A
commitment made has to be honoured at any cost this is one discipline which I
learnt in life. In our factory we manufacture semi-finished product, which is
raw material for another factory which make finished products. We have to
honour the commitment made to our clients, if we fail to deliver as promised
the cycle is broken. When I started the industry as soon as I was just out of
college, I did not know the consequences of not honouring a commitment. I used
to tell my clients that I will send them the material and by chance if it was
not possible I would not worry a lot over it and would sleep peacefully. That
sleep was due to ignorance. When my customer questioned about it the next day I
would just say it could not be done. Later on I understood that if I do not
supply in time I will be hampering the chain of events.
My
personal experience since my twenty years in business is “Promise a little and
produce a lot to keep your client pleased.” Such commitment does not end in
professional level. When I have commitment to be made to my family and friends
I have to see that I fulfil it. In the first place I need not commit to that
which I cannot execute; if I am committed I have to discharge it at any cost,
lame excuses won’t work and will not let me have a peaceful sleep.
In
Treta Yuga there was a king named Raja Harishchandra in the lineage of
Suryavamsha (solar dynasty) who was the ancestor of Lord Sri Rama. He was
renowned for his truth and will to honour commitment. His Raja Guru was Sage
Vashishta and in one instance at the Indra Sabha he talks about Harishchandra’s
commitment. Sage Vishwamitra wants to prove Vashishta wrong about
Harishchandra, so he plans to test the trustworthiness of the king. He calls on
the king and asks for some charity to do Yagna. Harishchandra without
hesitation tells the sage to ask whatever he wished. Seizing the opportunity
Vishwamitra asks for gold mound as high as the height of a sea shell which
reaches when a tall man standing on a huge elephant would toss it towards the
sky.
Without
batting an eyelid Harishchandra complies with the strange demand, but
Vishwamitra would not take it and wants the king to keep it safe with him and
would collect when needed. Years pass by and once Harishchandra was on a
hunting trip, he is thirsty and a damsel sent by Vishwamitra quenches his thirst.
For the favour done the damsel wants him to marry her. But Harishchandra tells
her it was against dharma for him to marry the second time. Sage Vishwamitra
intervenes and urges him to marry her. Harishchandra a bit emotional tells
Vishwamitra that he was ready to forsake his kingdom rather than to take
someone as his second wife. Vishwamitra who was waiting for such an occasion
gladly accepts the kingdom. Harishchandra cheerfully offers his kingdom to the
sage.
After
acquiring the kingdom, Vishwamitra wants the king to give him the promised gold
mound. Harishchandra tells it is in the treasury, but sage insists that the
treasury was now his and so he has to arrange. The king sells his wife and son
in Kashinagara and finally, sells himself to a caretaker of cemetery to procure
gold. In the process he becomes a slave to the caretaker of the cemetery, and
is given the duty to collect money from those who come to cremate their dead.
When
his own son dies of snake bite, his wife, Chandramati, brings the body for
cremation. Harishchandra was now put to the ultimate test. He asked his wife
for payment for the cremation, without which he would not let her cremate; as
it was his masters instructions. This act of commitment from Harishchandra not
only wins the heart of the Gods but also that of Sage Vishwamitra and from then
on the sage becomes a well-wisher to the solar dynasty. It was then that all
the Gods of heaven descended and hailed Harishchandra’s moral character and
will to fulfil commitment.
This
was the story which impressed the father of our nation and inspired him to live
the life of truth and commitment....!
“Commitment-
unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the "right
stuff" to turn our dreams into reality.”
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