The world is getting faster and faster. Everybody is racing. It is not always because they want to win the race. They have not really thought about it. It just so happens that in the process of living they find themselves in a race. Of course now that they are in it, they would not mind winning. Who would?
More and more, the saying ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ seems to belong to the past. Many today would contend it is all right when one is talking of the hare and the tortoise and all that, but when it comes to real life, one better hurry up if one does not want to be left behind.
I feel that the concept of life being a race is itself flawed, because as soon as one begins to think in such terms, one gets into a tizzy. Why does life have to be a race? It can be a fascinating journey through varied territory where there is much to enjoy and something to learn from every passing scene. If one is racing, there is no scope for such an enrichment—the eyes look straight ahead, and if ever they turn this way or that, it is only to see where one’s rivals are! The journey is nothing, the contest is everything, and winning and losing is a matter of life and death.
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It is a situation a psychiatrist might well revel in, seeing that it will bring him loads of business! And doctors won’t mind it either! That apart, the term ‘slow and steady’ seems to imply that, if one is fast, one is necessarily unsteady, but that is palpably untrue. There are people who, by nature, do things quickly, and do them better working quickly than working slowly. Everyone who is quick is not like the overconfident hare who goes to sleep because he is way ahead of his opponent—there are people who are fast and keep going that way without causing themselves damage because that is the pace they are most comfortable in. The slow person will always lag behind him, no matter how steady he is.
However, to be fair to the proverb, it is quite all right to say, ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ to someone who is in an excessive hurry. It sounds nice, and the warning just might stick.
There are several similar instances where one can quote the saying in a general kind of way, without splitting hairs or going in for in- depth analysis.
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Take the case of Rana who, to excel in the examinations, pops a few unprescribed pills to be able to stay awake through the nights and study. He does brilliantly in the first three papers but, come the fourth, and he is laid out flat on his bed, suffering from some strange complaint! All the brilliance of his first three papers goes to waste. On the other hand, his companion Dilip, who has kept regular hours, fares far less well than Rana in the first three examinations, but at least he does all his papers and passes, and is not marked ‘absent’ like Rana is.
Slow and steady wins the race? One can say it, and no one will object.
