Rome was not built in a day. It had perhaps taken centuries. To begin with Rome was only a
hamlets among others; then it became a city state; then a state and finally a vast empire.
So anything big and great need many years of hard work, undaunted by obstacles of failures.

Only a few days before the examination, most of the students begin to study seriously. The
days prior to that is wasted in futile pursuits. Such students cannot hope to do well in their
examinations nor can they come out with flying colors. Luckily if they get through, they pat
themselves; if they don't, they blame their luck. It is no use burning midnight oil at the last
minute cramming information that cannot be sustained for long. They do not realize this simple
fact. Studying late into the night is very unhealthy and adversely affects the vision.

It is not only in the case of studies, but in the case of success in life too that one needs
steady and continuous work. Civilizations did not develop in a country or two. Nor science or
technology is the result of the efforts of one individual or a single experiment. It is because
hundreds of people zealously worked for generations together that we now enjoy easy and
comfortable life. Most of those people who had so toiled are not known to the history, they are
the people, who never cared for fame, who were not deterred by failures, whose only aim was to go
ahead steadfastly in their work.

They are the people unwept and unsung. It is certainly because of the undaunted efforts of these
unknown heroes that we stand at the place we find ourselves. It is the case with every human
endeavor - be it science or art.

When we turn to the nature and watch a bird making its nest, we will certainly be amazed for its
patience and perseverance. A clumsy bird like the crow, brings dry sticks and twigs from a tree in
its beak, puts them at the join of two branches, arranges and rearranges them until it finally takes
the shape it wants! It does not give up its job - a stick may fall now and then and the wind may
blow off its partly built nest. Still it persists.

This is the kind of perseverance we need to cultivate. We have got to realize that obstacles will
certainly come on the way; and the path to success is always strewn with stones and thorns. We must
keep our spirit alive and upright, until we reach the destination. The jungles are dark and daunting.
But when once we cross these woods and reach the other end, the joy is boundless and the journey will
become worth the trouble.