Coming second is the only sugarcoated self-inflicting crime in this world. You earn accolades but you loathe your very own existence. A bronze medalist is more content than the silver ribbon holder. He doesn't expect the world to remember him and is just ecstatic to reach the podium. What about the one standing on the block labeled "2", our dear seconder? The answer lies probably in another question - "Who will be more crestfallen, the one bowing out in a semi-final or the one who lost out in the finals?" Just when the trophy was so near....
Everyday life exhibits many instances of the dismissed seconders. If you are planning to board an air-conditioned bus in India, that bus has to be a "Volvo", regardless of the manufacturer. Yes, it feels strange sitting in a Mercedes built bus holding a Volvo ticket. And Likewise it is eerie to land into a photocopy shop with big bold "Xerox" printed all over but running a "Canon" machine. Yes, you have got it absolutely right. No matter what imprints Canon machine or the Mercedes bus leave upon the Indian market, seconders will always be laggards because they were not the first to arrive.
There is a saying - "Either come first or always remain a shadow of the former". Only if Edwin Aldrin had known this, I am sure that he would have run out of the capsule ahead of Neil Armstrong to become the first ever moon-walker. Sometime I wonder if it is invention of the superlative terms - fastest, richest, earliest etc that has made this discussion all the more complex. Until we get over this consummate mindset of ours, one will always prefer to fail rather than to come second.
