I never Thought of this...

Do the human surroundings and the world which revolves each day around us have the power to bring about a drastic shift in a person’s thought process? Some would disagree and say that circumstances have little or no control over certain behaviour and the manner of response which one pursues in a situation.  

Brain is a complex processing organ with emotional and thinking chambers inundated with a variety of fluids – and it is often difficult to decipher its actions when they happen suddenly. The body responds later to discover it has to act the way the brain has thought of.

A person who has never been loud or rancorous starts shrieking; the one who is polite goes beyond his/her morals and crosses limits of tolerance; and someone who is jovial and vivacious changes the stance to being stolid.

People forget and forgive. Some cling onto it. Some retaliate back. Some just move away…

Only the bold and fearless stand alone to face whatever comes their way. They have no one to prove themselves to, except their own self. They deliberately adorn a superficial myopic mask and strive for excellence, facing all difficulties with full vigour. Its only when the tide turns in the opposite direction, do such sailors make their way through – crossing all barriers. For them, true courage is like a kite – and a contrary wind raises this higher.

                  Roy Emerson aptly puts forth this idea:

“It is only as a man puts off from himself all external support, and

stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail.” ~ Emerson

The courageous shall proliferate and leave behind the “pulling-back” brain, they only shall flourish. 

Peace of Mind!

Enter the new world and reciprocate its mantra: I. Me. Myself. Mine. My ego, my career, my desires and that's it! Nothing else...these are the minute limits around which my world revolves. I don't look beyond this...I don't care a damn about anything else. I laugh and ridicule others on their mistakes, without doing a bit of soul searching and trying to find flaws in myself. I am jealous of and want to run the fastest in this rat race of competition, trampling people beneath my feet. I don't want to learn and without taking the ownership for my failures, I conspicuously and nonchalantly put the blame on others. I lack the courage to even stand up and fight for what is right - because the first thought which strikes my mind is - "What will I gain out of this? Let me stay away!”.   I live for myself, and that's about it all!

To hell with this! I shall be cursed in heaven if I concur with this freaking thought. Let god pour his mercy on these poor souls who crave to be noticed and seek attention through burglar-ism and not through their actions. Let the almighty, at least once, gift them the serenity and show them the pleasure of helping others, out of their way. Let the ignorant individuals rise above their small petty yearnings, and learn the power of "We, Us, Ours, Ourselves." I decipher no reason whatsoever for people around me behaving in such non sympathetic ways.

I am outta this for sure... this big bad world... I surely need some Peace of Mind! Phew!

A Day of Eternity and Bliss!

So how do I start writing this? I felt like a traveller foregoing unexplored grounds, too eager for the journey to begin. I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions when I thought of it. The wait was long, as if someone has been lined up in a queue for ages. But I was happy to bear the fruits of patience which would ripe-out in future and help me scale unparalleled heights. I was so optimistic…

So should I plan for this journey in advance; I asked myself one day, and my soul said – ‘No’!  I was waiting to just dive-in and then learn at the place. I wanted to be like a first time swimmer being pushed into a pool, who by the means of his struggle and enthusiasm makes his way through. And of course, the learning is immense in this setup. You get out satisfied and content that your hard work has paid off. You have the craft to face unexpected challenges.

14^th June embarked upon me an aura of excitement, nervousness and positivity of being part of a premier business institute. That was a feeling, just a naïve thought. But the reality turned out to be more serene and placid. I was astounded and gratified by the Principles of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri and his devotion – and the place where I have planned to study for the next two years – gave me his noble fragrance. The value system was so strong that I could feel it on the first day. I was humbly appreciative of the eminent faculty members as they introduced themselves. Years of experience, insurmountable qualifications and still no signs of high-headedness.  This place surely exuberated modesty and courteousness.

Students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds met at one place, eager to know about the proceedings. With diverse I mean a whole sundry of inquisitive minds, stretching across the breadth of our country. Too fervent to socialize among each other and make new bonding. 

The Director’s address and informative guest lecture really boosted my decision to join the institute. The stress upon development in rural parts of our country, helping the poor and downtrodden - envisaged empathy and compassion. A long list of laurels to carry along, the institute seemed to have successfully cemented pillars of societal responsiveness, morality, efficiency and excellence through 15 years of its establishment.

Happiness becomes multiplicative when reality exceeds expectations. This was the feeling which empowered me during the return journey on Metro; and it seeped in further the next day. I felt blessed to have joined ‘Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management’. There should be no comparisons. This place bred the co-existence of humanity and education. Yes, this was my place! Yes, this is it!

CHANGE: The Invincible Part of the Cycle of Life!

When you are in school you have God like complex & say to yourself - “One day I will conquer this World”. You just can’t wait to get out of school. But once you start working- Oh! Oh! Reality hits you. Soon you are bored of work & need a CHANGE (Obama’s favourite word). Your parents’ nag you to get married and you say to yourself may be this is the CHANGE I need. You get married but then honeymoon phase wears out and you tell yourself may be motherhood/fatherhood is the CHANGE I need. You love it for a while but you are bored again. 

You again say to yourself may be having a new car will CHANGE things. You get yourself a car and name it “The Black Beauty” or something weird. You refuse to tell your spouse why you named it like that and secretly enjoy that your spouse is going nuts thinking who “The Black Beauty” was. 

Soon your life revolves around your new car and worrying about children’s future. As soon you children’s work life gets settled down you need CHANGE again. So you start nagging your children to get married & tell yourself “Shit I am acting like my own mother or father or brother”. Finally your children give in to your demands. Then surprise! surprise! - you are tired of your son-in-laws & daughter-in-laws. You need a CHANGE again and you so want to fix all the mistakes that you made with your children. So you nag your children to have children. 
As soon as you have your grandchildren you drive the whole world nuts by telling them their stories & everyone is assured that they will get a Christmas card with your grandchildren’s picture on it. You tell your co-workers how adorable your grandchildren are but unlike you the whole world thinks your grandchildren are maniacs & need to see a child psychologist. Let me add: you always think your grandchildren are pale even if they are obese. 

Your grandchildren love you because you will feed them till they explode and your house is the only place where they can truly express themselves (i.e. break anything). You can’t wait to retire & spend more time with your grandchildren. As soon as you retire you realize your grandchildren are really maniacs & need to see a psychiatrist. You tell your children how they have done a pathetic job in raising them when it was actually you who spoiled them with latest games, toys and by giving into their non-sense demands. 
In the meantime, you are getting tired of your spouse’s nagging and say to yourself it would nice to share the roof with a 3rd creature plus you need a CHANGE. You miss The Black Beauty & decide to get yourself “The Black Beauty 2”. You finally tell your spouse the story behind “The Black Beauty”. She finally knows it was this teacher you had crush on & that you couldn’t tell her earlier because you couldn’t break the cult. After very long time you and your spouse actually “TALK” & honeymoon phase returns (don’t mean it in a wrong way). But soon you are bored again & start to emotionally blackmail your grandchildren by telling them that you want to see their marriage before you go- as if that guarantees ticket to heaven. 
*Bottom line: We can never be CONTENT in life & want CHANGE happening all the time. All we need is - to always do something new every now & then and that keeps us going. 

SO KEEP CHANGING WITH CHANGE!

White Blood

In this undaunting and relentless era of cat and mouse race - corruption, dishonesty and deceitfulness are here to stay. From a tiny department to a large enterprise, fraudulence has affected and seeped easily into human minds.  So is this justified? Is treachery the only way out – the only way which has left an indelible mark on the character of millions?

Is it that whistleblowers and revolutionary thinkers have been long forgotten and worn-out under the heavy burden of deception? Testimonial voices are being curbed, evidences are being manipulated and fear is creeping inside slowly. Why has the blood turned ‘white’? Isn’t this a country where we have received hard fought freedom through many daring acts of bravery and valour? Why doesn’t our blood boil-up to awaken us to put forward a step towards stopping dishonesty and subterfuge?

Some things get glaringly clear pretty early. And we put mud on them and try to make the picture hazy. Where has the courage vanished? It seems we all have become habitual in our small little selfish worlds of petty desires. The hearts which earlier used to beat together in cognizance and unity have been rusted and marred with egocentric and inconsiderate motives.

Fear breeds unhappiness and sorrow. When you can’t stand up for the right thing at the right time and raise your voice against the wrong, you live in an environment of mistrust and deceit. You seem to have flown along with the tide and lack the nerve for opposing it, even if you stand alone. You seem to think of your own vested interests and not of the whole community. It is not unknown that no revolution can start without a single igniting spark. And that spark has to come from within, like a surge of high tide waves – backed up by ‘red’ heart-pumping blood in full flow.

Hopefully, and surely with time, we shall have a gush of human race full of daring people who believe in themselves and the power of truth – the ultimate resort – and who have the persistence to take up even-handedness in their stride. The ‘White’ blood shall surely turn ‘Red’ again with such a Red Revolution!