Bengal tiger and butterfly wings

[Navigator]

Dear capt Shoukat

 

           Thanks for the message

 

 

“Butterfly Wings”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

·

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat

and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body

through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared

as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

·

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped

off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

·

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled

wings.

·

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any

moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body,

which would contract in time.

·

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around

with a swollen body and shrivelled wings. It never was able to fly.

·

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the

restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the

tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its

wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the

cocoon.

·

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to

go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.

·

We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Above is a good example when we talk of training of junior officers and engineers in our

shipping industry. Many times we come across cadets (even junior officers) trying their

best to avoid work. They want to be put on newer vessels – with internet – vessels

which are not “

too old”. They are also keen to know the names of their superiors prior to

going on board. What they fail to understand at times is that the more difficult lives gets

for them at the initial stages, the better are their chances of becoming a good officer.

I watched an amazing film the other day - ‘Life of Pi’. It is the simple story of a boy who

is shipwrecked and spend days in a lifeboat together with the most dangerous adversary

you can think of – a full grown adult Bengal Tiger. In the end they create ways to be

able to survive together. What pleased me the most was the boy’s realization that had it

not been for the tiger, he would not have survived as the tiger kept him alert at all times

and scared that at any moment the tiger might see him as a delicious

steak.

We all need these tigers in our lives. We need them by our side to help us stay on

ground level. They teach us how to survive and how to fight. They teach us how to be

good and efficient. They help us avoid the complacency which has the potential to finish

us. They also bring out the wild in us. They help us understand ourselves better and by

understanding our own selves, they create in us the ability to serve ourselves.

Little do we realize the life’s tigers when they approach. Most of the times they are

perceived as

killers from whom we should try to run. WORK is one such tiger. As

humans, we always tend to shirk away from work. I am saying this and so have all the

great philosophers ever born. Life’s biggest success would be to be able to achieve

success without moving a finger. If this was possible then even I wish I never had to

work. But it is not to be like this. As long as the world stays, so will work. It is thus

essential to pick the best values at an early stage so that one gets prepared for the duel

ahead.

I remember as a Chief Officer we were on our way to Dubai dry docks when one day the

third mate said to me “ Do you know I have done 4 dry docking in my career”. “That is

really nice’ I said. “But that’s not the most interesting thing.” He continued..........”You

will not believe that I have not been inside a cargo tank even once”. I remember his

smile even today. It left me amazed for a long time.

The above example is not a standalone case. If you think back into your own

experiences you would find many such examples. These characters are all around us and

we deal with them every day. But the winner is the one whose values are the strongest.

The leader is the one who have braved it all at the initial stages. Here, the role of the

mentors is of paramount importance. A good mentor would be one who would

understand that if you support the butterfly wings when they are developing then it

would not be able to fly. Try making a tower at home with just newspapers. You would

realize that it is the strength of the base which decides how long the tower can be.

Unfortunately most of us do not realize the truth of this in our lives.

Someone who has been to a military camp would know how they train the entry level

cadets. The drill sergeants do not feel sorry for you. Whatever your problem is, you have

to suck it up and keep moving. Pain, exhaustion, hunger, heat, misery - it's all a part of

the experience, and don't even think about crying to your drill sergeant about any

emotional distress you may find in basic training. The drill sergeants do not care. They'll

only mock you and make your pain and suffering worse. But at the end of the training

you feel proud to salute them because they have empowered you with strength and

confidence.

I have great belief in the power of the mind. I feel it can win over everything – pain,

misery, sorrow, grief and of course hearts! If we can mould the mind to endure hardship

then half our problems would be solved without even trying. I cherish the days of having

had a really tough cadetship. For everything else, it has made me a stronger person. It

has helped me to fight even when my back is against the wall. I thank all the people who

decided not to clip my cocoon at the time I was growing. So that I can fly freely now

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

END

Capt. Shoukat Mukherjee

V.Ships India Pvt Ltd

Please send in our views and feedback at: shouk...@gmail.com /

shoukat....@vships.com