“Ganbatte”-
a Japanese word which caught my attention ever since I enrolled in Nagoya
university- translates to beavering away with indefatigable stamina in any testing
circumstances or endeavours. My guesswork is it might be one of the extensively
articulated lexical expressions in Japan. In my close to 3 years stay, I have
had fair share of it- mostly coming from my professors. And on my numerous
nerve-wracking discussions with them, however heated the discussion may become,
the session would always terminate with soothing reinforcement “Ganbatte”. Not even friends- both locals
and internationals- spared spewing out the catchphrase, at times to create a
mockery out of it and other times to muster up the valour.
Once
it was spelled out, and as was their wont, I had found in my Japanese friends
they take on it damn seriously, not minding even if the hell broke loose. Such
was its power- mighty and punchy. I dreaded to hear it at times because of the expectations
that came along attached to it. Indeed, days and days of endurance training had
preceded in trying to embrace the catchphrase gracefully.
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| Sectioning ovaries on one of the Sundays'. Of course not human ovary. |
So,
eventually the ripple effect was up. There had not been any outlet to get away. Then I realised- it was one thing to have
heard someone say it and quite another to have borne its impact. Even now, as I
translate my experiences into words, it sends a chill down my spine- not to
mention the cortisols in blood- musing over all the struggles that had to come
tandem with the “Ganbatte” factor. But
the chill down my spine exacerbated by the elevating levels of cortisols was
worth the effort, as substantiated by the bang that panned-out at the end.
As
I try to gather and piece together my Nihon memoirs, it hits me hard that what
on earth has moulded the Japanese to be one of the resilient and grit laden
Homo sapiens. This confusion had me soaked in bewildering thoughts several
times even as I was sleeping under their sky.
Now
with my grappling professional and personal life everyday- I let my head do the
simple breakdown. One thing keeps bobbing up recurrently. It is the mental
muscle power, what I label as “Ganbatte”
factor. Mental muscle power, because that’s the site first in the hierarchy regulating
all the other bodily functions and others follow suit. So to say, it must also complement
and come along with its other closer traits -if not higher- that will unquestionably
change, or decide, the game piecemeal.
Over
time, as I grew too comfortable with “Ganbatte”
factor, it didn’t even surprise to see one of my professors come directly to
lab straight from the airport with all his travel gears and check on us. It
appeared nothing of a big deal sort to hear of my elderly Japanese friend
working madly beyond human hours and trespassing into ghost hours. It had only
deepened my appreciations though it antagonises our approach of middle path.
Today,
I often pause and pose a question- must I keep this “Ganbatte” factor going? No sooner would I ask, then a rejuvenated voice
within sparks up a loud shoutout- “Ganbatte”
factor matters.