Grit And Dedication

There was a famous temple in the middle of town. All the staff such as pujari, sweeper, bell boy, and security staff were on the payroll of the trust managing the temple.

Every day during the aarti of deity a lot of people used to visit the temple. The bell boy would ring the bell with such sincerity and reverence that people present in the temple would greet him too after the aarti got over.

One day the trust board got changed. The new trustees decided to henceforth all the employees of the temple must be educated. The trustees asked the bell boy to collect his due salary and leave the job. The boy pleaded with the trustees saying he did his job with full devotion. But the trustees wouldn’t listen. The boy had to leave.

Now there used to be aarti every day, but the charm was lost. The people decided to visit the boy's home with a request to come and ring the bell during the aarti, but the boy refused to say it would amount to asking for reinstatement and he knew the trustee will never allow that.

After a lot of deliberation, the people came up with an idea of leasing a shop to the boy exactly opposite the temple and requested the boy to come and ring the bell during the aarti. The boy readily agreed.

Now his business prospered and he created a chain of stores. As time flew he put up a factory, but he would religiously ring the bell every day with same reverence. Over a period of time, it so happened that the trust got new trustees. They decided to renovate the temple for which they visited the boy who by now had become a famous industrialist.

The boy gave them his checkbook and asked them to fill the entire amount. One of the trustees wrote the amount and gave the checkbook to the boy. The boy removed the cheque leaf and handed over the same to the trustee. The trustee said, Sir please sign it. The boy said, oh I can’t read and write but my thumb impression will suffice.

The trustees were awestruck, after mustering some courage one of them said to the boy, Sir, in spite of being illiterate you have reached this level, what would have happened if you would have been educated?

The boy without batting an eyelid said I would have been ringing the bell all my life if I was educated.

Moral of the story: Dedication to whatever you do leads to the zenith in life.