When the Industrial magnate, G.D. Birla
(1894-1983), was thirty years old, he received a letter
from an unknown student in Calcutta. This is what
the student, in an informal and forthright manner,
had written:
If only you can help me with an amount of
Rs. 22,000 for the purchase of a special type of
instrument which has to be imported, I may assure
you that I may be able to get the Nobel Prize for my
discovery.
The effect of this appeal was immediate. Mr. Birla
replied to the student’s letter at once, enclosing a
cheque for Rs. 22,000. With this amount the student
ordered the instrument he needed from abroad and
carried on with his research. His estimate proved
correct. When the results of his research came
before the public, he won such acclaim that he was
awarded the Nobel Prize for science.
This student was the very person who later became
known to the world as Sir C.Y. Raman. When he
had won the Nobel Prize and been knighted, his
brilliance was appreciated by one and all. But to
appreciate his talent when he was just an ordinary
student, when all his greatness was still hidden in
the future, was an extremely difficult thing to do yet
G.D.Birla did it, and that is why his name is high on
the list of the architects of modern India.
This quality displayed by Mr. Birla, not only raises
individuals to greatness; it also has a great part to
play in the national uplift. If there are appreciative
and sympathetic people like Birla in a nation, one
can rest assured that the talent of its youth will not
die out. Talented young people can hope to be
provided with all they need to cultivate their latent
potential. But if there is no one who appreciates
talent in this way, then the only people to advance
themselves in society will be those who happen to
secure some high official position; and clearly no
nation can have more than a few such positions to
offer.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
