What's your destiny?

Last week, a two-year-old baby girl was killed in a Varanasi blast. She was destined to live for only two years. And, in another incident, a beggar in India was elected the village council head, who said that he will still continue his family business of begging. This is his destiny.

Some modern thinkers do not believe in destiny, saying that with a positive frame of mind they can achieve whatever they want. Some scholars have even made fun of those who believe in destiny. John Oliver Hobbes wrote: "Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call destiny." And, according to Kin Hubbard, "lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny."

There is no doubt that we can tap the unlimited powers of our mind and attain greater heights. Albert Einstein said that we use only about two-tenths of one per cent of our intellectual capabilities. Medical science has discovered that in terms of capacity, our brain contains more than 13 billion cells, 10 per cent of which are dedicated to conscious thought activity and 90 per cent to the subconscious.

A large part of our brain thus remains dormant. We operate on the basis of habitual attitudes of mind that are stored in our memory.

The subconscious mind has unlimited power, and if we could learn to use it our future would be entirely different. But no matter how much power we acquire, and whatever height we reach, we still remain too tiny in front of God. This universe is His creation and the way He runs it we will never be able to understand. If we observe very minutely, however, we can see how subtle the turning points of our lives are, which we call our fate or destiny.

To make this point clear I would like to share a true life story. A few years ago, there was an advertisement in an Indian newspaper for journalists required for a Gulf daily. Many people from top newspapers such as The Times of India, Hindustan Times and Indian Express sent their CVs. One of my friends working for a regional newspaper also applied.

The editor of the Gulf newspaper went to India to conduct interviews. He shortlisted seven people for the interview, and my friend was one of them. All the candidates came with their portfolios and interviews were held in the morning.

In the evening my friend got a call from the editor who said, "You have been selected." The editor told him not to disclose it yet because "I am telling it to you unofficially". Later, my friend came to know that he was the only person who was selected.

Nearly six months after my friend joined that newspaper, when his probation period was about to end, his editor called him one day and said, "I want to tell you something about that interview in which you were selected for this newspaper."

He said, "While shortlisting the candidates, I had planned to interview only six of them. Then I added your name also to the list, but as a last choice because you had experience in working only for a regional newspaper while the other six candidates were from national dailies.

"In fact I called you for the interview simply because you were the only candidate from that city where the interviews were being held. I thought if I am going to interview six candidates, so why not make it seven as it will make a difference of spending just half an hour extra. Thus, I included your name among them."

The editor said, "You would probably like to know why you, candidate number seven, became candidate number one. There were two reasons. One, you had shown sincerity in abundance and two, your positive attitude towards work. Today, I am realising that I did not make a mistake by including you in the list of candidates, though by chance."