1. Beginnings: Man is a wonderful creation of nature. He is intelligent. He is innovative. He is ambitious. He has his dreams and he can soar high up in the skies. He is also down to earth and has all the endurance and perseverance to survive under the most diverse circumstances. He is a great egoist and tenacious fighter and at the same time he is full of humility and has a very soft interior, which can make him sacrifice all that he has for providing solace and relief to anybody and everybody. For the man, he himself is the centre of all attraction. All his thoughts and physical activities are centred round him. The odyssey begins from birth. The child can not speak and is unable to indicate his likes or dislikes, but one cry of the child does the job. The first words uttered by the child bring excitement to almost everybody and are hailed like a milestone. And when he negotiates his first steps, it seems as if the whole world is shaking. And as he grows, everybody knows, that the child very conveniently manages to keep his parents and all those who love him, on their toes for the satisfaction of his day to day and hour to hour needs. Thereafter, the child begins to go to school and starts interacting with his friends in the neighborhood, thereby, providing unending talking points for the parents and all those who are in contact. As he grows further, his achievements begin to make headlines. Nobody knows when the child gets transformed into a grown up man and starts having his own dreams. Dreams are after all dreams, but, dreams keep the man thinking, moving and kicking. It is all about doing something and having an obsession about, whatever you want to do and doing something which makes you happy and makes everybody happy and doing something which may release the sounds and vibrations of happiness, satisfaction and applause from all quarters. This is all about excellence and pursuit of excellence.
2. Pursuit of excellence: Pursuit of excellence is a dynamic process. There are no standards. There are no benchmarks. It carries different meanings for different people, from man to man and place to place and the prevailing circumstances and environment. Pursuit of excellence does not involve any conflict. It does not involve any rivalry. It can be a lone furrow or it can be a mass effort. Pursuit of excellence can be physical or it can be a vision or may be some stray idea, which has the potential to transform the way we think and work and can be a source of happiness and satisfaction to millions of people. Pursuit of excellence gradually becomes a habit or a way of life and frees the man from most of the deadwood. The total emphasis is on what you are doing and what you want to do. Dreams and thought processes can take you to the moon and there is nothing wrong or odd about it. All that is needed is, that, you have to work for it and your work plan takes off immediately from the ground with your physical, intellectual and material resources and the support of all those, who feel happy to give you a push and the plan is flexible enough to get on to the wings, as and when the resource base expands. There are hundreds of rags to riches stories scattered all over the world, where people have been able to achieve, what was almost unthinkable or was beyond their wildest dreams. One young boy was working as an attendant on a petrol pump in Aden, manually pumping petrol in the glass jars of the pump, for filling petrol in the cars. He had a yearning, that, someday, he could be the owner of the petrol pump. The boy went on to build up a huge industrial empire in India and turned into a major producer of oil and natural gas and owner of a large complex of oil wells, refineries and petrol pumps. Another fatherless young boy was on the streets of USA looking for some job to sustain himself. When the prospective employer asked him, what did he know, his simple answer was that he knows nothing. The next question was, what work can he do? He blurred without any emotions that he was prepared to do whatever he was assigned. Then the exasperated employer asked him, what remuneration does he expect? The simple answer was that he will accept whatever is given to him. Ultimately, the boy went on to build the Hoover Dam in USA, which used to be the highest dam in the world at that time. He supplied 300 ships to the American navy during the second world war, thereby, enabling USA to provide essential military supplies to the allies during the second world war and that way, he may have been instrumental in turning the tide of the war and changing the course of history. Thus, excellence or pursuit of excellence do not fall in the exclusive domain of those who may be inherently gifted, talented, intelligent, innovative or financially and physically resourceful. Anybody and everybody with an obsession, clear thinking, dedication and determination has the potential for scaling the most unscalable heights.
3. Institutions of excellence: Whenever we think about institutions of excellence, we think about national research laboratories, prestigious institutions of higher learning and elite institutes of fundamental and applied research. All that triggers the images of sprawling complexes, magnificent buildings and all types of latest equipment, gadgets and furnishings and liberal material and financial resources. Naturally, the best of people like to flock in to these institutions for work, career, excellence, name and fame. These institutions try to copy and compete with the best in the world and take pride in being clubbed with the leading institutions of the world. Gradually, the brand and name find recognition, thereby, providing tremendous boost to the spirits of almost everybody associated with these institutions. These institutions serve as catalysts for all and sundry. People look to them with awe and inspiration and the general process of up-gradation starts taking shape. The elite institutions provide physical facilities, vision and platform for the common men, for having a go for the realization of some of their wildest dreams. Incidentally, the alumni and associates of these institutions can be found scattered in almost all countries, making a significant contribution in the development of some of the most developed countries of the world.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are primary schools spread in every nook and corner of the bulging cities and far flung areas in the villages. The buildings may not be adequate, equipment may be obsolete and furnishings may be non-existent. The deficiencies are slightly offset by keeping the place neat and clean by manual inputs of the staff and students. In some cases, the interior is decorated and outside is kept green to make the whole environment pleasing, relaxing and refreshing. These are the institutions, where the masses learn to read and write and have visions for the future. They provide living examples of hard work, dedication and devotion under the most trying conditions and adversity. Some of the lessons like emphasis on good pronunciation and good handwriting and an urge for making the best of whatever is available, seep into the personality of the budding youngsters and last a lifetime. A large number of most successful and distinguished people of the world had the good fortune of passing out through the portals of these institutions. That breaks the myth about excellence. While physical facilities and financial resources are important for the achievement of excellence, the insatiable spirit of the man is crucial and provides the necessary push.
4. World of sports: Think about sports and there are flashes about unending physical activity by all types of people, young and old, belonging to different races, different cultures, different religions and different social, economic and political backgrounds rubbing shoulders with each other. Sports feed and survive on physical fitness and physical activity. There may be limits to physical activity or human endurance, but there are no limits to the dreams, obsession and will of people engaged in different types of sports. Olympics is a gathering of the best sportsmen of the world, where they look to each other with wonder and admiration and thereafter, they get involved in cut-throat and neck to neck rivalry, shattering previous records, one by one, year after year. It is a spectacle, which inspires the budding youth, in almost all countries of the world. World cups for different games, fielding national teams, inspire every participating individual to rise to the heights, where he can help in keeping the national flag flying. Then there are prestigious leagues for different games, in different countries, fielding multi-national teams. In these teams, the skill and talents of the individuals get primacy and all egos and prejudices based on caste, creed, colour or nationality take a back seat. Then there are the masses, playing in the streets or local community grounds, with non-existent or improvised equipment. These are the farms, where the common man gets an opportunity to have a first go at his fanciful dreams and gets the lessons of his life to improvise and excel. Sports are great equilizers. They help in mellowing down all types of egos and prejudices and enable all participating individuals in the development of close relations and fraternal feelings, with a puff of wonder and admiration for everybody, big and small, winner and vanquished.
5. The final frontier: Life is a race with unending struggles and hurdles. Man looks to the passing milestones and landmarks with a sense of satisfaction and relief and continues to push ahead with renewed energy and vigour for capturing the final frontier. At some stage, he starts feeling that humility, self-effacement and lending a hand to all those who need it, brings much greater happiness and satisfaction, than all the laurels, accolades and attainments. Millions of people from different parts of the world, belonging to different social, economic, cultural and political backgrounds are gradually involving themselves in providing a helping hand, hope and support to all those, who need it and are trying to bring a glow on the faces of such people. If this pursuit goes on and the common man is able to muster sufficient strength and vitality to stand on his own, almost all problems of the world will find a solution.