Usually I prefer to coin the titles of my articles myself from my own imagination and I don’t like borrowing or taking article titles from other sources. But the title of this article is not coined by me. The title “The Spirit of a Fighter” is also neither the title of a book nor that of a movie. I came across this phrase in the room of a guy named Amit Jha who stayed in the room adjacent to my room while I was staying in Mukherjee Nagar colony in Delhi preparing for the civil service exam. Amit Jha was from Bihar and also a civil service aspirant (I don’t know whether he was able to clear the exam because I lost touch with him after my departure from Delhi in June 2004). But Amit was a serious IAS aspirant who studied for more than 12 hours a day. And Amit Jha had this phrase ‘The Spirit of a Fighter’ written and pasted right above his study table and below this phrase were written the inspiring lines:
First they ignore me as if I do not even exist; Then they laugh at me as if I am a joker; Then they compete with me as if I am their competitor; Then they fight with me as if I am their enemy; But all these simply mean that I have won…… When I came across these lines in Amit Jha’s room I was deeply impressed and these words continue to inspire me even to this day.
Life is multi-dimensional and in one’s life one is sure to come across a variety of experiences – some pleasant, some unpleasant, some hurting, some exhilarating, some memorable and some not so cherishing. All these affect us in diverse ways and leave us more enriched and more enlightened about the phenomenon called ‘Life’. These diverse experiences undoubtedly leave its indelible mark on us and it is how we respond to these different shades of life that determine and bring out the kind of person one is.
Our society is full of successful people who are an inspiration and role-models for many. It is easy to tend to think that these successful people are where they are today because they were from proper backgrounds, they had a good beginning, they did not face much difficult hurdles or that they had the right political or official connection. Of course, there are people who were able to taste success because they had all or any of these. But there are also many success stories where a person has been able to gain a name, fame and fortune for himself by sheer virtue of his determination, hard work, perseverance and the fighting spirit in him. There must have been times when these people were looked down upon, mocked and laughed at, ill-treated and considered as someone who would never amount to anything worthy in life. And it is usually the manner in which we respond to our situations in the hard times that ultimately determine our fate and life-story. Even if one does not have the right connection, the right background, the right resources or the right qualifications, if one has faith in God, one can take courage, comfort and pride in the fact that God is not limited by our poor background, our inadequate qualification, our lack of resources or our poor connection.
When some people are looked down upon, mocked and laughed at, ill-treated and sidelined, they become crestfallen, dejected, frustrated and they take to the wrong path by complaining, criticizing, cursing others and their fate, immersing themselves in self-pity and also resorting to consumption of various intoxicants which ultimately takes them further deep into chaos, mental-physical breakdown and self destruction. But for people with the true fighting spirit in them, they learn and gain more and become wiser and wiser with all the disappointments, failures, ill-treatments and unpleasant experiences they encounter. Yes, a fighter who has the real fighting spirit in him never goes about condemning, criticizing and complaining even when he fails at something. For him, a failure is not a failure but only an experiment and the experiment leaves him wiser, tougher and more enriched. As it is said, “you might have failed at many things but you are not a failure if you don’t blame anybody for your failures”.
The title of the article is “The Spirit of a Fighter” and here, by a ‘fighter’ I don’t mean someone who goes around punching and kicking others. No, a violent man who believes in punching, kicking and causing physical injury to others has no place in a modern society. As is rightly said, “Non-Violence is not one of the options today but rather it is the only option through which one can conquer the world”. Here, we may also recall the words of Lord Jesus who said, “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword”. Indeed, a true fighter is the one who knows how to react and respond positively to all the downs, disappointments, failures, insults and mockeries by staying true to himself without harming anybody and also without harming himself with unsavory elements but at the same time standing firm and strong in his beliefs and ideas.
History is full of such stories where someone is able to become a champion against all the odds. Therefore, when people look down on you, when they make fun of you, when they insult you, when they complain against you, when they say that you are good for nothing and that you will never become anybody in life, don’t lose heart….. because you have got good company. That was the same thing they said to Albert Einstein, Thomas Alva Edison, Merlyn Monroe, Amitabh Bachchan, the Beatles etc and etc. But these people shone and are still shining because they did not believe their detractors and their comments but moved on with their lives pursuing their dreams and believing that when one door closes, another one always opens.
Throughout history, man used wars, violence and bloodshed to decide and settle almost every major conflict, every issue and every matter. But as the world come of age, we have come to realize that there are things which are much more powerful and lasting than swords, spears, guns, bullets and bombs. A proverb even says that ‘the pen is mightier than the gun’. Perhaps it is said so because a gun can end a life but it can never kill an idea. Indeed, the power of ideas is undeniable and an idea can indeed change one’s life. Maybe this is why it is said that ‘nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come’. You give a fish to a man and you feed him for a day….. but you teach a man how to fish and you feed him for his whole lifetime…..that’s the power of ideas. And a person with the true fighting spirit in him never underestimates the power of ideas. Rather he is always on the lookout for creative and innovative ideas that can transform his life and his society. Yes, a true fighter never depends only on age-old traditions and outdated practices but rather he believes even in treading down the unknown territories and leaving a path for others to follow as well.
Today the world acknowledges the ideas, principles and teachings propagated by non-violent personalities like Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther (Junior) etc. They are the propagators of the ideas that would last through out the ages. Their teachings would far outlast any gun, airplane or bombs that humans can create. When Mohandas Gandhi was thrown off that train on that fateful night in South Africa, Gandhi did not take up a gun or form an army to fight the authorities, rather he made up his mind never to submit to injustice, arrogance, highhandedness and prejudice…..and thus he found his mission in life. No wonder it is said that Mohandas Gandhi would never have become “The Mahatma” if he was not thrown off the train that fateful night. Thus, speaking about South Africa years later, Gandhi himself said, “it was in that God forsaken country that I found my God”. This is what real fighting is all about.
Likewise, in the 1950s, when all the Naga villages were set on fire by the invading Indian army, when the whole Naga populace was on the run and was being chased and hunted like wild animals, when the whole world was oblivious and unaware of what was happening here in our lands and when there seemed to be no other way than to submit and surrender to the whims, fancies and high-handedness of India, a man by the name of A.Z. Phizo walked away from his beloved home to tell the world of what was happening to his land and people. Phizo was able to do this because he was an innate fighter for whom the question of submitting to such cruelty, injustice, prejudice and highhandedness simply does not arise. He might not have been educated in a Cambridge or Oxford university like Nehru or Gandhi. But Phizo was also a man who knew the difference between what is wrong and what is right and he was certainly not someone who would submit to injustice, arrogance, high-handedness and prejudice. Deep inside his heart, Phizo knew that Nagas were never Indians and that Naga lands were also never India lands and as such India had no right and authority to impose its suzerainty and citizenship upon the unwilling Nagas. Phizo knew that the Nagas at that time were backward, illiterate and primitive in comparison to others but that did not make the rights of the Nagas any lesser than the rights of any other people in the world. It was this belief and conviction which made Phizo to take the extraordinary road even though he did not know what lay ahead of him. When Phizo walked away to take the Naga case to the outside world, he must have known that he might never see his wife and children again and that he might never even set his foot in his homeland again. But still then, nothing could stop him from walking away from his beloved people and land because the ‘Fighting Spirit’ in him was much greater and bigger than any other force in the whole wide world…….this is what real fighting is all about and this is why true fighters always remain as champions…….
