in life , god didnt make us alike ,we may be strong somewhere and weak somewhere, but it's the dedication ,hardwork and belief that's what matters...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nikhil8:18 PM, May 11, 2005

    Was reluctant to read the post when I saw the word 'program' in the first lines....:)...

    Doesn't matter if you are the tortoise,
    Or the hare setting a fast pace.
    To me what matters in the end,
    Is if you've won the race.

    P.S. Sem 6 of comp engg. at SVNIT finished.feeling somewhere b/w relieved and ecstatic.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sudipta Chatterjee10:01 PM, May 11, 2005

    Phatichar: Thank you! I must say that a 'more foucused' rabbit is definitely what I want out of me.

    Anubhav: Nobody asks me not to give it my best shot.. perhaps that is what the rabbit failed to do. But then, eulogising the weak and demonising the strong is what most of Ayn Rand's novels are about. Read them sometime and then you can understand me more, perhaps. Also, it is good that you have your own convictions... stick to them!!

    Neo: :) Nice way of putting that... you seem to be a big optimist!

    Ultimate Quirk: Congratulations on being alive at the end of yet another attempt to murder!! I can understand your aversion to 'programs'. True, "jo jeeta wahi Sikandar", but then Robert Bruce won his 9th war! Do you think the hare will lose if there is a second race?

    BTW, you must get over the euphoria of ending your semesters and get a job for yourself... the rest of the year will be a paid holiday, I promise :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tipsy Topsy3:06 AM, May 12, 2005

    I agree with Anubhav.

    I felt you have stretched the story outside its intended scope. Its supposed to illustrate why one shouldn't take things for granted and how hard work and dedication can help overcome even inherent weaknesses.

    ReplyDelete
  6. GratisGab9:19 AM, May 12, 2005

    Love your last line..

    Neat analysis!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sudipta Chatterjee9:16 PM, May 12, 2005

    Tipsy Topsy: Each one to his/ her own... and hard work does pay off, true, and maybe I have stretched the example too far. Actually what I object to is not perseverence, but complacency. The tortoise is good, ok, but the hare is not bad.

    Gratisgab: Thanks for appreciating that one... if you see the comments above, you'll find that I have stuck to it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vivekanand3:09 AM, May 14, 2005

    Hey Sudipta,
    This comment has nothing to do with this topic.
    I want the Html tags for 'PLACES I VISIT ' section in your page; as I'm not exactly a programmer and used Mozilla Composer to build my web page, and I want to add a similar section to my blog page.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Vivekanand9:19 PM, May 15, 2005

    Hey Sudipta!
    I guess I'm a genius, I got the HTML tags figured out. I really managed to incorporate the Places I visit sidebar, in my page.
    Thanks!
    and do check out my page.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sudipta Chatterjee10:40 PM, May 15, 2005

    Vivekanand, I'm glad that you discovered the hare in yourself. Will check out your place for sure. HTML is too simple, buddy! Good Luck ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ellie8:45 AM, May 16, 2005

    Hey sir...
    Stumbled upon ur blog...ROFL with that post on the shaadi.com cut paste. Did hear Jassi Sir say something 'not-so-complimentary' about your flab :-p. But am with you (for reason better unexplained! ;-))

    Will surely be dropping by...

    Pragnya

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sudipta Chatterjee10:11 PM, May 16, 2005

    Hello Pragnya,

    Thanks for dropping by... will check your place out soon. Yeah, the shaadi.com post was actually a copy-paste from a mail forward and I decided that it was definitely 'bolggable'. Oh, BTW, thanks for joining me in the quest against my flab. Good Luck to you as well!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vivekanand11:01 PM, May 16, 2005

    Well Sudipta!
    I think its better to adapt yourself to the situation.
    When you need to hurry up or meet deadlines you're emulating the hare!
    When you're getting bogged down, and you aren't able to figure out stuff, you must be patient and proceed slowly.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sudipta Chatterjee6:03 AM, May 17, 2005

    Umm... yep, that sounds like the middle line to me, but it is perfectly acceptable. According to me the moral of the story needs to be changed from "Slow and steady wins the race" to "Don't be complacent until you finish your job."

    ReplyDelete
  15. phatichar2:22 AM, May 25, 2005

    Hey Sudipta, wassup doc?

    ReplyDelete

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