628. Trust put on Hard Work never goes in Vain……!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/trust-put-on-hard-work-never-goes-in-vain

Once a man lost his way in a desert and was close to death due to thirst. He grew weak wandering aimlessly through the scorching heat for days. After a long search he spotted an oasis in the distance, the tall palm trees was the indication of the source of water. He thanked his stars and slowly walked towards it.

Finally as he reached the place he stumbled forward exhausted beneath the shade of the palm trees. He thought at last he can quench his tormenting thirst. His lips had gone dry and he had no strength even to walk for another furlong. Considering lucky to have found this oasis he wiped the sand from his face and what he saw made him astounded. He observed something strange about this oasis instead of a water body like a spring or a lake or well the man found a hand pump. And beside the hand pump were two objects a small guard jar filled with water and a note written on a goat hide.

He carefully read the note it said, “Whoever wished to draw water has to prime the pump by using the water in the guard jar kept aside. The water in the guard jar is just enough for the purpose. Most importantly water in the guard jar should not be used to quench thirst as it has to be poured into the pipe so that the pump gets primed and it works and fetch unlimited supply of sweet water to drink. 

Please note: Final instruction is that the guard jar has to be refilled again for the next person to use the water to prime the pump again.”

Now the man was worried he was dying of thirst and he had found water in the guard jar. It seemed the height of foolishness to pour it down the pipe, what if the pump does not work. He can drink the water in the guard jar instead. He thought for a while and decided to take risk and he poured the water from the guard jar into the pipe and started to work on the lever. After moving the lever up and down for several times, there was no sign of water. He was depressed and wondered if he did the right thing by pouring the water in the guard jar into the pipe instead of quenching his thirst. However he did not stop operating the lever and finally after some time his hard work was rewarded water gushed out of from the pump. He drank to his content and before leaving filled the guard jar with water and left the note for those who would come to the pump in future.

This is a story with the title “Parable of the Pump” which tells us about the dilemmas we face in our daily life. Opportunities do come our way but we are nervous to take any tough decisions. We do not act as the man in the desert because we are not in the position to lose nothing. A person takes tough decisions only when he has nothing to lose, as the saying goes “When going get tough, the tough gets going”. Taking calculative risk is necessary in life. A farmer takes hard decision in order to use the insufficient resource he has to sow when he sights clouds and only when it rains he is rewarded manifold at the time of harvest, he feels that his risk has paid off.

D.V Gunadappa the prominent Kannada writer and philosopher writes in his “Mankuttimana Kagga” (Foggy Fool's Farrago) thus:

“If a wrestler loses a bout can you say that all his practice (of body building and wrestling moves) in the gym was a waste? Just feel his body it is hard as steel. That physique is what the gym made of him and is worth all the effort.”

If you trust too much the chances are that you many feel deceived in life, but if you do not trust at all you many not live at all.