They say a man becomes all that he tries to become only if he tries hard enough. So he does a cock-a-hoop at fortune and destiny and carves out his own life for himself; he fashions his own lifestyle. But does he really?

There were these two boys who loved the same girl once upon a time in their school days. Now if it were possible to measure their intensities in terms of loving the girl then both would have had the same parameters. Rishi and Ajay, both lads of the same class with their hearts fixated on the charms of the young lass, a year younger to them, studying in the same school, knew each other’s secret desires. That the girl Amrita, was pretty, would be taken for granted considering the number of roses she received on Valentine’s Day every year from suitors- right, left and centre.

Well, there we are- with the two lads- star crossed, at logger-heads, vying for the pretty girl’s one heart with boundless enthusiasm and subdued enmity. The valentine’s day  of the year 2000 came in, amid the usual plethora of marketing gimmicks and shops were teeming with the red colored little heart symbols on every item worth gifting- greeting cards, little teddy bears, CD covers, key-rings, lingerie…you name it, they had it. So each of our lads, adorned in the latest fad clothes and armed with their personalized gift, planned to way-laid the pretty lass, express his heart-felt passion for her and try to win over her heart.

Rishi had poured his heart out on a few scented pages and this he had wrapped along with a diary and a greeting card as a gift for his valentine to be. Ajay had recorded a selection of love- songs that best represented his heart’s voice of passion and this he had wrapped with a cute little teddy bear and a greeting card. Both chose their auspicious moments and completed the act of giving their gifts. Well, they had to wait a full week before she showed any response and the response came in the form of a friend of hers who conveyed to each of them the earth-shattering news that she was already hooked with a boy her age, in her class and that she had no interest in either of them.

There we will leave them to their fates and catch up with them fifteen years later when they met at the local club, playing squash.

Ajay took a good envious look at Rishi’s well maintained physique and asked him what he had been up to all these years. Rishi gave an outline of the manner in which his career had taken him from one corner of the country to another and then asked Ajay, what about him? Ajay said he handled his dad’s business and has been doing well for himself. After a little light-hearted banter the topic of conversation shifted to that Valentine’s Day. Ajay said he was a wreck after her refusal and had even contemplated committing suicide. Shocked Rishi said he had something to show him if he could come to his house for a moment. Confused Ajay accepted his invitation and drove over to Rishi’s house.

As they entered, who should walk in from the doors of the inner room but the pretty lass herself grown into a beautiful young woman – Amrita! Ajay’s jaw fell and his eyes widened in surprise and before he could say something, Rishi laughed aloud and patted his back and seated him on the sofas.

After the customary greetings were exchanged Rishi related his journey after that Valentine day’s disappointing results. He had waited his chance by hanging around her wherever she went and when she went in for Medical studies he did his share of waiting and completed his graduation and MBA studies. In the interval he kept finding opportunities to bump into her and a relatively healthy relationship of friendship flowered between them. By the end of her medical studies she had broken up the long distance affair she was having with her boyfriend of school days and she was single and ready to mingle again. Presenting himself as a candidate came easier this time since she was already friends with him. Things took off from there and he officially became her Valentine eight years after that first Valentine day disaster.

 That the relationship culminated in marriage is already understood by us. But what needed to be answered for Ajay was why Rishi succeeded in the end when the he himself failed? Was it the virtue of patience and persistence that did the trick in the end? Did it show him in a poor light in the context of life’s battles? Was he poor at trying to convert his dreams into reality? Does trying hard enough and biding one’s time for the right opportunity make a success out of someone? Is that what self-made men like Rishi do? Fortune favors the brave; they say. Perhaps it was a combination of all the factors put together. When Ajay said his goodbyes and drove back home that night he pondered on all these questions at length yet, suddenly, when he swerved safely out of the way of a big truck hurtling towards his car, from the wrong side of the road, he just thanked his lucky stars for having survived!

The next leg of his journey, he questioned the importance of destiny in one’s life and wondered whether it had a major role to play in some people’s life while being of relatively marginal importance in other people’s life. Should he consider himself destiny’s child for being saved from a major accident that night? Was losing out on converting his first love into a fruitful relationship his destiny or his relative lack of desire to chase his dreams into reality? He drove more carefully to his destination asking himself all these questions.

There I will leave you all readers to reflect on the characters I have represented here and depending on whom you identify with more, to realize whether you consider yourself destiny’s child or a self-made man!