inherent merit and qulaity

नाद्रव्ये निहिता काचित् क्रिया फलवती भवेत्।

न व्यापारशतेनापि शुकवत् पाठ्यते बकः॥

हितोपदेशे॥

nādravye nihitā kācit kriyā phalavatī bhavet|

na vyāpāraśatenāpi śukavat pāṭhyate bakaḥ||

hitopadeśe||

Another gem of a subhashitam from Narayana Panditas Hitopadesham

To train or improve a person or a thing, such man or material should have some inherent suitability.. If that basic quality is absent no improvement is possible..

The meaning of the subhashitham

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No positive result would emerge from any amount of labour and time on a material which has no inherent merit or quality.

Even if hundreds of training sessions are conducted by experts on a crane, it cannot be taught to speak or sing like a parrot..

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This statement has various dimensions

God has created things with some basic qualities, and there can be improvement effected on them through training and hard work.. But if the material is not basically suited for the application in question then all attempts are doomed to fail..

This would mean all things are not created with the same threshold qualities.. Diligent deployment of the resources according to their suitability and flexibility is the greatest management skill that can make one the leader of men and the leader of the situations.

Many parents, when they groom their children face this problem.. Some children will have numerical talents, some literary flair, some might be endowed with sweet voice, some with theatrical leanings and so on.. But the parents often try to shape the education and career of the children by observing and comparing the activities of people all around, without seriously considering whether or not their wards would fit into certain streams or not.. They often try to put square pegs into round holes and make a mess of everything..

Often, the suitability will reveal itself sooner or later.. Just observation and some patience are all that is needed..

We see such phenomenon excessively in professions, politics...etc.. where parents try to force or groom the offspring in their own paths of activities or avocations.. Some succeed but many fail..