“Hustling brings a dollar for today. Mastering your craft brings wealth for a lifetime.”
– Anonymous
I brought the green-rimmed ceramic glass filled with steaming hot filter coffee and blew on it as the light evening breeze blew through my hair. My mother and I were sitting in our balcony, having our ritual sundown brew. For a while, the conversation circled around how we need to redecorate the area, gaze at the neighbor’s dog, and argue about how we should have one of our own. My mom always shot down this idea before I could even get out a woof. “No, thank you! I already have enough wagging tails around me to attend to in the form of you and your sister. One more, and I might as well dye all my hair white,” she replied sternly to my recent plea for a pet. I mumbled to myself and gulped down the last few sips of the coffee, trying to think up of an argument that would help me win the case with her.
There were a few moments of silence and soaking in the beautiful sunset. “Have I ever told you about the 30:10:1 rule?” her question cut through the stillness. “Umm, no. What is it?”, I asked, genuinely surprised and wondered where math rules fit into her mom calendar recently. “Have you ever heard of the painter Ravi Varma?” “Erm, no”, I replied in bashful bewilderment. I could see that expression mirrored in her face as turned herself completely towards me, settled in and started to take me on the story of this mystical maestro.
“Raja Ravi Varma was a great painter of the 18th century. His works of art are to this day displayed in so many museums and are studied as great art aesthetics. There is this legend which says that he was once roaming the streets of his nearby bazaar when a young woman approached him. She proclaimed to be a great fan of him and his work, and told how delighted she was to finally meet him in person. After they had exchanged the pleasantries, she requested him for an autograph or a written memoir as a keepsake. The great painter obliged and signed on a piece of paper and that she had provided.
But flushed with excitement in the moment, she could not hold back and asked him if he would be kind enough to also draw something for her. “I would love to,” he told her, “but unfortunately I am not carrying my paint toolbox with me at the moment.” Nonetheless, the woman persuaded him and said she would be happy even if it’s a small sketch on the back of the paper which he had just autographed. Ravi Varma laughed and flipped the paper to appease this young fan of his. He worked on that little piece of paper for ten minutes and she waited eagerly. Finally, when he handed over the finished drawing to her, she was elated that she had a personal relic from the portfolio of the great Ravi Varma. She thanked him profusely and was just about to tuck the paper away when he said, “While it was a pure pleasure drawing something for such an admirer of mine, I hope you keep the token carefully. That little piece of paper may be worth a crore or so.” The woman was rooted to the spot for a moment hearing the quote of the sheet that she now held between her delicate fingers. But then she laughed it off, thinking to be a fable of the famed artist, and took his leave. The Raja smiled knowingly at her and bade her goodbye.
A few days later, he was again visiting the same market when he saw his young fan rushing towards him. “Rajaji, when you told me that your deft drawing on that small piece of paper might be of such value, I had initially dismissed it. But then, out of curiosity, I showed it to one art appraiser, and he indeed verified your claim. He was surprised as to where I had found an original Ravi Varma creation and even more astonished that I couldn’t gauge its real value. This is wonderful Rajaji! One crore rupees for something that you made in ten minutes? Can you please teach me your art? If not in 10 minutes, I will at least try to spend an hour to replicate the same thing and if not a crore, I will at least get hundreds of thousands of rupees. I would be rich in no time!”, exclaimed the woman with anticipation. Ravi Varma smiled at her inundated impetuousness. “My child, what you seek to learn in just an hour took me three decades to master. Yes, thirty years of patience and practice have led me to be who I am. It’s because of that determination, dedication, and discipline that I can scribble something equally as worthy as a painting set apart. Reach for excellence, not affluence, and then you will actually triumph in life.””
The sun was setting low over the concrete horizon of the city, spreading a purple hue in an intimation to the incoming dusk. A stillness akin to when the story began, had settled in again. I looked up at my mother and she smiled at me knowingly. “It took him 30 years to master something and perfect it in 10 minutes that was worth 1 crore rupees. That is the 30:20:1 rule”, I was finally enlightened by my mother. “The point is that we will always want to get ahead, get things done and get to the reward. Shortcuts are celebrated in today’s world. And while smart work is always appreciated, hard work will always come in handy. It will teach you the experience and intricacies that shortcuts cannot. It’s easy to get carried away and be impulsive when you are young. But age is fleeting like the rewards are. So, focus on what you can carry with time, not in your bank.”
My mother got up to call of the evening chores and I was left pondering over the short masterclass that I just had on morals. It is so easy to be romanticized by the over-night success stories without understanding the days of hard work that someone has put behind that night. In the age where movies lose their life after one weekend and news stories get staler by the second, where you plan your next promotion the minute you get your first one, where you are celebrated for winning the race and not rationing of the battle – success will always be a momentary reality, and yet, excellence will stay forever.
