Not all who wander are lost
Formula 1 driver, Pierre Gasly, was expecting a change of fate and legacy build when he got a seat as the 2nd driver of “Red Bull Racing” in 2019. However, after a couple of bad races, he was demoted back to the junior Red Bull team, “Alpha Tauri”, for not being competitive enough. Many thought it was an end to Pierre’s career, but as the “stars” would have it, Pierre Gasly won the Monza Grand Prix 2020 in Alpha Tauri, defying all odds. When the world thought his career was over due to his “wandering” of to a junior team, Pierre, by his sheer resilience, showed to all that “we don’t lose till we call it a day ourselves”.
“People said it was great for F1 because it was an unexpected podium, an unexpected win and that is what people want to see. They like when it is unpredictable” — Pierre Gasly post 2020 Monza GP
From the dawn of time, the contours of Earth have been changing. From bare ground with voluminous poisonous gases in the atmosphere to an asteroid impact creating the “Big Splat”, and henceforth the Moon, who wonder that the “wandering asteroid” ultimately might lead to the Moon becoming the compass for the route of “lost sailors” or a solitude for some view.
Time and again, changes on the Earth’s atmosphere and lithosphere ultimately started the cycle of movement of plate tectonics, when the exogenic and endogenic processes started a “wandering” Indian plate from Gondwana land would meet the Eurasian plate, ultimately creating the mighty Himalayas, the rivers from which feed the entire Northern India. As conditions stabilized the pursuit of land and food led to “wandering” primates from Africa colonising the whole of world, ultimately giving rise to “Homo Sapiens”, the creation that was destined to shaped the Earth.
“When we look for the origins of all humanity today, let’s not just look at Europe, because I think Africa was the cradle, the crucible that created us as Homo sapiens.” — Donald Jackson
As the population increased and fights for power/money/authority increased, chaos and destruction started to appear at many locations in ancient India. One visionary, “Lord Krishna Ji”, instead of fighting Jarasandh, took the option of fleeing from one battlefield to another. While some started to quote him as “Raanchoodh”(the one who left the battlefield), it was the vision of his idea to avoid a fight, and ultimately, after all the wandering from Mathura to Gujarat, he set up the scenic beauty of “Dwarka”. Gautama Buddha, as “Siddhartha”, was just a common being when he was in his palace. But that one night of “wandering”, he saw pain, suffering, and death, and made the decision to travel and preach the ideals that today we know as Buddhism.
“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.” — Buddha
After being humiliated by the King Dhananada of Magadha, Kautilya determined on his pursuit to make a king that would free the people from tyranny of Dhananda, found a gem in “Chandragupta Maurya”, the man who established such a formidable empire that even Selecus Nictator sought friendship by giving off his daughter in marriage. In medieval India, when the Mughals were emerging as a dominant force, empires were surrendering North, South, East, and West, with no sight of hope. All hope was seen to be lost when the mighty “Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaja” was also taken in custody by Aurangzeb. However as odds were meant to defy the story, Shivaji Maharaj miracously espaced in a “basket”, wandering in the forests, assembled his legion again, and by winning one fort to another, created a bedrock on to which the mighty Marathas would to rise to whom which ultimately the later Mughals even sought refugee at times of chaos.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja’s daring escape from Agra in 1666 was a pivotal moment in the rise of the Maratha Empire. The escape not only humiliated the Mughal Empire but also solidified Shivaji’s image and paved the way for the rise of the Maratha Empire
From Mahatma Gandhi’s travel to Champaran to his march to Dandi, to Subash Chandra Bose’s, “wandering path”, from Germany to Japan to Singapore, to the pursuit of leaders from Srinagar to Kanyakumari, and Bombay to Bengal, the combined resilience, and spirit to fight what may be hurled back and what may be the more steps to be taken towards the path of independence, our leaders fought till the end and it’s to their spirit that India celebrated Independence on 15th of August 1947. When the nation of Singapore was created after being cut off from Malaysia and lacking any avenues of business, it was the spirit and vision of Lee Kuan Yew that saw the transformation of Singapore now, as a country which holds one of the strongest passports. Singapore’s neighbour, Vietnam, also had a credit to the trail of path that Ho Chi Minh wandered on, a path that ultimately became a crucial supply chain for the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War.
“Nothing is more precious than independence and liberty,” — Ho Chi Minh
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ You won’t believe what you can accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to repeatedly fail better” — Samuel Beckett
Thomas Edison was mocked when he failed and lost on his 100th attempt at generating electricity. To this, he mocks, “I didn’t lose, I just got 100 ways of how to not approach the thing”. A string of bad movies and a failed cinema house company, made Amitabh Bacchan bankrupt, but, he stood tall(literally), and when first opportunity striked, Kaun Banega Crorepati(KBC) came as a ray of hope, couple with some good times, and the star was back to shining and guiding others. Business is built on the backs of people who never gave up. SpaceX, which is now in pursuit of sending people to Mars, is a testament to the dedication and perseverance shown by Elon Musk in his attempt to expand human imagination. From failure after failure as the SpaceX rocket “wandered” into the sky again and again, crash landing and all the trials and errors, ultimately paved the path for reusable rocket launches.
“Failure is an option, but if you’re not failing, you’re not innovating enough.” — Elon Musk
Pankaj Tripathi, a jewel of the Indian cinema, had risen from the humble background of a theatre artist and chauffeur in a hotel. It is the time of adversity that gives clarity and a path to achieve something that not all can. Former Indian Captain, MS Dhoni, is the epitome of patience, calm, and composure. From football goalkeeper to running on the tracks of the railway as a Ticket collector to the stint in the Ranji trophy, all that meandering in life ultimately led his name into the ICC Hall of Fame. It was his resilience that even Virat Kohli embodied during his time of setback and after what many quoted, “Kohli on pursuit to spirituality as he wanders from one temple to another”, the King Kohli roared back and led India to the T20 Champions trophy.
“Finishing is one of the most difficult things to do in cricket. A player can’t be a finisher in just 6 months or one year. You have to be used to that responsibility, keeping on doing what is required from you over a period of time” — MS Dhoni
As we now enter into the third decade of the 21st century, human beings have started to wander off again, this time, in a negative light. The incidents of climate change events have been skyrocketing as, instead of pooling cabs for a common destination, wandering in rooftop SUVs seems cooler. Incidents of corruption and collusions are rampant as people have wandered away from the path of honesty, humility, and honour. Wars are frequent as technology now advances, so are the incidents of digital theft on the rise, as the want of speedy money seems more lucrative. If people don’t stop and introspect on where they are headed, this time around, we might truly be lost because, “as we go further away from home, the tougher the journey back to home becomes”.
As of September 2022, nine global core tipping elements and seven regional impact tipping elements are known. Out of those, one regional and three global climate elements will likely pass a tipping point if global warming reaches 1.5 °C (2.7 °F).
What everyone needs for now and even in the near future is to focus on the “essentials”. We need to internalise in ourselves of what “controllables” we have in our hands and what those changes can surmount to.
A step today in the right direction can lead to a wave of peace and prosperity in the future. Human beings need to focus on the ideas of resilience, sustainability, and Aristotle’s ideas of Golden Means in order to live a life that not only uplifts their own but also that of others. Socialisation by parents and teachers can help rehabilitate kids who have wandered off their path. Vicarious reinforcement by media can instil moral values in people, which hence might help shape society for the times to come.
Wandering off in pursuit of a purpose is a formidable choice which people should strive for. There are no losers and winners in the game of life; everyone is living and moving ahead with the lessons they hold on to. Someone might be 100km ahead, and some might be just past the start line. “Life is gonna play out the way it's gonna play out, there is gonna be some good and some bad, most of it is just open to our interpretation”. All we can do is to take a better step every day and try to build a world worth being proud of.
“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.”
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
― J.R.R. Tolkien
