Let It Be Done Through You

There was a man named Harish, a retired schoolteacher, who lived on a lakeside. Every morning, like clockwork, he’d take a small wooden boat into the lake and row it gently for an hour. He just rowed in a circle, then returned.

People thought it was just his routine, something harmless old people do to stay sane. But one morning, a younger man named Vivek — a high-achieving, anxious, fast-talking techie from Mumbai — spotted him.

He was on a forced break from work after what they called a ‘mild breakdown.’ His therapist told him to find something peaceful.

He saw Harish rowing and shouted, ‘Sir! Mind if I join you?’

Harish nodded. They rowed together in silence. After ten minutes, Vivek broke it.

‘You do this every day?’

‘Yes.’

‘You’re really good at this. Why don’t you train for competitions?’

Harish raised an eyebrow. ‘Competitions?’

‘Yeah! I mean, you could get into local rowing contests. Maybe go national — maybe even win medals! This kind of routine could really go somewhere.’

Harish chuckled. ‘Go where?’

‘Come on, sir. You’ve built a skill. Shouldn’t it lead to something? Medals, success, at least recognition?’

Harish didn’t react. He just handed the oar to Vivek.

‘Here. You row now.’

Vivek took it. He rowed hard, trying to go faster, farther. Sweat rolled down his neck. The boat moved. But not like he expected — it turned in circles, drifted awkwardly.

Frustrated, he snapped, ‘This is pointless! We’re not getting anywhere!’

Harish looked at him — calm, weathered.

‘That’s what broke you, isn’t it? Always needing to get somewhere.’

Vivek froze.

Harish continued, his voice low:

‘You think you’ve been rowing all your life. But really — life has been rowing you. You just never let go of the oar long enough to feel it.’

Silence.

Vivek looked down at his hands. Slowly, he placed the oar down.

The boat slowly drifted.

But inside him — something stopped.

Let It Be Done Through You

It’a not inaction. Not laziness.
But the quiet surrender of the one who always says, ‘I’m the one doing.’

It’s the moment when your hands still move,
your voice still speaks,
but the burden of control disappears.

You’re no longer the one who rows 

You become the boat.
Not resisting. Not insisting.
Just allowing.

It’s the opposite of forcing.
You don’t chase the outcome.
You don’t grip the process.
You just show up — and let the doing happen through you.

You’re not idle.
You’re in tune.

• You’re not here to do everything. You’re here to be open to what needs to be done.
  
  
• The power is not in the effort. It’s in the surrender.
  
  
• True freedom isn’t in choosing what to do — it’s in releasing who you think is doing it.
  
  
• Action without ego is the quietest revolution.
  
  

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi