MBBS is often none-too-affectionately expanded as “ma babar bekar shontan”. The meaning is no more clear to anyone than the fresh graduate. The poor fellow has just shifted his expenses from “baaper hotel” to intern’s allowance, and is already being buggered by the idea that this too would close in no more than 365 days. The “bekar” funded by parents would then become “bekar” funded by no one. Right at this point, another hotel, that goes by the name BCPS, jumps to the scene with a lucrative offer – add our four letters to your credentials and you’re king!
But this is no ordinary hotel. Unlike “baaper hotel” where the owner (i.e. father) could be satisfied with any good achievement, the authorities of this hotel not only want you to fulfill their mysteriously unknown requirements, but you would also have to do things exactly in their ways which they would never tell you, and say the secrets that they hide so-too-carefully in their hardened hearts. Until you are able to do that – and mark it the word is “until” and not “unless”, for no one does it until they have gone to this hotel several times and become acquainted with the flavour and taste of their dishes – you would have to console yourself with another equally affectionate expansion : fail confirm, pass surprise.
Even with all its uncertainty, these four letters, F C P S, are so captivating that even the most ignorant students of our class took tremendous initiative and used all their influence so that we could start our internship in time to be able to enter postgraduate training as soon as we complete our internship in December, without having to wait for the July intake.
The drive to attain greater heights and make higher achievements makes us ambitious. The motivation to better ourselves, to acquire knowledge and skills and make ourselves deserving of those greater heights makes us academic. Completing FCPS requires tremendous levels of ambition. Simply being academic, simply the eagerness to be better will not help – one has to have the urge to be the best.
As I climbed down the stairs this evening, I caught a glimpse of who is known as our legend. There are few words that can describe his calibre completely. Terms like all-square, genius, scholar, five star, etc would only belittle him. Perhaps even a hundred stars would not be sufficient to give credit to his intellect and talent. Be it morning, evening, night or midnight, be it a patient who calls him for help or the professor who calls him to do some work or share some deep knowledge, he is sure to respond. He is always looking for and responding to ways that would raise his competence to the level required for success.
But then, if you ask him what FCPS means to him, he would surely say, “fail confirm, pass surprise”. Ask him why, and he will tell you that the criteria for pass is “satisfaction of the examiner” and you never get to know what you would have to do or say to prove yourself to them. At the same time, though he is tensed and skeptic about its uncertainty, he does not feel deterred.
As I climbed down the stairs reading these expressions of uncertainty and apprehension on the face of our legend, I could hear another call, to which he seemed to be oblivious, and kept on with what he was doing.
“Come to success,” said the caller. “Come to success,” he repeated.
And this call was not unclear or vague about the requirements for success. “Come to prayer,” the caller laid down a simple criteria.
And we all know, “Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayer” (Surah Al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2).
I could not be but surprised. Despite having such levels of ambition that even great uncertainties like those of BCPS cannot deter him, what was there that could null all his urge and make him ignore the call to such sure success, and such great success for that matter?
“Surely, those who believe and do good will have gardens with springs flowing beneath – that is a great reward” (85:11).
“There they will not hear any nonsense, only greetings of peace. There will be provisions for them morning and evening” (19:62).
Provisions from “baaper hotel” have stopped, intern’s allowance will stop in a year, doctor’s visit will also stop some time and be shifted to pension and son’s looking after. Oh Goodness! Isn’t there anything that wouldn’t stop?
Perhaps there is. “There they will never be fatigued, nor will they be ever expelled from there” (15:48).
People with ambition are grossly smarter than those who are simply academic. The academic person considers it sufficient to be better today than yesterday, and wants to be better tomorrow than today. The ambitious, on the other hand, is not happy until he is and has the best today, tomorrow, the day after and in the days to come. He gauges his progress not only against himself but also against others. The ambitious person loves challenge, and jumps at every opportunity to achieve something by competing with others. He is happy only when he has won the race.
I wonder how ambitious people like our legend ignore this : “They’ll be served from bottles that have never been opened, whose least attraction is their fragrance of musk, so for this let the competitive compete” (83:25-26).
“The pious will be in gardens with springs and delicacies that they desire. ‘Eat, drink and make merry over what you have achieved’” (77:41-43).
“Congratulate those who believe and do good that for them are gardens with springs flowing beneath. Every time they are served with delicacies, they say, ‘These are what we’ve been given before,’ for they are given things that only look alike. There they will have pure companions and abide forever” (2:25).
The requirements to qualify for these lustrous offers are relatively simple, and more importantly, clear-cut and specific.
“Successful indeed are the believers,
Who are humble in their prayer,
Avoid vain talk,
Are eager for purity,
Preserve their chastity,
. . .
Are sincere about their trusts and promises,
Are careful about their prayers –
These are the inheritors,
Who will inherit the Gardens
And remain there forever” (23:1-11).
Even the illiterate layman knows to weigh risk and benefit before doing anything. The smart and ambitious are always a step ahead – they also know to weigh benefit-benefit ratio of several apparently beneficial things before making their ultimate choice.
While it may not be impossible (albeit unbearably difficult) to bear all the burdens of life on one’s own shoulders, the smart man knows the smart choice, “I’ve delegated my affairs to Allah, and Allah is ever-attentive to His servants” (40:44).
He knows the Promise of Allah, “Whoever fears Allah, He will make a way for him, and provide for him in ways he could not imagine. Whoever relies upon Allah, He will suffice him – Allah will get his work done” (65:2-3).
While everyone feels the degree of success is directly proportional to the degree of hard work, the intelligent knows the inverse, “Whoever is giving, pious and takes the side of goodness, We'll open for him the path of ease” (92:4-7).
Thus, he makes immense achievements, accomplishes tasks in style, fulfills tough timelines but never finds it hard, for the path of ease has been opened for him. He never whines, never frowns and his pleasant smile never leaves his face. He is always at ease with any challenging or tough situation. All of this is possible because “It is He Who bestows tranquility in the hearts of believers, to reinforce their faith with greater Faith” (48:4).
Optimistic as we may feel with all these promises, the warnings against the opposite behaviour are proportionately grave :
“Whoever keeps away from My Remembrance – resources will be restricted from him” (20:124).
“Whoever is miserly, arrogant and opposes goodness – We’ll open for him the path of hardship” (92:8-10).
So, this is what we get :
FCPS = fail confirm, pass surprise
No prayer = fail confirm, pass never
Regular prayer = pass confirm, no fail
I’m sure, overly sure, that smartness and intellect requires the “sure success, no fail” activity to be given priority over “pass maybe”. Smartness and intellect also require that we leave no stone unturned to avoid being in the “pass never” group.
Success smiles upon the believers.
But this is no ordinary hotel. Unlike “baaper hotel” where the owner (i.e. father) could be satisfied with any good achievement, the authorities of this hotel not only want you to fulfill their mysteriously unknown requirements, but you would also have to do things exactly in their ways which they would never tell you, and say the secrets that they hide so-too-carefully in their hardened hearts. Until you are able to do that – and mark it the word is “until” and not “unless”, for no one does it until they have gone to this hotel several times and become acquainted with the flavour and taste of their dishes – you would have to console yourself with another equally affectionate expansion : fail confirm, pass surprise.
Even with all its uncertainty, these four letters, F C P S, are so captivating that even the most ignorant students of our class took tremendous initiative and used all their influence so that we could start our internship in time to be able to enter postgraduate training as soon as we complete our internship in December, without having to wait for the July intake.
The drive to attain greater heights and make higher achievements makes us ambitious. The motivation to better ourselves, to acquire knowledge and skills and make ourselves deserving of those greater heights makes us academic. Completing FCPS requires tremendous levels of ambition. Simply being academic, simply the eagerness to be better will not help – one has to have the urge to be the best.
As I climbed down the stairs this evening, I caught a glimpse of who is known as our legend. There are few words that can describe his calibre completely. Terms like all-square, genius, scholar, five star, etc would only belittle him. Perhaps even a hundred stars would not be sufficient to give credit to his intellect and talent. Be it morning, evening, night or midnight, be it a patient who calls him for help or the professor who calls him to do some work or share some deep knowledge, he is sure to respond. He is always looking for and responding to ways that would raise his competence to the level required for success.
But then, if you ask him what FCPS means to him, he would surely say, “fail confirm, pass surprise”. Ask him why, and he will tell you that the criteria for pass is “satisfaction of the examiner” and you never get to know what you would have to do or say to prove yourself to them. At the same time, though he is tensed and skeptic about its uncertainty, he does not feel deterred.
As I climbed down the stairs reading these expressions of uncertainty and apprehension on the face of our legend, I could hear another call, to which he seemed to be oblivious, and kept on with what he was doing.
“Come to success,” said the caller. “Come to success,” he repeated.
And this call was not unclear or vague about the requirements for success. “Come to prayer,” the caller laid down a simple criteria.
And we all know, “Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayer” (Surah Al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2).
I could not be but surprised. Despite having such levels of ambition that even great uncertainties like those of BCPS cannot deter him, what was there that could null all his urge and make him ignore the call to such sure success, and such great success for that matter?
“Surely, those who believe and do good will have gardens with springs flowing beneath – that is a great reward” (85:11).
“There they will not hear any nonsense, only greetings of peace. There will be provisions for them morning and evening” (19:62).
Provisions from “baaper hotel” have stopped, intern’s allowance will stop in a year, doctor’s visit will also stop some time and be shifted to pension and son’s looking after. Oh Goodness! Isn’t there anything that wouldn’t stop?
Perhaps there is. “There they will never be fatigued, nor will they be ever expelled from there” (15:48).
People with ambition are grossly smarter than those who are simply academic. The academic person considers it sufficient to be better today than yesterday, and wants to be better tomorrow than today. The ambitious, on the other hand, is not happy until he is and has the best today, tomorrow, the day after and in the days to come. He gauges his progress not only against himself but also against others. The ambitious person loves challenge, and jumps at every opportunity to achieve something by competing with others. He is happy only when he has won the race.
I wonder how ambitious people like our legend ignore this : “They’ll be served from bottles that have never been opened, whose least attraction is their fragrance of musk, so for this let the competitive compete” (83:25-26).
“The pious will be in gardens with springs and delicacies that they desire. ‘Eat, drink and make merry over what you have achieved’” (77:41-43).
“Congratulate those who believe and do good that for them are gardens with springs flowing beneath. Every time they are served with delicacies, they say, ‘These are what we’ve been given before,’ for they are given things that only look alike. There they will have pure companions and abide forever” (2:25).
The requirements to qualify for these lustrous offers are relatively simple, and more importantly, clear-cut and specific.
“Successful indeed are the believers,
Who are humble in their prayer,
Avoid vain talk,
Are eager for purity,
Preserve their chastity,
. . .
Are sincere about their trusts and promises,
Are careful about their prayers –
These are the inheritors,
Who will inherit the Gardens
And remain there forever” (23:1-11).
Even the illiterate layman knows to weigh risk and benefit before doing anything. The smart and ambitious are always a step ahead – they also know to weigh benefit-benefit ratio of several apparently beneficial things before making their ultimate choice.
While it may not be impossible (albeit unbearably difficult) to bear all the burdens of life on one’s own shoulders, the smart man knows the smart choice, “I’ve delegated my affairs to Allah, and Allah is ever-attentive to His servants” (40:44).
He knows the Promise of Allah, “Whoever fears Allah, He will make a way for him, and provide for him in ways he could not imagine. Whoever relies upon Allah, He will suffice him – Allah will get his work done” (65:2-3).
While everyone feels the degree of success is directly proportional to the degree of hard work, the intelligent knows the inverse, “Whoever is giving, pious and takes the side of goodness, We'll open for him the path of ease” (92:4-7).
Thus, he makes immense achievements, accomplishes tasks in style, fulfills tough timelines but never finds it hard, for the path of ease has been opened for him. He never whines, never frowns and his pleasant smile never leaves his face. He is always at ease with any challenging or tough situation. All of this is possible because “It is He Who bestows tranquility in the hearts of believers, to reinforce their faith with greater Faith” (48:4).
Optimistic as we may feel with all these promises, the warnings against the opposite behaviour are proportionately grave :
“Whoever keeps away from My Remembrance – resources will be restricted from him” (20:124).
“Whoever is miserly, arrogant and opposes goodness – We’ll open for him the path of hardship” (92:8-10).
So, this is what we get :
FCPS = fail confirm, pass surprise
No prayer = fail confirm, pass never
Regular prayer = pass confirm, no fail
I’m sure, overly sure, that smartness and intellect requires the “sure success, no fail” activity to be given priority over “pass maybe”. Smartness and intellect also require that we leave no stone unturned to avoid being in the “pass never” group.
Success smiles upon the believers.
thank you for this post.
ReplyDeletedizi izle
MBBS is often none-too-affectionately expanded as “ma babar bekar shontan”. The meaning is no more clear to anyone than the fresh graduate. The poor fellow has just shifted his expenses from “baaper hotel” to intern’s allowance, and is already being buggered by the idea that this too would close in no more than 365 days. The “bekar” funded by parents would then become “bekar” funded by no one. Right at this point, another hotel, that goes by the name BCPS, jumps to the scene with a lucrative offer – add our four letters to your credentials and you’re king!
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