“Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.” - Gore Vidal. Yes, we’re hardwired to be envious. Moses knew this only too well. And because he intended the sting to be in the tail, his numbering of the commandments saw to it that the one against envy figured in last. But thankfully there’s reprieve at hand. Providence has arranged for an antidote delivery system once envy exceeds stipulated limits. However, such shots come very rare. Imagine, then, how it must have felt to be inoculated twice in the span of one week. The first was when Rakesh Jha (CFO ICICI) was awarded with the ‘best CFO, Asia Pacific’ award. The second was with Dr.Murtaza Chishti’s performing the first successful heart transplant in Rajasthan. Actually, it’s perhaps not too difficult to see how the antidote works; how certain achievements of friends are stripped clean of envy. The explanation lies in the fact that when these guys soar, they tend to achieve escape velocity – a velocity great enough to free them from the little planet of our personal preoccupations. These guys simply transport themselves to a realm beyond the reach of our envy. So when I view the two achievements, I’m reminded of that part towards the end of ‘The adventure of the six Napoleons.’ Sherlock Holmes has brilliantly solved the case when Lestrade comes up to him and says ‘We're not JEALOUS of you, you know, at Scotland Yard. No, sir, we're PROUD of you.’ Then again, it’s easier to be not jealous of friends when they happen to be people like the ones under consideration. Rakesh is too much of a gentleman. Dr. Chishti....too outright and too unmitigated.
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September 2020
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