A Failure

A Failure is something that has plagued mankind since the beginning. The hardest part of life is failure, other than death of course. A failure and a success are two sides of a same coin. But nobody treats them in same manner. A failure is often treated in a way that one treats an unwanted guest. A failure is not something that is to be treated lightly. President Richard Milhous Nixon is a man who taught us a valuable lesson that there is life after a failure. Nobody readily accepts a failure. Nobody accepts a failure in a royal way. A failure is often despised. Often, one accepts a failure reluctantly. Often, one accepts a failure only when there is no other go or when they are forced to accept it. A failure after a failure makes one desperate and humiliated. It rocks their confidence. It is a failure which generally forces one to commit suicide. How much reduction takes place in confidence of a person it depends upon their mettle. A failure gives room to negative thoughts in one. That is why the question whether there should be no failure at all arises in our mind. Even though, nobody likes a failure 'No' would be a spontaneous response to this question. A failure is as much essential to this world as a success is. It is failure that often opens our eyes.

More than anything else, we are responsible for our failures. Mistakes that we commit are mainly responsible for our failures. World has developed by leaps and bounds. Day by day number of failures is coming down and down in every field. It is a good sign. It augurs well. However that does not mean there should be no failure at all. A failure is always an eye opener. A failure is as essential to world as a salt is essential to a meal. It is a failure which often enables one to know what life is. Every failure is a lesson. Every failure is an experience. Every failure must make one wiser. One should never get disheartened at a failure. A failure is to be taken up as a challenge. If one fears a failure and refrains from doing anything, things would never move at all . Hottepakshada Rangaswamy has created a Guinness Book of Records by contesting 75 elections. A failure was in store for him every time. But he was not at all bothered about a failure at all. Matters would have been definitely different in this universe if fear of failure were not there. Fear of failure bounds action of a human being. It does not allow one to act according to their whims and fancies. A failure generally enlightens us. A failure makes one aware of their shortcomings. It is a failure that sometimes motivates us to accept the challenge that we should succeed. A failure sometimes brings one success too. Sometimes one has to fail to win subsequently. It is also a tactics sometimes adopted. If a failure were not there, one would have remained complacent for ever. A failure is an opportunity to begin again, more intelligently. It sharpens one's mind. It makes one think more. It is failure of a prominent person that makes always news and not the failure of an ordinary person. However a failure bothers everyone equally. It does not matter to it whether one is a prominent person or one is an ordinary person. A failure incites different reactions in every individual. It is powerful. It is capable of sending shivers down the spine. When a failure is not expected and one is sure of success, if it takes place, it raises one's eyebrow. When one deserves a failure and if that person faces a failure those who wanted it to happen would rejoice. When it is one’s own failure, one would be naturally unhappy. When a good person faces a failure, that failure is generally viewed sympathetically from all corners. When one puts up a brave fight and faces a failure, he or she receives an ovation.

A failure is a necessity sometimes. A failure makes one generally less aggressive and more cautious and defensive. If there is no failure one would remain too proud and overconfident. A failure cuts one to their size. It shows overconfidence a door. Failure hurts one’s ego. A failure affects an egoistic person more than anybody else. A failure can make one feel ineffective, inadequate and isolated. Once in a way a failure is quite necessary. Nobody likes it or not a failure occurs as and when it wants. In fact, people pray for a failure when somebody plans something that is bad. They do not want evil to succeed. Even, all bids on the life of Yaseer Arafat by Israelis were a failure. Life is a mixed kitty of successes and failures. One cannot expect always successes in their life. One has to face also a failure too. Failures are not alike. One who does not learn a lesson from a failure is really a stupid. One need not be ashamed of a failure. A failure should never be considered as an impediment at all. If we think more and more of our successes, less and less of our failures, automatically a failure occupies a back seat. Bitterness which a failure generates makes one hanker after a success. One relishes more a success that comes after a failure. A failure is always a stepping stone to a success. Of course, efforts and determination are quite essential to overcome a failure and turn it into a success. Conversion of a failure into a success is really an achievement. There is always a reason behind a failure. What one needs most in time of a failure is patience.

In Bhagvad Geetha Krishna says to Arjuna “Karmanye vadhikarasthe ma phaleshu kadachana” What Krishna means here is that man must do his duty and should not think of the fruits, the results. Further Krishna says “Perform your activities giving up attachment and become equipoised in both success and failure "No doubt these are good advices. But in a real life it is difficult for a common man to keep quiet after any venture. They do not leave any stone unturned to grab the success. They do all the follow up. They expect a success to knock at their doors. It reflects nature of an ordinary human being. Nobody wants to taste a failure at any time. It is said "While success has many fathers, failure is an orphan". Of course, if one is capable and well prepared one need not taste a failure for a quite a long time. A failure can be avoided sometimes only. Sometimes a failure cannot be avoided at all. One has to face failure either individually or collectively. Whether we like it or do not like it, we have to face a failure in our life. How, when, why etc we cannot not know before hand too. According to Hindu mythology, even death was a failure before Markandeya. Without proper diagnosis and proper medication, any treatment to a serious disease results in a failure only. Even if one engages an eminent lawyer in a bad case generally a failure cannot be avoided.

A series of failures make one forget even a few successes that they might have had. All failures are not alike. They are various types or forms of a failure. But failures are all bitter. A failure is always discouraging. A failure is always the most unwelcome. It is said that a failure is easy and a success is always difficult. It is true with regards to efforts only. A failure is generally coupled with humiliation. One always fights tooth and nail to avoid a failure. One tries one’s best to avoid a failure. A failure is difficult to bear. A failure may make one weep. During a failure a few would be with one or there would be generally a decline in one’s fans or followers after a failure. A failure keeps one grounded. There is a saying in Kannada which means that when you laugh the whole world is with you whereas when you weep nobody would be with you. This saying holds good many times during a failure. Only one’s ardent fans or true friends remain with them during a failure. Wherever there is a failure there is no contentment at all. A failure is thrust upon one. Nobody wants a failure to be repeated. Generally it disheartens everybody. It causes sometimes desperation. A failure may lead to a tragedy even. A failure indicates imperfection and inconsistency. It is looked upon with scorn. It is an unpleasant event. A failure affects image of a person too. A failure is generally a loss and not a gain at all. A failure affects the ranking of a player in the arena of sports and games .Similarly a failure affects the ranking of a team too A failure in an interview or an examination denies one of selection. A failure in an academic examination results in demotion and retention in the same class. Look at a student who has passed an examination and look at a student who has failed in an examination. We can make out from studying them what is success and what is a failure. It is a failure that makes one realize what a success is. All said and done, one should not give undue importance to a failure or at the same time neglect it too. It is always better to understand a failure and take corrective measures. It is a way to conquer it. Otherwise, it may spread its wings. Understanding a failure means is finding out fully reason or reasons for a failure and knowing them fully. One gets accustomed to a failure if they face one after another failure.

What is a divorce? Is it not a failure of a marriage? We can know very well what a failure is from an insolvent. It is a woeful story .There is success and failures in every field. What is the affect of a failure in an election in a democracy? If it is a party that fails, then it has to sit in opposition. It loses power. It loses influence. If it is an individual it is not only loss of position but also loss of money, all perquisites etc. It is always better to learn of a failure or success in a war from a soldier. He is the master in his field. That is also one of the ways to keep the failures at arm’s length. Sometimes only a failure attracts other’s sympathy. Many a times, it is a failure that makes one humble and reduces one’s ego too. People have a little tolerance for a failure. Instead of trying to win over a failure, people surrender to a failure. Thus, a failure has become a problem to society.

When one falls, the other laughs. Even in case of a failure some laugh at one who has come across a failure. They fail to understand that they too have to face a failure one day or other. Who has not faced a failure in this world? Everybody in this world faces a failure at one time or other. The difference is some face a failure a more number of times and some face a failure a less number of times. Even intelligence fails many times. A failure of intelligence is always blamed for anything untoward happening in a country or at a place. A failure is not a surprise to a non performer at all. It surprises only a performer. Those who are more concerned about a result are those on whose heads a sword of a failure hangs. A failure shatters one’s dream. What we call luck, or fate or stars play a role in a success or a failure to a certain extent only. When difficulties come they come in battalions and not in single spies. Many a times this holds well in case of a failure too. That is the reason why we sometimes come across failure after failure in wherever and whatever we attempt. Sometimes we are only responsible for a failure. Sometimes outsiders cause a failure and sometimes it is insiders who are responsible for a failure and sometime it is both insiders as well as outsiders are responsible for a failure. We come across more number of success stories everywhere. It may be noted that there are equal number of stories of failure too. But unfortunately, majority of those stories of failure are unheard of. Nobody is interested in them. They have remained as untold stories. Rarely, one writes about his or her failure. Success brings one applause, rewards, glory, etc. Nobody likes a failure. A failure is generally coupled with sorrow. A failure is generally bitter. But a failure cannot be ignored. A failure cannot be treated lightly also. Similarly a failure should not be blown out of proportion too. A failure should be accepted as it is coolly. There are always reasons for a failure. A failure may be due to lack of knowledge, or lack of control, or lack of preparation, or may be a better opponent, etc . A failure need not be due to a single factor or it may be due to many factors too. In short, one or other shortcoming is there behind any failure. Sometimes a failure takes place all of a sudden whereas sometimes it is gradual. A failure should be analyzed. A failure may befall on us at anytime. There is no guarantee that a failure will be followed by a success. A failure always leaves a trail. There are signs for a failure as there are signs for a success. A failure spares nobody. How it would affect an individual or an institution, it is difficult to predict. A failure affects individual as well as institution in several ways. They may suffer monetarily. They may lose their position. They may lose their reputation They may become bankrupt etc One has to suffer generally on account of a failure. Only a few are able to console themselves in their failure. Only a few remain optimistic after a failure. They think failure and success are two sides of a coin. They consider success and failure as part of one's life. They consider failure as an opportunity to perform better next time. When one attempts an impossible failure is imminent. A sane man will never mock at a failure. A true sportsman accepts defeat with grace but not his failure. He treats his failure with seriousness

What is a failure? Whenever and wherever desired results do not emerge as expected and nothing fruitful takes place, it is a failure. Defeat is failure to win. It is not a failure. Defect is an imperfection and may be one of the causes of a failure. Similarly, deficiency is a lack or shortage only and may cause a failure. A failure can be compared to anything to everything. It can be compared to fall of Roman Empire, failure of Nazism in Germany, fall of a castle built with a pack of cards etc. There are various types of failures. There is no dearth to types of a failure. It may be a failure in business, or it may be a failure in love affairs, or may be a failure in an examination or in a career or it may be a failure of a monsoon. or a system. A failure spares no field. A failure takes place in friendship too. Wherever possible everywhere everybody try to develop friendship, Failure of a friendship is always troublesome. It affects concerned adversely. It creates one or another problem. What an affect a failure to impress would have? In an interview for a job one may not get a job at all. If an interview takes place before a marriage between a girl and a boy and if they fail to impress one another the marriage proposal falls. A failure of intelligence at the nick of moment shatters all hopes of a success. Similarly a failure of intelligence makes possible bomb blast and other terrorist activities. Failure hurts everybody. Failure more than anything affects one’s psyche. It hurts many people’s self respect. The reason behind any suicide is generally a failure. The failure may be due to failure in love, business, examinations etc. Many do not consider success and failures are common in life. Further failures are not generally shared with others. They are either kept within or forgotten. More you rely on a success more would be the affect of a failure upon your psyche. Success increases one’s confidence whereas a failure does the opposite. A failure dampens one’s spirit. One may even develop inferiority complex after a failure. A failure brings in gloom or depression. Failure is always a disappointment. Thinking only of a failure is called negative thinking. If there is a failure of a brake of a speeding vehicle, it may be fatal but most of the failures are not fatal. There are ways and means to come out of them success fully and survive. If one commits suicide after a failure, it is due to one’s weakness only. Further failures can be classified as minor failures and major failures. A minor failure does not require much attention. It can be ignored or borne or set right in no time. It is major failures that cause a concern.

Knowledge and practice are entirely two different aspects in a profession. One who is not so good at studies, may succeed in practice. One who is good at studies may be a failure in practice. Where one faces a failure other may succeed. One may encounter a failure in one field but one may succeed elsewhere. A person is more important in a failure than anything else. It is important that how he or she treats a failure. One has to learn many lessons from a failure and improve upon his or her performance. Wherever and whenever companies or individuals offer higher rates of interest on deposits than the prevailing market rates of interest, failure of those companies or individual is imminent. A failure can bring in changes. It can usher in reforms and modifications. A failure may be for one's good sometimes. According to Winston Churchill courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. A failure is always better than remaining quiet and doing nothing. A failure can be treated as an experience. A failure should be thought as an opportunity to learn from our mistakes. A failure should be utilized for pruning our wisdom. It need not be treated as a setback. A failure can be as memorable as a success is and sometimes it is more memorable than a success too. Studying failure is as important as relishing in success. Even in a failure one can corner glory. Why I am not wining. I should also win. This is what one decides after facing failure after failure. Thus it is said failure is the stepping stone to success. More the successes one forgets a failure. More the failures one remembers a success. Generally a success always follows a failure. Before making an impossible a possible one has to face a failure or failures. Everest in Himalayas was not conquered at the first attempt. It was conquered only after many failures. No writer generally highlights failures of his or her hero or heroine. Writers highlight failures of other characters. Similarly in case of great people nobody highlights their failure. In fact, many great people reveal and admit their failures.

Why many people hesitate to take part in a competition? Why people do not spare any of their pains and prepare themselves day and night for a competition? Is it not on account of their fear of a failure? One, who has confidence, has no fear of a failure. One who has a fear of a failure cannot come out with their best. How a fear of a failure starred at President Bush during presidential election of 2000. It was hanging over him nearly for a fortnight. It might have caused many sleepless nights to him as well as to Mr. Al Gore. It was a closely contested election. One’s state of mind also plays an important role in one’s success or a failure. Many psychologists observe that we talk of innovation but do not try new things because of our fear for a failure. According to Atlanta psychiatrist namely Frank Pittman in every realm of life, we should not merely accept failure, but actively go out of our way to fail. Then if we do, we can chalk it up with a success. If one allows their fear of failure to develop, then there is likelihood of one facing failure everywhere and may have psychosis too. A fear of failure will not allow one to perform well. One is generally subdued under a fear of failure. A fear of a failure causes tension in many of the participants. It continues to haunt them and before and after participation until the results is announced.

A fire can be averted. An accident can be avoided. Everybody wants a success and nobody wants a failure. Then why a failure cannot be avoided? This is a million dollar question. Definitely, though we cannot avoid a failure totally, we can avoid it in majority of cases. We should understand why we failed or why a failure occurs to avoid a failure. It is always bad to brood over a failure. One if one does so; he or she would be obsessed with a failure. As a result nothing fruitful takes place and one would never succeed once again. Technology, intelligence, resources, efforts etc play a major role in avoiding failures in this modern era. Nothing is impossible now-a- days. A failure of a kidney is avoided through transplantation. A heart failure can be avoided through a pace maker or through a bypass surgery. A failure in an examination can be avoided through intense coaching and efforts. However, we should understand that once a failure takes place ,it belongs to past. Nothing could be done. Then, crying over a failure would be just like crying over a split milk. Only we can avoid it in future. Further we must bear in mind that we should neither neglect a failure nor give it priority or undue importance. We should remember here that prevention is always better than cure. We should take precautions before a failure takes place. Non participation is not a way to avoid a failure. We can avoid a failure through a cautious approach. One should always think positively and should never give room to negative thoughts to avoid a failure. One should realize that everything could be set right if one minds and take those steps that are necessary to avoid a failure from occurring once again. One should shed down a fear of a failure, should never doubt their capabilities and never undermine others capabilities too, and should never lose one's patience and presence of mind to avoid a failure. It is through intense preparation and planning only one can avoid a failure. One should be innovative. One should increase one’s capabilities to avoid a failure. Further following are also necessary to avoid a failure: - One should not attempt for the impossible. One should know not only one’s own strengths and weakness but also should know strengths and weaknesses of opponents. One has to plug all the loopholes. We make alternative arrangements in case of failure of electricity, water etc. Similarly, we should be always ready with alternatives to meet the contingencies with wherever, whenever and whatever necessary. We should have thorough knowledge wherever and whenever we indulge in. We should also update our knowledge from time to time. We should not take anything as granted. We should leave no stone unturned. We should never be overconfident. We should not be speculative. If we practice hard nothing is impossible.

These are only a few tips to keep a failure at bay. More one applies one's mind and efforts to a task more one can avoid a failure. A failure of batsmen of a team in the game of cricket make task of bowlers of that team very tough but it is not impossible to avoid a failure. One should always be optimistic and should never give room to pessimism in order to avoid a failure. One must always remember that where there is a will there is a way. In fact, ways and means to avoid failures are numerous and in exhaustive. Further, there are unfair ways and means to avoid a failure too. They are unworthy to be followed. They are also corrupt ways to avoid a failure. They do not bring anybody fame or name. Nobody would appreciate those means. Failure is always better than following such practices. To those who are in continuous litigation for a long time a victory appears as a failure and a failure appears as a death to them. Now -a –days, sometimes one can have insurance cover and need not bother about failure at all.

Here is an account of World War II. It was a failure of Germans at the hands of Russians. It yielded a death blow to Germans.It demonstrated how Russians avoided and converted what could be an imminent failure into a victory. It proved that success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

German 4th Panzer Army, after being diverted to the south to help Kleist's attack on Rostov late in July 1942 was redirected toward Stalingrad a fortnight later. Stalingrad was a large industrial city producing armaments and tractors; it stretched for 30 miles along the banks of the Volga River. By the end of August the 4th Army's northeastward advance against the city was converging with the eastward advance of the 6th Army, under General Friedrich Paulus, with 330,000 of the German Army's finest troops. The Red Army, however, put up the most determined resistance, yielding ground only very slowly and at a high cost as the 6th Army approached Stalingrad. On August 23 a German spearhead penetrated the city's northern suburbs, and the Luftwaffe rained incendiary bombs that destroyed most of the city's wooden housing. The Soviet 62nd Army was pushed back into Stalingrad proper, where, under the command of General Vasily I. Chuikov, it made a determined stand. Meanwhile, the Germans' concentration on Stalingrad was increasingly draining reserves from their flank cover, which was already strained by having to stretch so far—400 miles on the left (north), as far as Voronezh, 400 again on the right (south), as far as the Terek River. By mid-September the Germans had pushed the Soviet forces in Stalingrad back until the latter occupied only a nine-mile-long strip of the city along the Volga, and this strip was only two or three miles wide. The Soviets had to supply their troops by barge and boat across the Volga from the other bank. At this point Stalingrad became the scene of some of the fiercest and most concentrated fighting of the war; streets, blocks, and individual buildings were fought over by many small units of troops and often changed hands again and again. The city's remaining buildings were pounded into rubble by the unrelenting close combat. The most critical moment came on October 14, when the Soviet defenders had their backs so close to the Volga that the few remaining supply crossings of the river came under German machine-gun fire. The Germans, however, were growing dispirited by heavy losses, by fatigue, and by the approach of winter.

A huge Soviet counteroffensive, planned by generals G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, and Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov, was launched on Nov. 19–20, 1942, in two spearheads, north and south of the German salient whose tip was at Stalingrad. The twin pincers of this counteroffensive struck the flanks of the German salient at points about 50 miles north and 50 miles south of Stalingrad and were designed to isolate the 250,000 remaining men of the German 6th and 4th armies in the city. The attacks quickly penetrated deep into the flanks, and by November 23 the two prongs of the attack had linked up about 60 miles west of Stalingrad; the encirclement of the two German armies in Stalingrad was complete. The German high command urged Hitler to allow Paulus and his forces to break out of the encirclement and rejoin the main German forces west of the city, but Hitler would not contemplate a retreat from the Volga River and ordered Paulus to “stand and fight.” With winter setting in and food and medical supplies dwindling, Paulus' forces grew weaker. In mid-December Hitler allowed one of the most talented German commanders, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, to form a special army corps to rescue Paulus' forces by fighting its way eastward, but Hitler refused to let Paulus fight his way westward at the same time in order to link up with Manstein. This fatal decision doomed Paulus' forces, since the main German forces now simply lacked the reserves needed to break through the Soviet encirclement single handedly. Hitler exhorted the trapped German forces to fight to the death, but on Jan. 31, 1943, Paulus surrendered; 91,000 frozen, starving men (all that was left of the 6th and 4th armies) and 24 generals surrendered with him.

Besides being the greatest battle of the war, Stalingrad proved to be the turning point of the military struggle between Germany and the Soviet Union. The battle used up precious German reserves, destroyed two entire armies, and humiliated the prestigious German war machine. It also marked the increasing skill and professionalism of a group of younger Soviet generals who had emerged as capable commanders, chief among whom was Zhukov.

Meanwhile, early in January 1943, only just in time, Hitler acknowledged that the encirclement of the Germans in Stalingrad would lead to an even worse disaster unless he extricated his forces from the Caucasus. Kleist was therefore ordered to retreat, while his northern flank of 600 miles was still protected by the desperate resistance of the encircled Paulus. Kleist's forces were making their way back across the Don at Rostov when Paulus at last surrendered. Had Paulus surrendered three weeks earlier (after seven weeks of isolation), Kleist's escape would have been impossible.

Even west of Rostov there were threats to Kleist's line of retreat. In January, two Soviet armies, the one under General Nikolay Fyodorovich Vatutin, the other under General Filipp Ivanovich Golikov, had crossed the Don upstream from Serafimovich and were thrusting southwestward to the Donets between Kamensk and Kharkov: Vatutin's forces, having crossed the Donets at Izyum, took Lozovaya Junction on February 11, Golikov's took Kharkov five days later. Farther to the north, a third Soviet army, under General Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, had initiated a drive westward from Voronezh on February 2 and had retaken Kursk on February 8. Thus, the Germans had to retreat from all the territory they had taken in their great summer offensive in 1942. The Caucasus returned to Soviet hands.

A Success is nothing but avoidance of a failure . A failure is inexplicable.