Have u ever tried answering this ????
I still remember .. It was a Monday morning. My dad sat on his chair in the porch , reading the sports page of the Hindu.. I used to always or rather i still wonder if even the ' proof reader ' would read it so intently.. Grrr... The only thing I hate about newspapers is that it robs me of all the beautiful morning chats wid my dad , or rather shortens them.. (Duh.. no one can stop me from talking.. ).. I pulled the paper and went and curled up to him.. "No school kanna ? " "I have appa.. I jus wanted to talk to u before that.."
Immediately after I said that , my dad looked straight into my eyes as if he was reading the newspaper in my eyes.. He always does that.. looks through me.. and he asked "What is it that you are confused about today ? ".. Wow !!! He knew me so well.. So i started off .. "Appa How do we judge our progress and how do we ensure if we are in the right direction to reach our goal ? "
I still dont know how as a 9 th standard kid I thought so much.. But then I had to know the answer.. Here s what he told me .. "Have you ever felt better than u have felt a minute before ?? " .. "I dont get you appa.. better ?? " .. "Yes Divya.. have u felt it starkly ? That you are a better person than you were a minute ago ? You are too young to understand it... But sometime in life u will know what I mean "
It was the May of 2008.. Something was still disturbing me..The question I had asked my dad when I was in my 9 th standard.. How do we Judge our success and progress in life ?? Just then my dad made me read a poem by mother theresa
People are often unreasonable, Illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, You will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, People may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, Someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, They may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, People will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, And it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God; It never was between you and them anyway.
It changed my life so much.. Yes.. Only we know our worth.. only we can judge what we are capable of.. Things around us wont change unless we change the way we see them.. To change the world.. lets change ourselves.. But how.. shall we ask ourselves some questions that all of us might dread to answer ??
1) How many times have we thought of situations from someone else's shoes , having taken off our own ? Being empathetic is just this.. "Take your shoes off and wear someone elses"
2) How many times have we spoken ill of someone without even knowing the person properly ? How many times have we enjoyed those gossips on a girl whom we do not even know more than arms length ?
3) How many times have we made life difficult for our parents ? People around us ? How many times have we not understood them and cursed them for what they havent done rather than being grateful for what they have ?
4) How many times have we treated education seriously and thought of those millions who are starving for a meal a day and are aspiring to be a part of those coveted institutes that we are in ? How many times do we do justice to our conscience ?
5) Last but not the least.. How many times have we made a person smile ?? Its easy to make someone cry.. But have we ever thought about how difficult it is to make a person smile in all its warmth and with genuine touch ?
Well if all this could be answered lets try answering the million dollar question .. "Am I a better person than I was a minute ago ?? "
@Divya.. Life is too short to be constantly worrying over such things. However, it is a good thing to think about these things once in a while.
ReplyDeleteOut of the 5 questions above, i don't quite agree with the 4th one. Why should i ask this question at all? Perhaps, it may sometime make us realize the importance of utilizing the opportunity that we've got. However, thats not the right way to get inspiration to study. Also, instead of thinking about the poor and donating some money to the poor, we must take a holistic approach to fighting poverty.. start with paying taxes properly, exercise our voting rights, etc..
(these comments may look out of place here. still, i felt like voicing my opinion)
@ Pravin..
ReplyDeleteI would humbly disagree with your opinion that such things are a worry.. They aren... If thats the way we are going to see these things then there s no point in proceeding further on this discussion..
As for the 4 th question.. This s not an inspiration to study.. It is taking pride in what you re doing and doing justice to it.. Im not talkin jus about the poor when I say people have been denied of the right to study.. Ill show u people who are filthy rich and can afford education yet are denied of it..
My point is this.. EDUCATION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US TO MAKE OURSELVES BETTER AND WE SHOULD MAKE USE OF THE OPPORTUNITY GIVEN..
@ Divya - Maybe my choice of words wasn't good. I didn't mean to say that these things are a worry. But, I wouldn't give some of these things too much of a thought quite often. It is simply impracticable. Questions 1 and 5 are two such things.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we should make full use of the opportunity given (for education).. But, I've failed to make a connect with this and the questions (4th point)..
@ Pravin
ReplyDeleteOkay may be my choice of words were wrng in thr 4 th qn that i failed to make a connect.. but then ur idea that empathising wid someone is impracticable is shocking to me !!
And why is makin someone smile impracticable ?? Well u have done it so many times.. May be without ur knowledge.. think of it now..and may be ull understand wat I said..