If - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Who inspires you?

Here is a little story. It is about a lady that I met recently, through a program by Nirmaan (an NGO that I am a part of, though not as much as I’d like to be).

She is a very rich woman, one of the richest I’ve met. And I look up to her with awe. This is a story of her strength.

Wajida Khatun works as a peon in a school in Kurnool. Abandoned by her husband about 15 years ago, she works as a housemaid after school hours to raise money for her children’s (a son and a daughter) education. Both are pursuing CA, with the elder one appearing the final required exam this November. The girl, the younger of the two, is about 2 years away from her CA. Wajida Khatun is in great financial distress, but that’s not what this is about. Like I said, this isn’t a sad story that exploits her distress to evoke sympathy. This is a story of the strength of spirit.

With a monthly salary of Rs 4,000, educating her kids has never been easy, especially the past couple of years; since coaching for CA isn’t cheap. The lady is strong and has worked hard: done rounds of banks, approached various charitable funds, borrowed from relatives, and cleaned extra houses to try to bear the expenses. In fact, very recently, the lady had a big argument with the manager of the local SBI branch :). She approached Nirmaan last year and availed a scholarship for her daughter, Ruhi.

On a journey back to Kurnool, she met a girl in the train. The girl had a story of her own: disabled from both legs, had no father, her mother was a coolie; the girl had scored a good rank in the state engineering entrance examination, had completed her first year with good scores, but was on the verge of discontinuing education due to lack of money. Wajida Khatun told her to mail her bio-data and a letter mentioning the amount she needed (Rs. 6,000), so that she could apply for a scholarship for her. A couple of days later when Wajida Khatun did receive her bio-data, the first thing she did was take it to her school and appeal to her colleagues, and the teachers and students to donate for the girl. The next day, she instructed her son to appeal in the college he studies at. Together, the mother and son collected around Rs. 7,500 for the girl.

Wajida Khatun then personally went to the girls place and gave her the money collected. The humbled girl and her mother said, “God has appeared to us in you and helped us”. To which, Wajida Khatun replies, “God has helped you through me, like He has helped me and my kids through others”. I too am humbled by her faith and gratitude. She pledges that once her son gets a job, she would donate half of her salary every month from the school to Nirmaan (I was humbled further; a half of your salary when you're earning just 4,000 is a mighty big deal) so that other deserving families may benefit, and also to enroll her son as a volunteer at Nirmaan.

Wajida Begum never exhibits any form of weakness in any of the conversations I have with her. She always smiles and laughs, often jokes and is livelier than most. In human goodness and strength of spirit, she is indeed rich. And she isn't the only one; there are many more great people out there. You don’t have to turn to the newspaper or the television for heroic stories of strength or courage for inspiration. Inspiration is much closer to you than you think.