THINK ABOUT IT

Harmless Human

2010-08-22T16:34:00.003+05:30

Air is polluted, water is contaminated, crime levels are on a high, people are committing suicide, people are killing each other, animals and birds may go extinct... this was the on-going discussion in my family which I did not bother to listen. Why should I care? I have so many pressures to deal with, I too have to make ends meet, I am harmless and in no way responsible for this mess on our planet.

A butterfly which flew into my home caught my attention. It was the most beautiful butterfly I had ever seen. God may have given his personal touch to the wings of the butterfly; It was in bright orange with shades of black, blue, yellow and red (Even a beautiful woman may not have caught so much of my attention!). The butterfly slowly started taking elevation and came dangerously close to coming in contact with the rotating ceiling fan. It was obvious that an accident was going to happen if I didn’t turn off the fan but why should I do it? So I just sat there cursing the butterfly to get away from the fan. It was a horrific sight as the fan clipped one of the butterfly’s wings; the butterfly fell down and continuously flapped its other wing in pain. Suddenly a lizard jumped in, put the butterfly in its mouth, ran away to a safer place and slowly swallowed the butterfly to death. I was too shocked, all this happened in just a couple of minutes; I was just admiring its beauty and all of a sudden it got lost forever and I’ll never be able to see it again. Was I in any way responsible for this mess? Did my inaction lead to the death of the butterfly? DID I KILL THE BUTTERFLY?

If we don’t act on time then we may lose everything that is beautiful.

Home Alone

2010-06-20T17:40:00.000+05:30

Communication has become quicker, world has become smaller, Lives have become longer, urban India is developing rapidly and urban Indians are on a roll! I go to beach often for pleasure-walks and uncontrollably end up observing how my fellow Indians are living (rolling!). It was early evening and I could only see a kid, young adult and an elderly person, all three were alone. The kid was running around meaninglessly, the youngster was staring at the waves pointlessly and the old man was walking directionless. Why wouldn’t the kid have anyone to play with? Why wasn’t the youngster with his mates? Why weren’t family members or relatives accompanying the old man? Of course, I’m not saying that every Indian is feeling isolated but how many of us have never felt alone? We are home to more than a billion people and yet, sometimes, many of us feel isolated. Is the rapid progress of our nation also leading us towards isolation? No! It is our attitude/temperament (a more appropriate word is ‘Madness’) to continuously work, on many occasions stoop and cheat, to stay ahead of others rather than staying together that is leading us towards isolation.

Blind Mind

2010-04-04T13:24:00.006+05:30

It was promised to be a promising evening as 15 promising students each from every promising Arts and Science College in Chennai were chosen to attend a promising lecture by none other than APJ Abdul Kalam (the then president of India) on a promising event (Ok! I’ll stop it!). Some satellite had been launched to connect four major Indian universities enabling them to video conference (and whatever) etc. It was also the 150th year of existence for Madras University so important people like Karunanidhi (Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), P Chidambaram (then finance minister) came to attend the event. I was among the 15 chosen out of 2000 students from my college to attend the event (Ya I like to show-off, sometimes!). I have great admiration for APJ and it may have been an important lecture but it was very boring. My friends woke me up not because the Q&A session had started but because they wanted me to see the eyes of the guy who got up to ask a question and believe me, they were the funniest pair of eyes I had ever seen. I and my rascal friends couldn’t control laughing as we continuously made fun of his eyes. APJ was standing to his right and he was looking straight (at a girl maybe!). Anyway despite the distraction I did hear the question, it was “How this technological advancement would help the blind?” I can’t believe APJ picked this question because the answer is obvious, it won’t help the blind. I didn’t bother to hear APJ’s answer as I was busy laughing. The guy took his seat and I noticed two guys help him do it. I was perplexed and when I observed closely I came to know that the guy couldn’t see… A feeling of shame and remorse sank in and I wanted god to instantly evaporate me from earth. Later I realized how valuable APJ’s positive answer to his question would have meant for him. I can see it all and yet I couldn’t see it, that guy is not blind, I am.

Sick Animals

2010-03-28T22:40:00.000+05:30

I had planned to go to Vandalur zoo in Chennai to check out the animals but a shameful incident made me realize that we’ll come across many sick animals in the form of humans wherever we go. One such sick animal deliberately bumped onto a girl and pretended as if nothing had happened. The girl felt helpless and went away as if nothing had happened. I still carry a feeling of disgust not only because of the incident but also because of the way I reacted to it; even I walked away as if nothing had happened! Had the person in concern been my friend or relative then surely my reaction would have been different. Why am I indifferent to strangers? Why didn’t the girl react offensively? Will there be a time when women can walk freely on the streets and live in peace? Until such a time comes, we are all sick animals.

Bhagat's bhagat

2010-03-24T00:24:00.003+05:30

You can lose track of a lot of things when you work for an MNC (and paid very little) but I was ashamed that I lost track and forgot the significance of March 23rd, the day Bhagat Singh (Indian revolutionary and youth icon) became a martyr. I realized this only after returning from office and tuning to CNN IBN’s talk-show “face the nation”. This line from one of the panellists tore my heart apart: “He was only 23 when hanged. The loss in terms of potential is enormous”. I turned 23 a month back, I am (and will always be) an Indian patriot but all I could do till now is get into a job that pays me peanuts. I hope I don’t bring shame to him by claiming to be his bhagat (devotee); this will serve as a reminder of my responsibilities towards my nation and he will always be an inspiration.

In between

2009-12-27T14:04:00.003+05:30

I was on my way to Delhi from Gurgaon on a DTC bus, I was a bit irritated because I dint get a place to sit and it was a ninety minute journey. As I was looking around (for young Delhi girls!) I saw an old woman standing to my left; she was struggling to stand. To my right, I saw a beautiful young couple seated and coochie-cooing. For me, love is the essence of life, if you have not loved then you have not lived. So it felt nice to see them loving each other (so openly!). The bus reached its destination; the couple must have felt that just nine pleasurable minutes had passed. Then my focus shifted to the old lady who was still standing, she must have felt like nine painful hours had passed. I felt ashamed because I completely forgot about the old lady on seeing the couple and I felt ashamed of my people too as nobody cared to give her a seat. Many of us seem to have forgotten to respect our elders... think about it!

Let’s love and respect our elders because after some years we will need the same!

Hungry Diwali

2009-12-18T19:13:00.002+05:30

It was time to celebrate the grandest festival of India and I was thrilled that I’d be laying my hands on a variety of food and sweets. With this thought I stepped out of my hostel (Yes I was away from my home!) to visit a temple and my first sight was that of a poor kid searching the ground like a dog for food. It was a terrible sight. That night I had a variety of dishes on my plate but every bite reminded me of that sight. Though I am from a struggling family I’ve never slept with a hungry stomach; that night I did because I couldn’t digest that sight! Those who manage to have three meals a day are privileged. To those privileged ones like me: Let’s take care of those who aren’t… Think about it!

Let’s not waste food and I hope this post has given some food for thought!

Thumbs up!

2009-12-12T22:16:00.000+05:30

This has got nothing to do with the soft drink Akshay Kumar endorses! Its about an incident concerning me (like anyone cares!). I was on the way to office, lost in my own thoughts as nothing seemed to be going right in my personal and professional life. I was walking slowly down the road when a kid crash-landed on me. I felt like kicking him but his excitement and energy levels stopped me from doing that (not to mention his father who was standing right beside him!). He then gave a huge smile and a thumbs-up! I gave a thumbs-up back to him and I don’t know why but after this incident I carried a smile throughout the day, I smile whenever I think about this incident, I’m smiling right now as I’m writing about it. It’s amazing how such simple gestures leave ever-lasting impressions, it made me write about it, it made me smile... think about it!

Simple gestures are enough to cheer up a person and by doing so you’ll be inscribing yourself in that person’s memories forever!