A few years back when I was just starting out on my medical career, a tutor who was competent, hard working and ambitious mentored me. But in the pursuit of his ambitions, he failed. He would torment his co-workers with his biting sarcasm and acrimonious remarks. In one particular incident, he treated me in a similarly demeaning manner. Though innocent I couldn’t defend myself and was devastated. Then almost as an epiphany, I came across this book called Coming Out Of the Ice by Viktor Herman, an American psychiatrist who spent 18 years imprisoned and in exile in a Siberian Jungle. “The prisoners were literally worked up to their death,” he recounts. Amidst such adversity, he realised one stark truth about human toughness and capacity to endure. “Between every stimulus and response, there is a gap in which you have the freedom to choose your actions. No matter how arduous the happenstances are, you can choose your actions. So, choose responses that will permanently empower you.” This simple wisdom has helped me excel through setbacks, criticisms, ugly confrontations and untoward events in my life. The saying ‘tough times never last, but tough people do’ holds true.

— Dr Ujjwal Bikram Khadka, Anamnagar

n I believe people who can face and handle tough times and situations are really tough people. Every new, strange, unusual, unfamiliar, uneasy, hard, problematic situation we face each day are tough times for everyone. Not running away but facing the challenge with courage, sincerity, hard work, dedication, sacrifices surely makes us capable of solving it. We can see examples of many great human beings we see, hear, read everyday on every available medium like Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, et cetera who have overcome the situations and remained with us forever.

— Saugat (Gidi)

n Everyone says that, ‘Tough times never last but tough people do’ and I also believe this saying holds true. All of us are aware and have experienced that tough times never last for long. We overcome such times because we know we can face it. For example: Jackson the legendary singer and dancer also had a very tough time in his life but he got through it. Though he is no more with us, he proved that if you have courage you can do any thing in your life.

I personally also know one person who has over come tough times and proved this saying true. She is my aunt, who separated from her husband and is now living abroad. Her husband left her and his two children four years ago. When her husband left, she and her children faced a very tough time without money and food to survive. At that time there was no one to help them but my aunt kept struggling and now she has reached a point we had not imagined of. So, this also proves that tough times never last but tough people do.

— Barsha Shrestha, Bhimsensthan

n What they say is absolutely true and the proverb has turned to be true in my life. As the final examination of Masters degree was to be held exactly after two weeks, I had lost all hopes and saw no safe exit than to quit the examinations. It seemed that the specious time of two years spent on education was in limbo. I had also failed two more important subjects in first year of the two-year curriculum. I finally decided to give up and intrepidly told my dad of my situation. He just closed his eyes and thought for a few minutes but said nothing against my coward decision. In the evening he brought a book and handed it to me titled Tough time never lasts, but tough people do. Taking the book I went to my room without saying a word and started turning the pages. After reading the first chapter, it drew my total attention. By midnight I finished reading it and slept. The next morning I woke up fresh, energetic and with a positive power in me. The book empowered me with courage. I dared to face examinations and started studying and ultimately, I got through.

— Sanjay Shrestha, Nepalgunj

n Tough times don’t last but tough people do. I think it is the most logical thing written by an emotional person because I do believe that more intricate the situation due to past inability, talents led astray then tough times such as obvious failures or lack of knowledge, day to day problems or inability to fulfil ones duties starts emerging. That’s when you realise the necessity to do something above your normal plane and move one level higher in your mental, psychological and social plane. So, when natural urge for being better than yesterday starts surfacing in you due to tough times, just like snakes going through a difficult time to get a new skin by removing the old one, likewise we start evolving into a better person tougher, intellectually stronger and braver when you have faced tough times.

Thus, tough time simplifies and eventually evaporates for people who are tough and go to the other level of evolution where this tough time turns into some kind of a knot in the wool, which you have taken out.

— Sadiksha Thapa

n Yes, I firmly believe the statement ‘tough times never last, but tough people do.’ Though I haven’t personally gone through any tough time till date, I know people who have succeeded to overcome their hard days with patience and hope. I want to mention my aunt who being a woman didn’t fear to handle the situation of the family, home after the death of her father. She in her mid-teens started working in two places and pursued her studies. Later she got a chance to do stage show in Japan from Nachghar. But due to her health she had to return.

With little education, she could not get a job in Nepal. Still hope and enthusiasm was alive in her. After many years of trying to go abroad she got visa for America and is still working there for her family. Though weak, she didn’t break down instead she grew stronger with time. In her mid-thirties but unmarried, she sacrificed her life for her family. With tough times people become tough. I am proud of my aunt. She is my inspiration in life. And when I look at her now I see a tough woman.

— Rushna Shrestha

n Unlike tough people, tough times never last. If we want to fulfil our wish or any desires we have to face and get through tough times. For instance, I have seen many people in my locality who are enriched with wealth, but they still face many difficulties. Likewise, poor people face scarcity of wealth but they don’t have any other problems. So, everyone is stuck with different kind of difficulties. The only difference is how people tackle the situation.

— Bhawana Bhattarai, Samakhusi

n Yes, I absolutely agree with this statement because I have gone through the same kind of situations many times. I do remember those tough days where I had to struggle hard to get good results in my examinations but I did not lose hope and continued to work hard day and night. At last, I was successful in getting through those tough situations because I had become a tough person who beat those tough times and moved on in life.

— Aayushree Aryal

n I personally agree with this saying, which is entirely true when related to my life. I had gone through a lot of tough times - poverty and death of my father. All those times of struggle for food, for clothes, for education and for all kinds of fundamental necessities of life. I feel all those moments were tougher than tough times. I have seen that tough times come one after the other.

But if people can manage with patience, then tough people can last. I totally agree with it.

— Deepa Shah

n I personally think that this statement is true. Of course, there are a lot of tough situations, which have come in my life. Those tough situations filled my life with sufferings and pain but I never lost hope. I had a very tough time during my hostel life. There were so many situations where I found myself hopeless. I had a tough

time dealing with my situation but I faced it and tried my best to overcome my problems and I succeeded. I was slowly growing into becoming a tough person. With this spirit I am living my life to the fullest and I am happy as well.

— Aashutosh Aryal

n Tough times are transitory, they come at certain intervals in a person’s life. Such times are highly demanding for individuals. Because of its transitory nature they pose problems to a certain extent only for a certain period of time, after which it subsides. Tough people on the other hand have relative permanence and are often everlasting. Because of their toughness they can deal with tough times, and get over it better than others. Amitabh Bachchan can be taken as a tough person. He went through tough times in his life, mainly when the ABC Corp went bankrupt; he almost lost all his money, when he was 50. However, through his sheer determination and hard work he bounced back in Bollywood, and finally overcame his poor financial situation. Tough people therefore can overcome highly demanding and problematic situations. So, tough times never last, but tough people do.

— Shishir Rajbhandari

n I personally feel that tough times do not last long, it comes and goes with time and then suddenly we come to realise that tough times we have been through has made us much more stronger than we were before. I have seen my parents go through a lot of hardships in life but one thing that I have always praised about them is that they never gave up, that is why they have been able to achieve what they wanted to. This has also made me strongly believe in the saying -’tough times never last, but the people do.’

— Shikha Yadav

n You can’t be brave if you have only had wonderful things happening to you. Tough is life. But we have got to live it. Only a few days back, I thought the world would end when I nearly flunked my Maths exams. I felt the same way when my friend nearly got killed in an accident. And when my inconsiderate brother didn’t return home for three days. What I am getting at is, there is always that chill you feel through your spine when things like these happen, the trepidation that goes like electricity in your blood. But, faith keeps you going through these tough times. “If you plant faith, you’ll reap miracles,” my baba tells me. It is true because I have seen faith filling the intangible, and achieving the impossible. I have risen from E to an A in Maths in just a month’s time. I have seen my friend survive the impossible. My baba has instilled in me values that some might, pejoratively, call our naiveté. People like me who still bask in faith and childlike belief of miracles, gets that push you need to move a little faster and jump a little higher.

— Alina Pokhrel

n Yes, I believe that tough times never last but tough people do. Time comes and goes and so do difficulties. We learn many things from problems like, to be courageous, bold, determined, et cetera. Tough times are sad but they make us strong. An easy life does not teach us anything. Once we learn to face problems we become strong and this strength lasts forever. During tough times if we learn to build our determination and burning desire to solve problems then we will succeed in life. Yes, I have come across a lady who was tortured and left alone because of her small mistake but she learnt from her mistake and built her confidence, courage and determination. Now she is a successful lady. It took her time to reach there but she is now a very strong and tough lady. So, we should think not only aim for a life without problems, but aim to be a strong person to face any problems. Success is measured by courage with which we balance struggle against all odds. The power is within us. Believe in your strength.

— Sandhya Acharya

n Happiness and sorrow are unavoidable aspects of everyone’s life. The tough times determine the person’s ability and potential. Today whom we regard as pre-eminent personalities have gained this fame because they were able to fight against every problem that came their way. Everyone gets knocked down in his/her way but one must be able to bounce right back.

— Manoj Panta

n One of the toughest people I have encountered is my grand mum. She always used to tell us heart-rending experiences of the past. She was married at the age of 13 and wasn’t even aware of it. She realised it only after a tornado of troubles befell upon her. She had to look after seven children, manage the kitchen, and look after a small shop simultaneously. Her house was totally wrecked and the whole family of 10 used to sleep on the floor though cold or wet. She extended her limits, ate less, slept less but worked and served more and more and never harmed anyone. Despite that many tried to sabotage her. Now all her dues are paid and her determination has been rewarded big time. Without her we wouldn’t have been the same today.

— Mimi Manandhar

n If life were a bed of roses then no one had to undergo ups and downs in life. The tough times I had undergone in early teen-age of my life is unforgettable. It was the year 2048 when I had just joined college. But the tough times had it its strong foothold in my happiness. My mother suddenly fell sick and was diagnosed with chest infection. Despite the medical support and effort we put for her fast recovery went futile as her health kept deteriorating. None of the medications the doctors prescribed worked. Unfortunately, her disease was wrongly diagnosed. My late father thought it wise to go home and continue her treatment there because the doctors seemed reluctant. Actually, they had lost hope, but we didn’t. At home she received medications and family support. I really felt bad to see her lying in bed all the

time because she was an active woman. One day she passed away. I felt as if the sky would fall and I wouldn’t be able to live without her. That was a tough time I faced, but it slowly subsided as time heals everything. Gradually, I accepted the truth and started to live a normal life and have become a tougher person.

— Ranju Shrestha