“And by pains we attain greater pains”! (Francis Bacon)

I have cherished memories of the days spent walking daily up and down the narrow meandering pathway from school to my village up in the mountain overlooking a deep valley overstretching far below. Yet at times there were moments of intense agony and demanding physical ordeals to suffer alone, hungry and thirsty, in scorching summers and in chilly winters. Once I sat midway beneath a mighty rock atop the steep hillock, exhausted and down with hunger as I was, and cried and cried as there was no friend, no sympathizer, no money, no logistic support at hand. Aaaah! and when I stood up after I was done with the last bits of sobbing, I felt amazingly renewed and fresh as if I never was hungry, never tired. Such were the pains through which we attained greater pains of civil service at last. (Karam Elahi, In pursuit of a dream)