Silently Successful By Shardul Mungikar XI B

Silently Successful

By Shardul Mungikar

There are many successful people in the world, but the word 'success' is relative. Many will disagree but for me the most successful person is my grandfather.

My grandfather used to live in a small village in Maharashtra- Jalgaon. This story starts some 50 yrs ago, when education was a privilege, which my grandfather availed. It was much tougher than it is now, but he managed to clear 12th and then further went on to complete his bachelor's degree in commerce.

After his education was over he started his half-a-century career in banking. Initially he was part of Bank of Baroda branch in Jalagaon.  But thanks to his focus and determination he quickly rose through the ranks, although it did not come easy. All his youth years were invested in the bank. The only other thing that happened in these years was meeting my grandmother. She is a very loving and helpful person.

The toughest part about his job was the transfers. Even though travelling to new places every 3months seems fun, it can get lonely at times. Sometimes he got transferred to places with extreme weather, no water supply, no electricity and even near conflict zones.  With experience, he learned to deal with it all. But it paid very well and as every great personality embraces sacrifices; he went for months or even years without seeing his family. When asked about the happiest moments during working years, he replied without hesitation; coming back home.

His work was monotonous and boring, but that didn't mean that he didn't have any fun. He used to explore, his frequently changing cities once his shift was over. In this way, he managed to tour almost every corner of India, from the smallest village to the largest cities. The other perks of his job included reading books. He got the chance to read many hard-to-find books from different cultures. He did all this with the assurance that his family was living comfortably, thanks to him.

For some people, his life may seem boring and uneventful, without any popularity, but it doesn't matter. He said that his life is a total success. And that he has lived the most amazing life and is satisfied with everything he has been blessed with. This taught me that being super-popular or rich isn't real success, but being perfectly content and having no regrets about your life is.

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