I was studying sixth standard at Corley High School, Tambaram, and like any other schoolboy I had my neighborhood friends. We used to gather at a place in our area that was popularly known as “ Horse house” for all our play activities. As the name implies, as there was a definite connection between horse and the owner of the house, as a Beautiful stone-craved full size horse statue in galloping posture within the compound of the house was installed.
Anybody who passed through the road could not miss its majestic presence. For many days it never struck us to find the reason why such a statue was erected, which was quite unusual. Then we learnt that, the owner of the house had been lucky enough to win a huge jackpot at the Guindy racecourse and that it was only with this prize money that he had been able to build the palatial house on an area of more than three grounds. Erecting the statue might have been his way of showing his gratitude. But then that was the truth. That was the first time in my life that I had come across a person gifted with such unusual luck.
Luck can be defined as a chance, especially as it is perceived as influencing someone’s life at specific points. It is also an event, good or ill, affecting one’s interest or happiness and is deemed as casual, occurring by chance, fate, fortune. Luck is often used for good luck, as luck is better than skill. When someone attempts something unknown with success then that’s also called luck. An unknown and unpredictable phenomenon, that causes an event to result one-way rather than another. They say luck is a lady.
A man is staying as tenant in the same house as me. He is a mechanical engineer and an MBA. Five years after completing his degrees he is yet to get a decent job and is wandering with a job that pays Rs. 5000/- per month for almost fourteen hours of work per day. He is 30 now and says almost all his batch mates are well settled and some are so lucky that they are earning 10 times his pay. I have known him for the past six months and he is smart, intelligent, hard working, and above all has pleasing manners. No doubt about it, his IQ level is above average. I can vouch for all that, but what good will that bring about? The interviewers have to find that out. Surely, I know more about him and his abilities, than the interviewers who just talk with him for half an hour or so and decide his fate. I do not understand logic behind this system of recruitment and luck alone can bring him the kind prosperity that all his batch mates enjoy. Then, that is what the employment process is all about. The lucky ones definitely have edge over others.
There is an important community World over, which consists of gamblers, those who play cards for money, casino players, betters for horse races, lottery ticket buyers and many others dealing with different aspects of betting business from ant race to elephant race that are being played all over the world. They rely and live only on luck and their success or failure is one of their own making: a consequence they have deliberately invited themselves into. The results achieved by them seem to be a random type of luck and often, we attribute their accomplishments to random luck. Those who rely on random luck seem to have certain traits in common.
I remember reading in many magazines, that even many world famous and top cricketers, football and tennis players have faith and belief in superstition or luck in one-way or another. They preserve their lucky play kit accessories, vests, shorts, gloves, caps, helmets and many other such articles for years, even if they are half torn, dirty and deformed, and use them time and again when their team or country requires a match saving performance from them. They all have their own notions. Yet as far as I know, none of these players have at any point of time in their careers disclosed how consistent their luck has been with these prized possessions. I remember that Syed Kirmani had used only that one pair of lucky gloves in all the test matches he played. All those who watched the final ODI between India and West Indies, in which India lost miserably, would remember Marlon Samuel’s pulling out the “red rag” (a gift from another great Cricketer, Steve Waugh) on completing that magnificent century for the entire World to see. Waugh and Samuels believe that lucky red rag piece is behind their success. Have you heard the news? That poor Harbajan Singh and Sehwag were fined $100 each for arriving in New Zealand with dirty shoes. I suspect them to be their lucky ones.
The house owner and landlord of the place where I have my office now, had incurred a cumulative loss of around Rs.30 Lakhs in the business that he had been doing for the past 20 years. Now that he is caught by the vasthu mania (whole of Chennai suffers from two manias, Vaasthu and mega-serials) , he hired a vasthu consultant and is redesigning the entire house at an estimated cost of Rs. 5 Lakhs. Every aspect of the change as perceived by the consultant is being applied meticulously including changing the position of lavatory commode. (The correct direction is Northwest-Make a note of it.) The strange thing here is that the owner of the house is a Christian.
Almost all the World famous and the most visited websites attach much importance to Astrology and are featuring it prominently. Some even offer personalized service according to one’s birth star. Astrology is another popular form of finding luck and prosperity. Astrology is the only subject that has many things to say about luck and how to acquire it. It simply tells you to have faith in God and perform remedial prayers to elevate the debilitated planet that in turn will inherit more luck and prosperity. Of course the prayers cannot correct the so-called fate, but can do their best to nullify the adverse effects to a bare minimum or nil. Astrology also points out that, in a native’s horoscope fifth house shows how lucky one is and forefathers' deeds are deemed to bring in luck. It means that if forefathers' deeds are good , their children are likely to inherit good luck and the degree of such inherited luck varies with the quality and quantum of good deeds the forefathers performed. There are many other religious methods like vasthu, Chinese Astrology and gemology through which one's luck can be enhanced. Some even believe that luck has something to do with the color of the dress; as for each day there is one particular dress color that brings in more luck. The above-mentioned methods that many opt for are applied with unquestionable faith. Another humorous method of predicting one's luck is when a family member or when someone sitting beside that particular person sneezes and why not? Some even listen to the clicking sound of a house lizard. An innocent kitten that crosses the road while we are starting out can greatly influence our luck, as can a solitary Brahmin person walking in your direction thinking about that day’s collection.
But in reality these superstitious beliefs are not tested for their authenticity. Superstition is devoid of scope for critical evaluations. Furthermore, some superstitions make extravagant claims about their scientific status. Superstitions may be harmful if they alone are used in taking decisions and solving problems. Yet this is being followed with utmost care and sanctity, by only a few of course. Many concepts of a bygone era and other old beliefs are slowly disappearing from the minds of people but not Astrology. It is back with a bang with new colors and dimensions, even though the prediction patterns are the same old ones, as is evident from almost all the popular magazines and websites. Though I am not a habitual believer I often read my predictions just for amusement.
In fact, on many occasions I have felt that, this nagging luck factor has not been favoring me. Is it true that luck is in only for those who are born with the silver spoon or born under an auspicious star? In my view to be a successful businessman, this phenomenon is also an important element. I thought I must make a through study of it, to know more about its whereabouts, source of its availability and the price to pay for it. How long must I wait and watch as others at work zoom past me with half the effort? To achieve success, I made several aggressive efforts and carried out quixotic projects that many businessmen try out and invariably succeed in the end, I found myself beating the air. If there were four wrong ways and only one correct way, I would always take five tries to get things right, If at all, I did keep trying that long. Often I didn’t. But that does not mean all my efforts were without any forethought or proper planning. Yet it is a difficult task because analysis, solutions and decisions, in real life, have to be made in an uncertain environment. Furthermore, no matter how careful our decision-making process is, it is unlikely that all outcomes would be always favorable. Often, I used to wonder, if I would ever enjoy being able to decide my own fate and imagined what it would be like to turn on a steady flow of good luck. I have learnt that being lucky is a skill, just like any other skill. As one learns and practises it, one gets better and luckier. Here are the practically experienced successful tips that can greatly enhance one’s luck.
Lucky people don’t believe in luck. Almost all the unusually successful people never believe in luck. It is the sheer hard work, dedication and wholehearted involvement in the work that matters. They don’t wait or look for random luck. They generate their own luck.
Lucky people look for the opportunity that’s always embedded in problems and in life’s inconveniences. “ There is always a miracle in a mess.”
Lucky people are willing to start small and work their way up. They know what they want to accomplish and can visualize the end result in vivid details.
Lucky people never quit when they are holding a potentially winning hand. They drop a losing hand as quickly as possible. They know the difference.
Lucky people polish their people skills constantly because most opportunities are brought to them by others. They also develop a wide range of professional skills so that they are prepared when the opportunity knocks on the door.
Lucky people demonstrate flexibility. They are ready to face all the setbacks and detours that they encounter. They monitor their progress and make the appropriate adjustments and when a particular strategy isn’t working they just make a change and keep trying to achieve their goals.
Other than these simple things, however, naturally lucky people don’t do anything special at all. As far as I know, that proverbial born with the silver spoon or born under the auspicious birth star theories never seem to work in favor of us in real life, because, “ one has to do his own growing, no matter how tall his father was”.
I remember one quote from an unknown source.
“I do not know anything about luck; I have never banked on it, and am afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t”. “diligence is the mother of good luck”.
Sudarshan
January 2003
