Destiny : An Enigma

Often I have heard people say "A person creates his own luck ". This can be loosely translated into : " if you really work hard for something, the whole universe will conspire you to achieve it" or as "The Alchemist" says. But here's what makes things interesting: In a country with a 1.21 billion population, where every youth wants to make his mark , works equally harder just like everybody else around him. Then, why does only a handful achieve what everyone's been dreaming of ? There can be multiple reasons for that but I have often found my parents consoling me with a quote : " Not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck" or " You don't get what you want , you get what is good for you!" 

So, what is it that I'm supposed to believe?

To complicate matters further for me ( by me ),I was assigned to read Hitopadesha Tales as a part of my curriculum.  The story which has caused a dilemma to this mid-twenty something has been narrated below, I do hope that you enjoy it & share your insight :

Like all stories begin, Once upon a time there lived a sage & his wife in the jungle. They didn't have any children and were unhappy about this fact of their life. One day, a kite dropped a she-mouse in the lap of the Sage while he was in meditation. He thought that it was a gift from God but if he would take the mouse to his home, people would laugh at him. So, he decided to change the mouse into a girl & took to his home. On seeing the Girl, the Sage’s wife asked, “Who is she? From where did you bring this girl?” The sage narrated to her the whole story and said, “I would bring her back to her original form”. The sage’s wife stopped him instantly and said, “Please don’t change her into a mouse.God must have sent her to us because we don’t bear any children”.Thus, the sage accepted his wife's request & they started to bring her as their own. 

Soon the Girl grew  into a beautiful maiden ready to be married. So the sage & his wife started looking for a suitable match for their daughter. They came to the conclusion that the Sun God would make the best match for their daughter. Hence, they prayed to the Sun God to appear. When he appeared, the Sage asked him to marry his daughter. But the Girl refused the idea saying that she might be reduced to ashes due to his warmth and light. The Sage was disappointed to hear this from the Girl. 

Nonetheless, He asked the Sun God if he could suggest a groom for his daughter. The Sun God said, “The Lord of Clouds could make a good match for her, as he is the only one, who can easily stop the rays of the Sun”. The Sage then prayed to the Lord of Clouds to appear and asked him to marry his daughter. But the Girl once again rejected the proposal and said, “I don’t want to marry a dark person like him. Besides this, I am terrified of the thunder he generates”. The Sage was disheartened once again and asked the Lord of Clouds if he could suggest a possible groom. The Lord of Clouds said, “Wind God can make a possible match for her as he can easily blow me away”.The Sage then prayed to the Wind God to appear and asked him to marry his daughter. The Daughter declined the idea and said, “I can’t marry a frail person like the Wind God who is always stirring”. Once again the sage got sad and asked the Wind God to give some suggestion. The Wind God replied, “Lord of Mountain is solid and can stop the hard blows of wind easily. He can make a suitable match for your daughter”

As per the kind suggestion made by the Wind God, the Sage went to the Lord of Mountain and asked him to marry his daughter. But the Girl once again declined the proposal and said, “I can’t marry the Lord of Mountain because he is too cold-hearted”. She asked the Sage to find a softer groom for her. The Sage sought Mountain Lord’s suggestion for the same. The Mountain Lord replied,”A mouse will make a perfect match for her as he is soft and can easily make holes in the mountain”The daughter approved the idea of marrying a he-mouse. Moreover, she was pleased at this proposal. The Sage said, “This is destiny. You came as a mouse and you were fated to marry a mouse”. Saying this, the Sage converted the Girl back to a female mouse. The female mouse got married to a male mouse and lived happily thereafter.

The moral of the story was that destiny cannot be changed or more elegantly put : " What's meant to be will always find a way... "

The question still remains : what should we believe : Do we choose our own destiny or it chooses us ?