~ 23 and Counting! ~

“23 and counting!” – I am aghast on the way I am hearing the news of suicides which our youngsters are doing in Kota – a small town in Rajasthan, notoriously famous for cracking the almost uncrackable IIT and NEET entrance exams! Hearing such news, my conscience goes for a toss and I think “ is it the only aim of life , to be at the top?”

They seem to be toddlers of life for whom the only aim is to be a doctor or an Engineer, for many the burden of aspirations has been put on them by their parents – many of whom themselves were both moderate students and were not able to crack the elite exams! 

Time and again I read that it is a Rs 10,000 CR industry or almost $1.5 Billion – the moolah seems to be much and so is the competition. Lakhs of students come for fulfilling their dreams and make it Big in the world of corporate life or to start their own business as it is a well-entrenched phenomenon in India.

Securing a seat in IIT is a sure shot ticket to land of dreams – America or for opening their own companies – Startup as the call them in today’s jargon and getting to the headlines of majority of English Newspapers! For sure there is a heavy price to be paid in this razzmatazz of life and earning big, many flounder and are not able to take the pressure of paying heed to books for almost 18 hours of day – the insecurities follow suit and they succumb to the huge burden of their own airy aspirations.!

All I can say is that “Please give Life a chance as It is for sure a beautiful journey , the best part is nobody knows what twists and turns it brings in due course !” – anyways if you end your life, for sure you will not get anything as you don’t exist anyways , but your near and dear ones will surely be on the receiving end and will live with a huge sense of anticipation and may be guilt as why this happened or that they could have stopped it by not putting unrelenting pressure on you.

See around, are everyone is a doctor or an engineer – “NO” there are zillion such souls who are more successful that an IITan or a doctor from AIIMS ? are not people with mediocre education have achieved cult status through sheer hard work and being patient? 

 I strongly feel that the panacea lies in right education , first at home and then in School / College. If we look around, there is no education which teaches us to cope with failure – only counselling comes in this regard – think twice, have you ever seen a teacher telling his/her kid “ Don’t worry , If you fail then also you will be big enough!” – the seeds of fear are sowed in these classroom sessions, everyone is injected with a sense of fierce competition as if life is race and everybody should be a numero uno!

I only want to end this note by saying again “ Life life to the fullest as it is only once that you can as you are, you will surely be born again but not in the same era / family/ situation / city/ country, may be but today what you are – you have been give a beautiful gift – cherish it wholeheartedly and wait for the right ball to toss a Six ..but for that to happen, at least you should be on the Pitch….

~ The Freedom of Independence ~

What does freedom mean to us? It is not sign of just physical liberty but also mental one – freedom of speech and action and our wholesome living was adjudicated by our constitution but where the society has gone now – we are entrapped by narrow domestic walls of our thoughts. The liberty is deemed to be locked in thoughts of referential living . 

We abide our living by our narrowed thinking and actions – what others have achieved or are doing form the base of our talks and thoughts – the cult of existence have changed a bit towards our strong material desires – we want everything in the world which satisfies our ego and makes us feel proud , be whatever it takes to achieve it .

We lost our freedom to attain peace whilst we live and share our relationships with each other – we chose our relationships and are bonded by our minds to ignore many – such is the freedom of thoughts' the society carries –

Not many of us our lucky, especially after Covid, there have been many losses of life and livelihood, how many of us still care about those who need our help and assistance on regular basis till they get their lives back on track? Do we care or are we more sought after our freedom to enjoy and care less for such souls! How many of us have conquered the bondages of our thoughts and have attainted freedom of thoughts to go all out in the society to help them?

The act of freedom has different definitions for many of us – for some the liberty which we get to act is the real freedom , for others it is an expression of saying “Yes” or “No” to anyone and portray our sense of ability – Very less are people who think and are responsible in expressing and executing the true freedom to be a kind and generous human being obliging to others with a sense of responsibility.

Remember this idiom “Power begets Responsibility” , and this holds true for all of us who are thoughtful of their new found freedom as they enter adolescence age! The scourge of suicides and the young going into act of depression is an aftermath of insane freedom laden with high aspiration of parents… why not give our young ones attainable goals and a sense of freedom to attain those with mild effort and enjoyment? 

Give Life a Chance, what if you don’t become and engineer from an IIT, or a Regional engineering college, or you don’t qualify NEET and become a doctor? – What makes them think that there is no career path if one could not be so – look around so many non-IIT’s or doctors have made it big in life without such degrees…. As I always say… “Give life a chance!” …. Go with your freedom of expression and thoughts and try a different path… We are here to live not to end our lives…

What stops us to have a egalitarian society which holds something good for all of us? That is the true freedom to live…

~ The Haircut that was ~

You often find yourself in situation which makes you think about the world around you – the people living their life with all zeal and facing the heat of their own varied situations.

He came with his young son, who was of playful nature and seem to be have matured before his age deemed so, he made his father sit in the chair as if he was acting as his support system and a guardian angel. As I was comfortably sitting and having a haircut, both father and duo had no choice but to wait for their turn to have a haircut.

Soon the conversation broke out between my hairdresser and the new customer as he asked “How are you sir? And what about your health? What did the reports say?”

With a flurry of questions being bombarded onto him, he was little taken by surprise but he didn’t loose his smiling stance and asked his son to go out a play for  a while – though I felt that this act was on purpose and sensed something was strictly wrong with the man.

As he replied one by one to the questions thus asked by my hairdresser, “ I am otherwise fine, but the reports tell me otherwise, the doctor after having look at the reports and declared its malignant Cancer!” – now this man speak this with a melancholy in his voice… but also with a sheepish smile, as if he had lots to tell and complaint at the Grand Design.

“That’s life!” was his stoppage words before he had tears in his eyes but also balanced his emotions with a smile. As I felt like an unwelcomed listener, I could see and sense a deep sense of melancholy and helplessness in his life.

Suddenly, his son came back thinking so that now it was time to get the haircut done and also to take care of his father – His son had suddenly turned adolescent and a caretaker of his father, realizing  what his father must be going through – as he saw a tinge of sadness and a drop of tear in his father’s eyes, he hugged him and tried to motivate him with all his demeanor – the scene had stopped time for all four of us in that room!

Here was a father who wanted to live and that life had made him confront a situation he was not prepared to tackle – there were responsibilities to be fulfilled but the grand design certainly had other plans for him!

As he spoke again to the barber, “Sir, I have never had smoked a cigarette or have drank liquor, still I am facing this tough problem…. I have an elderly mother of 75 years of age at home and this young son who is in class 7^th, life has just stopped midway for me…!”

As I got up from my seat, with my haircut done, I turned around and tried to give him composure – “Sir, believe in HIS plans, certainly he has planned situations for everyone, may be to teach and sometime reprimand our being – the karma has to be lived and just pray for your goodness and that you should be able to fulfil all the family commitments and responsibilities!”

As I exited the barbershop, the forlorn face of the man was in my thoughts – could life be so unpredictable and this can happen to anyone of us – the randomness of life was my subject of anger and started to question the grand design about what I had just seen!

The quietness of time was all over my being, after some moments of anxiety the calmness took over and the answers started to flow …”Who am I to confront HIM and his HIS plans? …were you born by asking him or has things shaped up according to your will? , these intriguing question had no definitive answers and may be each one of us have to tread a different path to know about thus – as my thoughts subsided, I just put in my prayers for that lovely and simple soul for his betterment and that he should pass this test of time with courage and strength and that his young one and his family remain of steadfast support to this testing hour!