Last week brought forth two events, distinct in nature but united by a common hidden theme.

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Last week brought forth two events, distinct in nature but united by a common hidden theme.

Firstly, Koo, the Indian competitor to Twitter, ceased operations. Many individuals on social media asserted they had predicted this outcome, citing how VC overlooked the obvious flaws in the business model and a lack of innovation. They took pride in their accurate projections.

Secondly, the UPSC announced the results of the Prelims. Unfortunately, a friend of mine, who was on the boundary, did not pass. Once again, some acquaintances claimed they had foreseen this result, taking satisfaction in the precision of their predictions.

It was a vivid reminder of my own challenges and those faced by most of my IAS batchmates.

To the analysts of failure: predicting adverse outcomes is straightforward. One can simply predict that all startups will fail or that all UPSC aspirants will not succeed, and guess what? Statistically, these predictions will be correct 99.9% of the time!

Not a bad success rate for predictions. Right?

However, all people who engage in high-risk, high-reward ventures understand that. Statistically speaking, the default outcome is failure. Yet, it is the 0.1% hope for triumph that keeps our spirits alive.

You anticipated our decline, and so did we. But still, we embraced the challenge and dared to try.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."