Dear Friends,
Forty years ago, I heard about an incident involving one of my relatives. In their village, an envious post office clerk hid a neighbor's offer letter and failed to deliver it to the candidate on time. He delivered it only after the joining date. In those days, the postman used to decide the fate of an individual. Think about it—no SMS, WhatsApp message, email, or any indication of an offer. The final letter would arrive only by mail. Any clerical mistake or personal grudge could decide your fate!
We all think, I can stand on my own, live on my own, and succeed in life without anybody's support. This is the greatest myth.
The strict gate-closing policy for NEET exams mandates that students be denied entry if they arrive even a minute late. Recently, we have seen so much chaos and the tears of children and parents.
The bus is late. The train is late. The road is blocked by a traffic jam. But they are all acceptable in society. Yet, let a student be two minutes late. Suddenly, understanding expires. The gate closes.
What I realize from this is our dependency on support and the ecosystem around us. No matter how great the achievement is, there is always some support behind the scenes.
A couple of days back, I read two news items simultaneously.
News #1: Better India posted this incident. Just months before JEE Advanced, Gunjan Kumar's IIT dream nearly came to a halt. A collapsed lung left him bedridden for almost three months. Attending classes wasn't even an option. So his mother quietly stepped in.
She attended every online lecture, made detailed notes by hand, and sat beside him so that his preparation wouldn't stop. A homemaker with a B.Ed. degree, she returned to her studies after years—not for herself, but for her son's dream. As if that wasn't enough, Gunjan was also living with over 70% vision loss. Yet, he refused to give up. He is now set to pursue Computer Science at IIT Delhi.
Success isn't built by one person's hard work alone. It is built by the people who quietly carry your dream when you can no longer carry it yourself.
News #2: A Class 9 girl brought her 1.5-year-old brother to school because, after her mother passed away and with her father at work, there was no one else to care for him. She chose education anyway—proof that progress comes from moving forward, not from waiting for perfect conditions.
An elephant herd rescues a trapped calf because survival depends on the strength of the herd, not the individual. Buffaloes form a protective circle around their calves, proving that systems protect their weakest members first.
Geese fly in a V-formation, sharing leadership and reducing the effort required for the entire flock. Penguins survive Antarctic winters by rotating positions, showing that shared responsibility sustains the system. Trees in a forest exchange nutrients through underground fungal networks, demonstrating that hidden connections create resilience. A beehive thrives because thousands of bees perform specialized roles toward one common purpose. Wolf packs hunt successfully because each member plays a complementary role in the system.
Our success is not ours alone! Many people silently contribute to our success. If we forget them, it is our loss. God will not spare us!!
That is why great managers don't build stars—they build systems where everyone contributes to collective success.
Ravi Saripalle
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