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Question
Discuss the following topics in groups of five and choose a representative to sum up the views and share them with the class.
To succeed in life, one must have a single-minded devotion to duty.
Solution
Singleminded determination is necessary to achieve success in life. Legend says Dronacharya was training Pandavas to shoot arrows in the jungle. Once guru saw a bird at the top branch of a tall tree. He assigned the task of shooting the bird in its right eye.
Bhim, Nakula, Sakadevan, and Dharman were denied the chance to aim at it because they all told Dronacharya that they saw the whole jungle, tree, sky, and bird respectively. But it was Arjun who said that he saw only the right eye of the bird and nothing else. Indo-Pak war was in progress. Four bombers were prowling into Indian airspace.
Indian fighter bomber pilot realized all the bombs were exhausted. He had a single-minded determination to prevent the four bombers from bombing India harm and force them to surrender. He tried a trick. He called them and spoke to them. He informed them that he was a thousand feet above them with his finger on a missile. If they just surrender, their lives would be spared. He radioed to his chief that they should welcome four prisoners of war along with their fighter bombers.
Napoleon Boneparte was once watching a battle from a hillock. One of his soldiers came with an urgent message. Napoleon looking at the badly wounded soldier thought that the war was lost. He called one of his aides and gave instructions for a pullout. But the soldier said, “Sire, we‘ve won”. Then he gave a slip from another pocket. Being a practical leader, he had alternate plans always at hand. Such leaders never accept failure as permanent. People who pursue their goals in life with single-minded determination always win.
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The historical background:
The poem is an extract from William Shakespeare’s play King Richard the Second. The play is based on true events that occurred towards the end of the 14th century.
Richard II was crowned the King of England in the year 1367. He continued to be the British Monarch until 1399, when he was deposed by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who crowned himself King Henry the Fourth in the same year. Shakespeare’s play is a dramatic rendition of the last two years of King Richard II’s life. In this brief span of time, he was ousted from his royal position and sent to prison, where he died in captivity.
The following extract is set in the Coast of Wales. King Richard and some of his followers awaited the arrival of the Welsh army [after facing defeat at the hands of his cousin, Bolingbroke], of about 10000 warriors. But to their shock and surprise, they received the message that the army was not coming to their rescue. His followers tried to boost their King’s courage against the news, only in vain. When Richard came face to face with the reality of his terrible fate, he spoke the following verse, famously known as the “Hollow Crown” speech in theatrical circles. In it, King Richard is reminded of the power of Death that overshadows everything else, including the power of rulers, and renders them as powerless as any commoner at a moment’s notice.
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