Grow like a Tree In the Jungle of Work

                                                           

Oak and pine are the tallest of them all

That rise over the rest with brisk and risk,

But oh, how mighty is their fall

At the blow of a wind too strong and fast!

See the grass that surrounds the pine

Smiling and dancing unmindful of any gale or rain

For it believes not in growing tall

But in enjoying the every ‘now’ that befall

There is this banyan spreading far and wide

Helping every branch to grow its stem and root

And from them draws its strength and spread

To provide its underlings the much-needed shade.

It is in the newness that the plantain believes

And blooms with a newer shoot day after day;

With its fruit and bud, and stem and leaves

It serves the humankind in myriad ways.

And that Chinese bamboo takes its own sweet time

Not a month or two, but about years four to five

On its 10K hour journey to mastery, as Gladwel asserts,

Yes, that is the time bamboo takes to deepen its roots

Grow you may in whatever way

While you carry on in the world of work:

Taller, or wider, or newer, or deeper,

But make sure to align it to your inner core.

You know what really matters at the end of the day

Is not the money you earned or the fame you reaped;

But how happy were you, is what truly counts,

In putting that smile on the face of the world.

 - Bharath Gopalan