THE MOTIVATOR

Abhay parked his car and walked into the park which was situated at the edge of a mountain range. It was early morning and the park was filled with morning walkers. He made his way to the desolate area commonly known as the suicide point. He walked to the edge of the rock and looked down. It was scary but he had come there to die. He could not jump and instead walked back and sat on the cement bench about fifty meters away.

“Difficult to die, is it not?” an elderly voice was heard.

Abhay looked to his right. An elderly man was sitting on the bench next to him.

“It is difficult but how could you make out?” Abhay asked him.

The man laughed and said “My son, it is out of experience. Thomas has spent more than double the number of years you have spent on this earth”.

“I am Abhay Desai and I stay near the cantonment area” Abhay said.

Thomas asked “Tell me why you thought of giving up your life?”

“I have a company of my own and I hire about a dozen employees. I am a design engineer and we design machines and sell the same to companies. I was involved in the designing of a mechanical loader and was ambitious about launching it in the market and sell the product. I have spent lot of money in the process. I have taken loan to support this. Yesterday we presented the same to the public sector company but the design was rejected. All my efforts for the past one year went into drain. Now I do not have the means to repay the loan and continue with the business. My hopes are dashed and will not be able to answer my family. I took huge risk by placing all the eggs in one basket and now am broke” Abhay explained.

Thomas looked at Abhay. He could see tears in his eyes. He smiled and said “My son please understand that life has been bestowed upon us not to end it on our own. We need to face the hardships. A winner is one who gets up every time he falls. Please understand that by taking your life you are putting few other lives in distress. Your wife, kids and parents will not be able to recover from this. If you lose your life in an accident then it is a different issue but taking one’s life by committing suicide is criminal.

I suggest you to re look at your life and start fresh with your work. Give a try for the next three months. Go to your wife and explain her everything. Talk to your employees and motivate them to give their best. If nothing works out, call me after three months. Please note my mobile number. I shall then give you a loan and you can reply it as and when you make profit. We shall meet again at this place after one year” saying so he gave his phone number.

A rejuvenated Abhay went home and explained everything to his wife. His wife was shocked but soon she became normal. She gave him her gold and told him to take a loan against it. He was reluctant but she insisted and they pledged her gold and took a loan.

Abhay went to his office couple of days later. Lucy came into his cabin and inquired about his health. He opened up and told her everything.

Lucy said “When my little son was not well you gave me money for his hospitalization and did not ask for it. Today you are in problem and Lord will not forgive me if I do not do my bit to help you. I shall take only half the salary for the next three months and put in double the efforts”. The other employees also joined Lucy and said that they would take half the salary for the next three months.

Abhay was moved by the gesture of his people. He said “I shall not take salary for the next three months and shall spend from what I have in my savings account”.

Ten days later an international industrial exhibition was being held in the city. Hundreds of national and international companies were participating.

Abhay went to the exhibition with Lucy. Both of them were impeccably dressed and visited many stalls and discussed with companies with interest.

A German company had put up a huge stall and was exhibiting their material handling products. Abhay went to the stall and met the Managing Director. The MD was impressed with Abhay and his innovative skills. He called his daughter who was at the stall and they had a meeting in the cafe. The Germans were convinced about Abhay and his capabilities.

They had a series of discussions with him and at the end a deal was stuck. Abhay was made the Managing Director of the Indian subsidiary of the German company and he got a minority stake in it. Lucy was made the Human Resources manager.

 He worked very hard and soon the number of employees was increased and things started moving in the right direction. Few months passed and he got the gold of his wife released by paying off the loan.

One year passed and Abhay remembered his meeting with Thomas and on the particular day drove to the park and was excited to explain his success story to him. He had a cup of tea in the stall, bought the news paper and walked up the cliff. He looked around but could not find him. He sat on the same cement bench and tried to call Thomas on his cell. He got a message which mentioned that the number did not exist.

He still had hope that Thomas would come to meet him. He opened the news paper and what he saw in the fifth page sent a jolt through his body. There was a big photo of Thomas and below it was mentioned “Fifth death Anniversary”. Abhay started sweating. He could not understand and his mind became blank for few seconds. He googled about Thomas on the cell phone and learnt that he was a big businessman but had committed suicide on the same day five years ago at the same suicide point. He wondered why such a rich person would do so. On reading further he understood that due to some huge business loss, Thomas had taken such a step.

Abhay started shivering. He closed his eyes and started thinking. He realized that Thomas’s spirit had met him one year ago and stopped him from committing suicide. He was motivated to give a honest try and succeed in his life. After few minutes he opened his eyes. Tears rolled down. He had a sense of gratitude towards Thomas. He got up and slowly walked to his car. He opened the door but felt that someone was at his back. He turned back and saw Thomas sitting on one of the benches. Abhay smiled and took a bow and saluted him. He sat in his car and glanced at the bench again but could not find Thomas on it.

Abhay realized that though money was very important it was not everything. Having the right attitude and a never give up approach to life would definitely give results.

He lowered the window glass, peeped outside and  shouted “Mr. Thomas I may not be able to see you now, but I know you are around here. You helped me and ensured that I did not end my life the way you did. You also motivated me to get along with my life. I promise you that I will also help many people who are in distress”.