Success

By Prem Prasad Sigdel

Success is the condition of achieving benefit by a person or group by using the best use of opportunity given by the members or the condition. Such condition has been regarded as a remarkable moment in a person’s life getting something special. A successful person is popular being appreciated by others. He has been able to get recognized having responsibility that has been assigned by the benefactors. The success helps to keep him above than others in position for a certain period of time. Indeed, success is time-bound, rule-bound and context specific. Or it has been an opportunity to perform one’s quality in a certain time.

It can be understood into two ways like individual and competitive success. An individual success has no opponents because a person has been awarded for his talent. He has got success with his individual effort which does not affect others directly. For example, success in education; a person has been awarded with degree which has no effect for others. It is gained by personal effort which has been one of the distinctive aspects. This is hassle free because it does not have relation with others. It is solely individual because it is related to him having no opponent. Such success helps to build his life making him able to perform different duties. It has been recognized by many without interest; however, some enemies, a natural perspective, may oppose him. There is no chance of sharing to others; or it has been impossible to distribute or share with others.

On the other hand, competitive success assists a person to get success defeating others. So the situation seems hostile yet coordinating. It happens with like partners who have shared common purpose. It is also observed in juridical process where rules or system has been working. There are certain pros and cons of competitive success where some interests have worked directly or indirectly. This sort of success is spirited yet challenging because your success is other’s failure! In this way, this kind of success is relative as it has affected people from various perspectives. This success is conditional with time, rule, qualification, and situation.

It is challenging when it is the cause of loss for others so the successful person should be more responsible. The value of loser is also not insignificant because of his contribution of making someone winner. People often neglect the loser praising the winner, or they have made one boss or slave putting them in different weighing scale. Such success has been full of conditions which we have often recognized as rules, regulations, laws or systems. They have been made to control persons, organizations, or nations according to their feasibility. Different criteria have been set for election so it seems more complicated. There are boundaries because they have been guided by different organizations like political, professional, and other business groups.

Having success is a challenging yet difficult task because of its impermanent nature. Most elections lasted in a certain period of time; then, the same process would repeat. We cannot experience success every time due to various circumstances. However, devotion towards work and benefactors may ensure success again. People may face much problem pursuing success in their life. We can take example of different persons and situations around the world, most often the success of political leaders.

There is dialectic relation between success and failure. Success can be achieved when a person is ready to lose. It has been so uncertain that people need to undergo different rules related to their organizations. We can take example of an election in which a candidate wins others, may be one or more individuals. This kind of success is paradoxical: however, it has been accepted as democratic process in the world. Suppose that a candidate is successful by 1 or more votes in first-past-the-post system. A successful candidate should get more votes which may be quite less in total. If we count total vote, he may get only 10 or 20% vote altogether. He has been declared winner among others where majority of vote has been secured by losers! The person who has got more has been the winner according to the criteria. A serious question can be raised regarding the voting system and other factors like managerial, political, social, and media effects. Indeed, it has been acceptable because rules have been made to make the system reliable. These rules have bypassed different alternatives being mechanical. So we have forgotten the loser as the main pillar of success.

Indeed, the competitors have been eager to fight for election or to get success. They often make factions or even alliances to get success. Some of them use money and other sorts of bribery to win election! In this way, one of the losers is the winner! Because, the vote what he has got is less vote in total; still he is successful! In this way, the system they make is ridiculous because people have been fighting one another making themselves fool! In fact, they have been trying to get title of winner or loser! Has it been the condition that we want for? Do we really get success getting 20% (more or less)?  Where are 80% (more or less) votes and candidates? Who can claim that democracy is wrong! Who can claim that oligarchy is right! In the name of democracy, we have been making ourselves fool. Democrats! Who the winner has been! What is the achievement in real?

We can also judge it from structural and meaningful perspectives. Structural success has been getting much value in comparison to meaningful success. The person who believes on structural success can take part in such impermanence and get success. The person who has got meaningful success remains away from it. A meaningful success has close connection with the personal success because it does not have more drawbacks. The competitive success has been less valuable because it has been one of the parts of structural successes with different conditions. Are the conditions in/complete? Is success meaningful?

 

A Meeting with Parents

By Prem Prasad Sigdel

The meeting with parents in school is challenging for school, teachers, children and parents. All partners have been feared with one another whether their weaknesses have been revealed. Mostly children have been feared because parents and teachers would have complained them. Teachers and school may get charged of not teaching according to the interest of the students and parents have been feared whether their children would have been blamed. It has been a matter of headache for all partners due to low achievement of students in exam. Indeed, it also raises doubts and angriness of all the partners due to unexpected achievement from all sides. It is evident that neither partners have been satisfied with the result.

The meeting that I attended had been diverted towards the students who had been at the altar like a goat. Others are also much disenchanted with their children because of their addiction to cell phone. Children often tell lies like they don’t have homework or they need cell phone to do homework. In reality, it’s a pretention that they often watch cell phone or they use messenger to copy homework from their friends. It kills their creativity which has been visible to parents and teachers so they want to make students more responsible. The fact is that, they have often made pretentions to get cell phone and spend time surfing it. It has annoyed parents and teachers very much so they want to refrain from this trouble.

It was the meeting of class 9 where almost 50 students and their guardians have presented. The guardians have blamed their children of spending time watching cell phone; however, they have been unable to stop that. So they have been furious towards their children therefore they have taken the meeting as opportunity to make their children realize the mistake. They have been irritated because they can not complain their children at home due to their insisting nature.  On the other hand, the teachers have also taken it as opportunity to take benefit like parents. It seems that parents, teachers and school are one party and students are opposite party. Therefore, it turns into an endless matter; sometimes it does not match with the meeting agenda

Each partner abuses one another so it seems like informal meeting among these partners. Sometimes the meeting of these four partners i.e. school, teacher, students and guardians has become a mess when parents have taken this time as an opportunity to blame their children of not obeying them or following educational duties duly. The focus of parents has concentrated on academic programs only whereas students have focused on other activities. It is visible that parents have much dissatisfaction towards students and their activities which have been particularly targeted on using cell phone. It is clear that parents and teachers often blame that students use cell phone so they have low academic achievement. Students have also admitted it whereas some of them have claimed that they have used cell phone for right purpose. It is evident that students have behavioral problem because they do not follow household duties rather spend time watching cell phone.

In a nutshell, the students have been asked two questions: why were they failed or got less mark? And, what should be done to get good grade? The students have accepted that they could not do well in their exam. They also promise to get good marks in the coming examination. However, they have presented different arguments regarding school. One of the students has argued that cell phone can be used for positive purpose. All the teachers and parents have agreed with the logic; however it has been one of the logics only. Similarly, some students have said that homework was more; it was not accepted by parents and teachers. The parents have demanded even more homework so that students can spend time doing homework rather than eying for cell phone. On the other hand, teachers have not assigned more homework so it has been rejected. One of the students asked to sing rap song in each program; then the principal has put condition that he should have done some progression in study to get such opportunity. He even said that his YouTube channel should be liked and subscribed by all. One of the students has demanded that he should not be forced to trim his hair.

It seemed too odd in the meeting when routine was not managed; or the meeting seemed messy. When routine was managed, everything would go schedule wise. A motivational aspect has been focused excessively which had been useless for them. Such programs have happened before so students do not be careful. It’s a revenge! Students have been made a goat at altar! They have been feeling fear! They have been given difficult option either to chose or reject study! Who is responsible for bad result and what should have been done? They face such difficult option either to swallow or vomit out! It seems that meeting was organized to defame students or to make them realize their mistake, watching cell phone, only. As we evaluate their demand they have taken study as second option. They want to do different things differently; so the conflict arose. It seems that they have been forcefully sent to school, taught and involved in examination!

It is visible that guardians have been faded up with their children’s behavior. They express their views that it has been the dead end for children. They surrender everything for school when they have been unable to guide them at home. It seems that children are the winners! Most of the students have already promised their parents not to speak anything in the meeting which has been told by the parents individually. Students seem so cunning that they remain silent ignoring the discussion in the hall. I think they have been planning for the day after meeting! They have only sought redemption from the meeting; then that was their day! The meeting that happens in paradoxes which has no end or it seems starting of the process.

The meeting happens for weaknesses only it seems there is no positive side at all!