Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once said: “The little things are infinitely the most important.”
A significant advantage of travel is experiencing books come alive. On our trip to Lakshwadeep in 2018, I witnessed the strength of Tugboats that I had only read about.
Tugboats1 are small boats designed to guide large ships and manoeuvre them towards the port by pulling and pushing the vessels in position.2 Their double-powered engines create huge torque to run the propellers and generate massive pulling power.
Large ships can sail in deep waters but struggle in the shallow, unable to stop, slow down or turn as the water is insufficient to facilitate quick movement of the rudders.
At this point the tugboat, small, potent and just enough swirls into action, powerfully taking control.
Often many of us may feel like the small tugboat; always pushing or pulling a greater cause.
What crosses our minds in those times? Do we feel unworthy or not enough?
Away from the depths of the sea, saturated in shallow waters, are we tugboats?
Tugboats may look unassuming but are confident of their assignment. While ships set sail into the high seas, remember the tugboats wait their turn to manoeuvre them into their designated berths at ports. Without them, the ships cannot anchor, break the momentum, or move out from the shallow.
The insignificant is often the most impactful in moving the world around.
