Monday, June 1, 2009

Life'splan and water melon

You must have read the story of how a very big Japanese grocery store solved the problem of handling spherical watermelons that could not be stacked one over the other and occupied huge space involving higher rental cost and increased transportation expenses. Though the solution defied them initially, they solved it by placing the water melon when it was growing in a square box..The fruit took the shape of the box thus bringing significant cost reduction in storing and handling.
This set me thinking till I read a book comparing our life’s plan to watermelon. We saw that the watermelon that could grow bigger was restricted to the size of a square box that was convenient to handle.. The walls of the box would not allow it to grow big. It is the same principle that operates with our plans for life also says the author. “Our plans shape- and limit-,our lives just as the box limited the watermelon. We can never be bigger than our plans.” The moral is not to make small plans. There should be no restriction on our plans/goals in life. If we limit the plan, we would get a life of the size of watermelon in the square box. Let our plans be unconfined or bounded. Let it enlarge to its fullest shape to enrich our lives. Let not our abilities suffer due to the small sized plan. There is no harm in the plan being big to test our capabilities to the full.

When Mahatma Gandhi led the freedom struggle against the mighty British rulers in a non violent manner, he had nothing else to show to his millions of followers and motivate them except by the loftiness of his goal-total independence. The immensity of the problem or goal did not deter him. When he undertook the Dandi yatra with nothing but barefooted army of people, it was the bigness of his goal and the promised freedom that inspired his followers. His faith in the legitimacy of his plan enabled him to show a clear path to his followers. He was not agreeable to cut his goal to a smaller size. Any leader in any walk of life should have a clear plan or goal that is big to enthuse his people.A leader with a petty goal cannot remain a leader for long. For one to succeed he must have a worthy goal and a big plan to achieve the goal, a plan that is not constricted by restrictions. This applies to our individual lives too. Let our life plan be big like an unbounded water melon for it to grow to its full potential.

7 comments:

  1. nice post...we should aim big and be positive and determined. i haven't seen this watermelon shape before.

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  2. On the other hand, the plan might be big, but the situations form such a box for them, that they have to mould themselves accordingly, a condition where the plans dont have a choice, like the melon had to grow in the box.
    It can also happen that the melon might break through the box with its size and determination..though then it would never be the same.
    Life is complex, sometimes it gives us the choice of selecting the right box but sometimes it so happens that the box is so small and rigid that it mould whatever lies within:)
    Great post thanks, May our plans get a way to breakthrough or the box may give them enough space to bloom!

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  3. I haven't heard about the watermelon story. Thanks for enlightening me! It's very interesting to know that. Yes, we should have goals that doesn't bound us.

    This is a very thoughtful and inspiring post, sir!

    Cheers!

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  4. dear partha,
    really inspiring....before started reading i was amazed to see the different shaped water melon!
    but,shaping or moulding the growth of a fruit according to our choice is against the laws of nature just because it takes too much space!
    but i felt so nice when the values are caught from this story!aim at star,it's rightly said!then we can strive for our goal.think big,act big!success is ours!
    i never knew about this site!simply wonderful!my first reading of this morning.hearty congrats!
    happy writing.......
    sasneham,
    anu

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  5. nicely written and well conceived..

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  6. All your posts are really good lessons to all who read them..... thanks for sharing your thoughts and knowledge...

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  7. They are criminals who thought of the stupid melon idea! But it is a great lesson not to be in the melons shoes.

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