It is such a cliche that we often say – ” Failure is part of Success”, but it is true.If it is true, then how so ?
Prelims results are out.While we sincerely congratulate those who qualified,at the same time we are with you if you could not make it this time.
Come to think of it , one often wonders what the author tried to imply when he wrote :-
“Ever Tried, Ever failed, Try again, Fail again, Fail better !!!”
Does it glorify failure or does it have any deeper meaning.To contemplate it, is to contemplate the reality and abstract at the same time.No matter what we perceive and what we conclude, at the end of it we will never know on what context , and especially what chain of thoughts led the author to write so.
The quote has profound meaning , yet we can not fathom everything about it, we can not know depth of it, we can not know the subtle implications of it, in its entirety.
And So is failure, sometime we know how it happened, yet we will never be sure why it happened.We keep on trying to find reasons , we find some, we don’t find some.
The real difficulty is introspection, how can we judge ourselves and judge objectively and judge in every step of the way.
Introspection has and always will be the most difficult one.Buddha took more than a decade, and so is everyone else who tried to find the answer to the questions such as- “What is the meaning of life ?” or “Who am I ?” or “What is my purpose in this life ?” or “What am I doing on this earth ?” or the more entertaining one – “What everyone else is doing on this earth ?
Eating, Sleeping,Doing things,Making love, Chasing Money , Trying to find god,Getting angry etc, etc and endless etc .
Most of the time and most of us, doing meaningless things for meaningless purposes.But when one tries to enter civil services , in some part of our subconscious, all of us are trying to find better purpose in life and lead a meaningful life.
That is why it is often so difficult to answer the question – “Why do you want to become a civil servant ?” .All the answers we have or we give to this question are manufactured, partially or completely.
A deeper contemplation reveals that ,there is some part of us which still has some attributes of “humane” in it. It is that “humane” part of our personalities, that compels us to find a better job where we can do some good for the society , get some honor and lead a life of dignity so that, at the sunset days of our life , when we look-back , we should be able to exit this world with a smile on our face and a satisfied soul.
Of course, everyone has their different versions and different settings about the above reality.
Those who succeeded this year , might have endured failure at some part of their life.It is part of parcel of life, again a cliche, but true.
Failure , is the sun set of hope and it is the sun rise at the same time.It is a contradiction in itself.
It is raw,it is brutal,it is enervating,it is disgusting, it is depressing, it is the nastiest of all.
It has a dark , depressing and nasty aura about it.It is indeed sunset of a ray hope.
It makes us bare, puts a mirror before us, and mocks us.
Yet
It has some raw energy about it, it pushes one to do better, it makes one to be down-to-earth, it makes one stronger, it puts faith in us , it is the sunrise of another beginning, it gives us a new day, it turns a new page in life, and yet again -in its trademark signature of nastiness , mocks at us asking – “What are you going to do about it ? “
In that , it exposes our fragility and frailties about us, it makes us humane.
The question is not what did happen and why it did it happen, the question is what are we going to do about it ?
A toddler fails a thousand time before he/she can walk.If we did it as toddlers, we can sure do it now.It is inherent in us.
Failure does not know the resilience of human species.It has always mocked us and we kicked it each time.
Failure is always there and success is always around the corner.Thus never lose hope.
So “What we are going to do about it ?” is the real question that should bother you now.
The days ahead are going to be dark, the sunlight is going to be dim, the cold will get to your nerves.Yet , you have to put your guard on, polish your armor and sharpen your weapon, becasue PRELIMS is coming.
Failure will fail this time to fail you.Thats should be your conviction.
We leave you with this poem that kept Mandela alive in his 27 yrs of imprisonment.We hope this gives you some kind of hope and makes your day, becasue tomorrow will be another day.
We conducted Prelims 2016 last year, albeit little late , however we saw some positive results.
The success is not ours at all and it would be wrong to steal someone’s hardwork and make it ours.Every candidate who cleared is due to his/her hardwork and perseverance, we were just the carpet on your steps to success – to smoothen your way and push you to the cliff. But it is the candidates who successfully jumps the cliff , not us.
We will soon be launching our Prelims Program-2017.We are not yet very good at promotion or self-praise , so if you really think we will be of help ,kindly spread the word and help us help you.
The details and the approach and question setting philosophy will be revealed in our next communication.
The Poem:-
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Receive Daily Updates
Recent Posts
Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.