MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 322

14th July 2025

Flame to Fame

O son of Pṛthā, that determination, which is characterised by consistent activities, which is sustained with resoluteness by yoga practice, and which thus controls the activities of the mind, life and senses is #SattvikDetermination (Bhagavad Gita 18.33)

Here is an example of sattvik determination. Story of #FlameToFortitude’.

Determination Forged in Fire

It was an old-fashioned, pot-bellied coal stove used to heat a little country schoolhouse in Kansas, USA, in the year 1917. A little boy had the job of coming to school early each day to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates arrived. On that fateful day, someone mistakenly filled the container used to fuel the furnace with gasoline instead of kerosene. When the boy lit the stove, it exploded, engulfing the wooden schoolhouse in flames.

Local townspeople dragged the unconscious little boy out of the flaming building, more dead than alive, but his elder brother perished. The boy had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital.

From his bed, the dreadfully burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die, for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body.

But the brave boy didn’t want to die. He made up his mind that he would survive. To the amazement of the physician, he did survive. When the mortal danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost be better if he had died, since he was doomed to be a lifetime cripple with no use at all of his lower limbs. Once more, the brave boy made up his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately, from the waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just dangled there, all but lifeless.

His mother would massage his little legs every day, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever.

When he wasn’t in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. On a sunny day, his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. He threw himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He worked his way to the white picket fence. With great effort, he raised himself on the fence. Then, stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.

Through his daily massages, his iron persistence and his resolute determination, he developed the ability to stand up, then to walk haltingly, then to walk by himself – and then – to run. He began to walk to school, then to run to school, to run for the sheer joy of running. He made it to his college’s athletics team.

Still later in Madison Square Garden this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk leave alone running – this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham broke the world record of running the mile in 4:06.8 minutes. He ran for the United States at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, placed fourth in the 1500-metre race, and won the silver medal in the 1,500-metre race at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He was the fastest miler in the Amateur Athletic Union in 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938.  In 1934 he set a world record that was not broken for three years, running the mile in 4:06.7.

It is estimated that he and his wife raised around 9,000 kids on their ranch in the years until his death in 1988.

Your life is within your reach

His effort shows that whatever you want to create in your life is within your reach. As long as you desire it enough and allow your will to guide you, you can have and be whatever your heart desires. The only one that can put limits on your personal will is yourself. Develop and encourage your will to create, and all the forces of nature within and without will help you bring your desire to pass.

“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.” – Tagore

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#PositiveNewsPage

Adapted from newindianexpress.com

For most people, childhood is filled with memories of warmth, play, and a sense of home. But for 24-year-old K Saranraj, one memory stands out — returning from school to find his house in Kodambakkam reduced to rubble.

His family, like many others, was evicted for a bridge that was never constructed. They were moved to a tenement in Semmenchery, far from school, work, and the life they knew.

With no proper roads or bus services, the first few weeks were especially hard. For one month, Saranraj had to travel back to Kodambakkam to write his final exams. “I used to wake up at 5 am, walk 2.5 km to reach the bus stop, and then go to school,” he says. “It was only when I reached Class 10 that Semmenchery got a proper road. It took eight long years.”

However, instead of burying those memories, Saranraj chose to turn back and face them, with a camera. After finishing Class 12, he and his two friends pursued Visual Communication in college, where he first got the chance to hold a camera. Around the same time, a local NGO, Thozhamai (means friendship in tamil), offered free photography classes in Semmenchery. Saranraj eagerly joined it, along with 30 others. That was when a photographer named Deepak showed them powerful photographs by Gordon Parks and said something that stuck with Saranraj: “Photography is not just about clicking. It’s about storytelling.”

The following week, he returned with only 100 photographs — this time, focused on the lives of people in Semmenchery. “We were told to talk to people before taking pictures.

Saranraj documented the struggles of 1,500 fishermen families who were moved from Pattinampakkam. Many had to give up fishing and find other jobs. His photo series, From Semmenchery, was exhibited at the Lalit Kala Akademi with support from Thozhamai and later shown at four other venues. It even caught the attention of filmmaker Pa Ranjith.

Though he briefly worked in media after graduating in 2020, Saranraj returned to Thozhamai as a volunteer. He began teaching photography to students who had dropped out or failed their exams. “I didn’t want just to help them get jobs — I wanted to show them a path,” he says. Thirteen of his students have been trained, and some are now working in event photography; 15 more are currently learning.

But challenges remain. “Other parts of Chennai live peacefully. Here, police patrols treat us like criminals. Changing your Aadhaar address is difficult — but getting drugs is easy,” he says. “For many youth, these photography classes give them something to look forward to. They help them stay focused.”

Through it all, Saranraj continues to use his camera — not just to take pictures, but to speak truth. “The camera is the only weapon I have against injustice in society,” he says.

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Conceived, compiled and posted as a weekly newsletter #MondayMusings every monday consistently for the past 322 mondays by Jaganathan T (www.authorjaganathan.com)

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