We keep saying to keep doing the hard work. It will lead you to excellence and, in turn, success—but the theory is flawed.
I was coming home from a run at Cubbon Park in Bengaluru. It is one of the few big-enough green places that exist in the middle of the city (in the whole of India, I believe), with the flora (and not enough fauna) acting as a beautiful third space and supporting countless community activities. It is the only place in the whole city that makes me feel good about paying taxes. Although, it says a lot that it’s the “only” place to make me feel like that.
I digress, but somehow, I digressed to the core of this think piece, so let’s set up some context.
Why did I go to Cubbon?
I like to do long runs on weekends, and there’s no other place that offers me the space to run a 10K.
Mind you, Cubbon Park is 10 kilometers from my home, so it needs a specific entry in my schedule to go there to run. It’s a luxury, and you need to spend an extra hour of your day to reach there and come back.
Why didn’t I run near my home?
When running on Indian roads, you face difficulties—like keeping yourself focused on just staying alive. I would rather concentrate on my running form, pace, and posture.
There are no good parks or places near my home. Even the small ones that are there close after 8 PM, and I generally return home late from work and then go for a run.
I am training for a half marathon, so I don’t have the option to go to Cubbon Park daily, therefore, I run on the roads near my home. There are numerous problems with that, including, but not limited to:
- Traffic
- Street Dogs
- Narrow Roads
- Potholes (causing uneven running surfaces leading to injuries)
When coming back from Cubbon today, I saw people running on these roads in the middle of the day, fully prepared with sunglasses, hydration bags, and expensive running shoes. And then it hit me. People living in India have their difficulty level set to extreme mode in this game of life from the moment they are born. A person who’s training in India for these small “side hobbies” like running a HM, needs to do so against all these headwinds.
Leaving me aside, there are professional sports people who train in this messed-up environment, where the system is against us. Even the government doesn’t support them the way it should, and they still achieve such high accolades for the country. To achieve all that with someone always pulling you back deserves applause and more. There are multiple other examples in daily life to explain this.
People in developed nations get a head start in life just by being born there. Freakonomics has a complete section on it, so I want blabber more about it. Every Indian who does even basic things, like going out for a walk (for health purposes) deserves an applause because no one wants them to and especially people who follow their hobbies even when there is nothing to support them deserves salutes. An Indian just showing up for an Ironman should be considered as a win.
Ending Note
Concluding this thought process, hard work alone cannot lead you to excellence because the game is rigged. When they say that it’s just an excuse to say “other people have it easy,” we know it is inherited excellence and it makes complete sense as to why they have it easy. They inherited the good land, air, and water just by being born in a place that nourishes them in multiple ways, which can only be considered a privilege for many of us.