The luck factor

"It's not only about hard work or intelligence, luck counts too. And you are fortunate to get in."

Every time I have achieved anything , I have been given this 'gyaan', from people who think they can double as philosophers in their spare time. Oh, I'm sure you all too must have tasted this. Crediting my achievements to anyone, even God, more than I give them credit for, angers me, apart from provoking other emotions belonging to the same family.

Living in a socialised world, we are not expected to express our opinion freely, lesser so on ourselves, which by the way, is also the case with a socialist society, making them quite similar. Ironical, and hence laughable for my sad sense of humour.

I have two kinds of responses for such people

The first one is for those who have passed the 'age barrier' and do not need any other qualification to shed some of their wisdom. Here, I just throw a smile, as polite as I can and nod.
Sometimes they keep rambling on about the luck factor in life but I would have found something else to keep me, realising that usually they don't even care whether or not I'm listening.

The second kind is the one born after 'Sholay', but feel that they have accomplished/seen enough in life to earn the post of a philosopher. Unfortunately, they are usually right and I, like others, respect them for more than just the age difference between us.

Ideally, my reaction here should also be the same but somehow, blame it on my genes, that doesn't happen. I invariably blurt out, " I don't believe in luck. It's just my hardwork that paid off" . This is followed by the done to death cliche' " aajkal ke ladke" or " isliye bachchon ko hostel mein nahin bhejna chahiye".

I must learn to keep shut in situation no. 2 as well. Once people know that they have achieved something in life, they turn conservative rather early.


Quintessential QT

Anon QT member: I'm not a gay

Phantom: No u r not. you can fuck anything that moves...