Hard work outshines luck

I think most Nepalis believe in luck. I am not a person who doesn’t plan his day after seeing horoscopes but I do think I’m lucky. People say, “A person with a big forehead has great luck.” Since I have a big forehead, luck has always been by my side. I was able to get distinction in SLC though I never studied properly. In grade 11, I secured 71 per cent marks, and 80.91 per cent in grade 12. Thus, in aggregate I got distinction marks. I wonder whether it is due to my lucky amulet or my big forehead

— Shyam Bahadur Adhikari, Balaju

Hard work is always a step ahead of better luck — this is my principle. I really feel sorry for people who depend on luck. If you try your best, then even God cannot stand between you and your destiny. Can anyone claim ‘I am the luckiest one in the world’ and just sit back doing nothing as luck is there to provide everything. On the contrary, an ordinary man (not concerned about luck) who keeps working hard certainly will get victory. Luck doesn’t help unless there is hard work. Just wearing gems, following Vaastu or any trick won’t work.

— Om Gurung, Gorkha

All these Feng Shui and Vaastu Shastra things are man-made misconceptions. don’t believe that such things, which bring luck to you, and then when it’s not followed, luck does not favour us. For me luck is just a mysterious kind of a thing that comes and goes without any notice. If Feng Shui would bring luck for me, then I would have followed it all the time. Not only me, people all around the world would have believed in it and had luck all the time. But the fact cannot be ignored that there are so many people who believe in it and follow it. I have not yet had any sort of experience of Feng Shui and Vaastu Shastra bringing luck to me so I don’t give them much importance. I believe in doing good deeds.

— Bhagya Subba, Hattiban

I do not believe that luck comes without doing hard work but hard works always brings good luck.

I remember one incident when a saint came to my place to sell some products. I was mesmerised by his words and bought some of those products. I have been wearing this so-called jantar for good luck. But neither good luck nor success came. In the last 10 years I lost my mother, grandfather, grandmother and ruined my career. Forget the word ‘luck’ and always keep on doing your work until you get success.

— Thaneshwar Kunwar, Kirtipur

Luck permeates human psychology and consequently there is obsession towards luck’s supremacy. Some ignorant people think that use of charm in any type or form can lessen bad luck or promote good luck. Some traditional healing practitioners insist that these charms promote good luck but there is no proof. Luck is destiny that comes to all humans according to their activities. Use of charm is merely psychological.

— Bhupendra Prasad Poudyal, Baneshwore

Once when I was going for my examination a black cat crossed my way. It felt I that my exam will get spoiled. Inside the examination hall I began to feel nervous and my paper went very bad. I cursed my luck and the cat for spoiling my exam. Later I realised it was not the cat but my strange feeling that ruined my exam. I think my luck depends on nothing but what I believe in. Being a science student I don’t believe that Vaastu Shastra or Feng Shui products bring any direct physical effects in our life but it does bring optimism. Optimism leads to a better life and we name it ‘luck’. I have been wearing a pearl ring according to my zodiac sign. I believe it will do something good to me and it does. If I hadn’t thought that way then it wouldn’t have done me any good.

— Sawal Maskey, Koteshwore

Every individual has some dreams though it varies depending on circumstances. Desire, expectation or goal are things which inspires us to be industrious in life. Everyday people wake up with a new hope and put lot of effort to make it true. In spite of extreme hard work and dedication some are left with nothing. And even after repeated efforts when one doesn’t get success, they start losing courage. This is when people need luck. It is something really special which makes all our efforts worthwhile. Feng Shui and Vaastu Shastra provide positive energy, which directly affects our mind and body. They give hope and confidence, which is directly connected with our success.

— Neelam Thapa

n Luck is probably the outcome of good practice, dedication and struggle of a person. If the results are not favourable, then it is related to the so-called bad luck. But in my view luck is just a symbolic word expressing success and failure. I think Feng Shui and Vaastu shastra products claiming to bring luck in our life are useless as there is no scientific basis for this concept. Though it may have psychological influence upon an individual.

Instead of following these work hard and make the best out of every opportunity. It is necessary to be conscious of our own weaknesses and work on it to make the outcomes fruitful and the so-called luck be in favour.

— Sumit Gupta, Koteshwore

No pain, no gain. Perseverance and hard work is vital to achieving success in life. Unless we are fully prepared for the work it is obvious we can never be successful. No matter how lucky we may be, if we are not capable of the work then we cannot succeed. However if we don’t succeed even after working hard we must take it as an opportunity to achieve even more than our previous goal. So, nothing that is supposed to bring luck works; it’s our continuous effort and sincerity that counts the most in achieving our goal. I believe in labour, not luck.

— Ranjana Giri

We are members of a society where our tradition and culture confine us to follow certain rules and have faith in our luck. Whenever we try to disregard it, we are criticised. But, all this is fake. Every outcome of our work depends upon our labour and how well we do and not luck. If we are destined then luck will definitely favour us. Faith in luck hinders the capability of an individual.

— Sumit Kumar Thakur

In my belief luck cannot be stirred by any physical products available in the market. Additionally, these products are not scientific enough to attract genuine attention. But these products may bring success to one because it can psychologically increase confidence of one to toil harder, eventually leading to success. This then gives an illusion, that luck had determined the success. This is evident in the proverb, “A man worked day-by-day, and toiled night-by-night while his companions were sleeping, but when he succeeded his friends called it luck.” So I only have little belief upon these products. But I have the greatest sense of admiration towards hard work and self-confidence.

— Prasiddha Kandel

Cursing our fate or luck for our failure is just a lame excuse. We are the architects of our own fate. Hard work and only hard work determines our success not Feng Shui or Vaastu Shastra.

Great heights reached by human beings are attributed to abilities constant effort and perseverance. Man’s worth is only determined by his actions. Blaming bad luck for one’s own shortcomings, personal misfortunes and failure is indeed baseless. So I think the more we work hard, the more luck we have.

— Prajaya Prajapati

I don’t think Feng Shui and Vaastu Shastra can bring luck into our lives. If it had been so, then everyone would stop working hard and would instead

depend on all these to get success in their lives. When I was appearing for SLC, I consulted an astrologer about the subjects I needed to focus more on. He

suggested me to study

Social Studies more and told me not to emphasise on Maths. He even studied my palms and forehead and said I wouldn’t need to trouble my brain because bright future was ahead of me. When the results came, I topped Maths and got low marks in Social Studies. From that very day, I sincerely depend upon my performance rather than luck.

— Riten Kharel

There are two kinds of people, one who believes that they are the drivers of their fortune, and the others who believe that their fortune is out of their control and are thus dependent upon other factors. It is one’s choice to decide what

is driving one’s fortune.

Luck does play a role, but considering it to be the sole factor is not going to benefit anyone. Luck along with perseverance is the surest mantra for success. Many shops are selling various products claiming to bring luck in one’s life, but the degree to which they work is uncertain. However, what these products do, for

sure, is that they act as an excuse, which restores the belief that luck is on one’s side. This can encourage an individual, who is depressed thinking that nothing is going his/her way, to put some effort in his work. However, being content after buying these items can have negative effect.

— Shishir Rajbhandari

We may call it our belief or the fear that we tend to believe in Feng Shui and Vaastu Shastra. Most of the TV shows and serials are other factors which are influencing people towards these kind of things and people who don’t want to take any risk in their life. These are just medium to satisfy us.

— Prabinta Shrestha

n At times, we all get doubt that luck influences our life. If you believe in luck,

why work hard to get

something done? If luck’s

on your side, you will definitely get an A+ without working hard for it. But I do believe in those Vsastu

Shastra products. Those are, mostly based on the idea

of make-believe. Even

the idea behind them is quite intriguing.

— Prashanta