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Don't give up..!

Today I gave up. By some quirk of fate my telephone bill of the previous month got lost and instead by mistake I paid the subsequent bill. My telephone line was therefore cut. I do believe that our nationalised telephone departments have more squads cutting telephone connections than installing them.

I phoned the manager and explained what had happened and also explained that this column had to be sent to nearly thirty newspapers and to please give me back the line. The manager, a typical government babu was adamant. He said he could do nothing. I slammed the phone down in frustration and walked out of my office.

I gave up. My secretary did not!

I came back to the office and found her faxing a letter to the General Manager asking for the connection. I hope she gets it. I am very much sure she will. But I learnt a lesson about persistence, which I am not going to forget easily.

I remember a little story about the great Churchill. One day Winston Churchill was asked to make a speech to some school children. The speech he made had many of them disappointed, till they realised that the words he said where one of his most famous lines. He said "Never give up! Never give up! Never, Never, Never, Never, Never- in anything great or small, large or petty- never give up at all."

And I am sure you have all heard the story about the two frogs who fell into a bucket of cream. If you haven't, read on, if you know the story, read on still, it may inspire you today to carry on at something, which you are thinking of giving up over.

Two frogs fell into a bucket of cream. They tried very hard to get up by climbing up the side of the bucket. But each time they slipped back again.

Finally one frog, tired and weary said to the other: "We'll never get out of here. I give up." So saying, down he went and drowned. The other frog decided to keep trying. Again and again, he tried to climb with his front legs and kicked with his back legs.

Suddenly he hit something hard. He turned to see what it was and discovered that all his kicking had churned up a lump of butter! He hopped onto it and leaped out to safety. So push and struggle and fight on, there's butter being formed by all your struggle and butter on which you can climb onto and leap out of whatever situation you are in, and win.

Don't give up, ever.

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists of its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.

Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and continues pecking away till he finishes the job he starts.

Years ago, I learnt how to hammer a thin nail into a thick wall without bending the nail. The knack was to hammer at the nail slowly, giving small taps directly on the head, without stopping.

I don't know whether I will get my telephone connection today. It doesn't matter anymore. What I learnt is a lesson for life. Don't give up. Never, Never, Never..!

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