I will narrate one of the many anecdotes during my service in the armed forces. I have deliberately omitted or changed the names wherever applicable. It goes like this... The weather was fine at the training center and we were in the parade grounds practicing rifle drills. I'm sure the rifle would weigh atleast 4.5 kilograms. It was more than an hour in the field and add the searing heat to it. Tiredness and hunger took over the body and we were not all that attentive to the instructions passed on by the Instructor. The Instructor would have sensed our lack of concentration by the now more obvious body language. To cheer us up, he suggested a simple exercise (we thought it was more of a dictation than suggestion). The Instructor pointed out to a distant tree - 300 metres away - and said, "I want all you guys to run at the double with your rifle, touch the tree and come back. You may all rest then. The last five persons to reach here will have to repeat the exercise." Imagine, on the count of three, we all ran for our lives never wanting to be the last five. I was not among the last five that day. It's not important here to say that the Instructor did not ask the last five to run again. But he would do some other day, when I was among the last five.
This incident taught me never to take anything for granted and to be competitive always no matter how small or cheap it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment