One cannot be ‘not humble’ and ‘aware of oneself’ at the same time. Madeleine L’Engle
River Kaveri
If you live in the southern part of India in Tamil Nadu or specifically in towns that dot river Kaveri — Salem, Erode, Namakal, Trichy and Thanjavur, you would have seen the full flowing river Kaveri just a month back.
River Kaveri, which is usually dry or with little water (in Tamil Nadu), saw unprecedented flow of water last month — thanks to the copious rains in Karnataka and Western Ghats.
Bridge and Check dam broke
Due to the enormous water, both Kaveri and its tributary Kollidam were flowing full and to the brim. The force of water was so powerful, first it broke one of the pillars of British-era bridge (sparsely used by cyclists and pedestrians) in river Kollidam in Trichy. Along with the pillar, fell two parts of the 20 part bridge.
After few days of this incident, some eight gates of a check dam got washed away in Mukkommbu due to enormous force of water. For those not from this region, Mukommbu is a small beautiful place (10 kms from Trichy) where Kaveri and Kollidam split as two rivers and there is a check dam to store and control water flow.
Along with the eight gates, fell the entire structure and the small road on the top.
After few days of these incidents, the rains in Karnataka subsided and hence also the flow of water in river Kaveri.
What survived the flood?
Since Kaveri river is usually dry and has less water these days you can see many plants and shrubs in the middle of the river making small islands.
I was thinking the full force of Kaveri and floods would have washed away all the plants and shrubs along with it and would clean up its entire path as the force was good enough to break check dams.
Once the water subsided, to my surprise, I found most of the plants and shrubs were intact and smiling at us :-) again.
The plants are flexible and they bend and allow water to pass around them. As they bend fully, the area of impact is minimum or near zero.
The secret of surviving a flood
In life as well, we get floods once in a while. People around you, may be for some reasons, will force and try to bulldoze you. One way to react is to stand stronger (develop an opposite reaction) like the bridge, but get washed away when some elements of the structure are weak.
The other way — which is interesting and wonderful — if we have to learn from plants, is to bend, keep cool and allow the water to pass around you.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. -C. S. Lewis
Lessons from Bamboos
Japanese forests have good amount of bamboo trees and also other large trees. But when there is a storm and heavy winds, it is the bamboos which survive. Many mighty trees including oak trees get uprooted.
These are lessons that we can learn from Bamboo trees (taken from presentation zen ) — (1) Bend but don’t break. Be flexible yet firmly rooted , (2) Remember: What looks weak is strong (3) Find wisdom in emptiness (4) Express usefulness through simplicity
Thiruvalluar (tamil saint and poet, lived 2000 years ago) dedicated one chapter out of 133 for self-control and humility and said just in one and half lines :
நிலையின் திரியாது அடங்கியான் தோற்றம்
மலையினும் மாணப் பெரிது.
Loftier than a mountain will be the greatness of that man who without swerving from his domestic state, controls himself and stays humble.
Talent is God given. Be grateful. Fame is man-given. Be humble. Conceit (=self-importance, pride) is self-given. Be careful. — John Wooden
Muthu is a husband, parent, brother, co-worker, colleague, a minuscule part of society and a dust in the cosmos. Muthu enjoys learning and writing about topics that matter to work and life.
He is Alumni of NITIE, Mumbai and NIT Trichy. He currently leads DexPatent (www.dexpatent.com) and HelloLeads (www.HelloLeads.io).