One of the most fascinating “machines” that we used to play with as a child was a catapult or the slingshot. This simple machine done with the help of a “Y” shaped branch and a strip of the tube from bicycles used to be a prized possession of children of yore. These were efficient tools to launch missiles (usually small stones or glass / stone marbles) and were used by me and my friends in the lazy summer afternoons to get mangoes from the trees that had branches hanging out from their fences onto the roads in our neighborhood orchards. Young minds derived thrill from the speed and accuracy with which the missiles could hit the target which was a more efficient and easy way in comparison to hurling the stones by hand. This nostalgic trip was a by-product of my rumination on a topic that has become a buzzword from the anxious parents to boardrooms to political leaders, from studies to businesses to countries – SUCCESS. This word exhilarates, the feeling intoxicates. Deemed elusive...