On the Face of Failure

Perseverence is the catchword.

- Ritu Kamra Kumar

"The woods are lovely, Dark and deep But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep And miles to go before I sleep." -Robert Frost

When I was a kid my mother gave me some seeds to be sown in the kitchen garden. Every morning, I rushed to the garden and got disappointed that no seed had sprouted.

My mother understood my restlessness and said, "Bitiya! It may take days before the seeds sprout. They are in the womb of earth and coming to life, will soon be seen with tiny and tender leaves, keep patience."

At that time, I was too young to understand the role of patience. But as I grew up I comprehended the concept in a better way. In our science classes when we couldn't grasp the equations and formulae, our teacher gauging our exasperation often said - "Rome wasn't built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour."

We gradually learnt to imbibe the connotations of the phrase attesting to the need for time and perseverance to create or comprehend things. The phrase came as an epiphany that we must put in constant and consistent efforts coupled with fortitude and forbearance to attain goals.

The origin of the full quote "Rome wasn't built in a day..." is from medieval France and the phrase Rome ne fu(t) pas faite toute en un jour was first published in a book of poetry called Li Proverb au vilain in the year 1190.