The brunt of her mistake . . .

By: Smriti Sharma

One fine morning, I planned to take a stroll around the city wherein I could witness some things that simply ram-shackled me. I swallowed hard to on-look the stark reality of life. I was meandering in the lanes of my city whilst I decided to put my feet up on the bench placed in the park. I was taken aback because of what I saw, there was a bench positioned right in front of the one I was relaxing on; a father and his twenty-five year old son were having a conversation.

“Dad, the grass is bottle green, Wow” said the twenty-five year old.

His father retaliated with a subtle grin & the girl, on the other side who was speaking over the phone threw a dismayed glance at them.

“The clouds are moving, Dad!” he exclaimed.

His father again smiled wherein the girl advised the father of the twenty-five year old, “Why don’t you take him to a doctor?” she questioned in a disgusted manner.

The twenty-five year old felt discomfited and the mortifying looks spilled all over his face. He stood up and went.

I was flabbergasted because I didn’t know what was coming next nor did the disgusted girl. His father stood up, wiped the tear which had fallen from his eyes despite the fact that he tried hard not to let it shed, “We just came back from the doctor, my son was blind and today he regained his eyesight. He was excited to see colors in his life!” he straightforwardly exclaimed leaving the girl with the brunt of her mistake.

Well! We keep judging people, don’t we?

If she’s walking hand in hand with a guy, “I’m sure this guy is her boyfriend, look at them they’re very conveniently exhibiting the Public-Display-Affection.” Do you know if the guy is her boyfriend, friend or brother or probably a colleague?

If he’s writes “Fine”, he has attitude. If she writes “I’m busy I’ll talk to you later”, she is rude. If he doesn’t reply, he is ignoring you and if she doesn’t text you for a day, she is pretentious. Is that what all of us assume, right?

Who gave us this right? We can assume and we can apprehend but we cannot form a judgment out of what appears to be because there can be so much more to it. The girl had to swallow hard and bear the brunt of the mistake she unknowingly made; do you want to bear the brunt of an unintentional mistake?

We aren’t the adjudicator’s of our life; it is he who created us. We have got to control our own selves and our own emotions. In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us. Perhaps, the happiest people don’t have the best of everything but they make the best of everything. Don’t keep judging people or complicating life and swallowing the burden of your slip-up but take life as it comes and respect each and every individual. Everyone has a story of their own!

Sometimes you feel like . . .

By: Smriti Sharma

At times things don’t fall into place, series of events happen that break you down & that make you feel that the world is prejudiced with self-seeking people. Sometimes you feel like your life is unfolding in a way you never wanted it to be. At times you want to scamper to a place of delusion, a place where you can pay out some time with your own self. Your soliloquy can do the talking and you can be all ears to it. Does it happen? 

At times your only wish is a shoulder to cry on, your emotions load till the brim of your heart and you just want to spill it all out. It makes you anxious and it frustrates you, that moment makes your life a living hell. Sometimes you feel like you had someone, someone who could expend sometime with you when you are low, when you feel that there is not even one person among the millions & billions to shed a tear with you. At those times you just want to cry and cry and cry. Does it happen?

That phase when your someone doesn’t understand you, when your closed ones are busy with their own reservations, when among scores of people, you feel alone, left out and just by yourself. Those are the times when you feel like the world is a selfish place with each and every person seeking for their own good, where each and every person is busy making themselves happy with worldly pleasures and you are left out, yet again just by yourself. Does it happen?

At one point of time, all those promises appear to be pretentious and fake, all those good moments come back to haunt you, all those pictures seem to pierce you and those text messages seem to tear you apart. Sometimes you feel hollow from inside, bland and wounded because of the negative idiosyncrasies committed by people close to you. Does it happen?

Yes, it does happen. At all those times, try to make yourself strong, stop thinking about all those times and simply live in the moment. Forget who broke your heart, overlook those who hurt you, move ahead and make yourself happier. Life isn’t about regretting, repenting or being remorseful. Things will fall back into place, let go of those who don’t deserve you, the ones who will, eventually would come back to you. 

You don’t need to run behind people and seek for attention or to ask for love & care, but just be yourself and you will get all the attention, love as well as care by those who actually do. There are many pretenders, but not all are genuine and true. Don’t worry, when someone close to you breaks your heart, even they get equally hurt like you & realize. This is a small world and everything happens in this world itself, whether it is love, hate, vengeance, remorse. Be patient and watch!

It isn’t about hoping for a better future, but it is about creating one just by yourself. Accept the positive except the negative. Believe in yourself and remember that:

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep.

And miles to go before I sleep,

Miles to go before I sleep. . . ”

Believe In Yourself!

By: Smriti Sharma

Envisage your childhood as and when you move ahead with this written piece. Just visualize yourself as a toddler, exactly three years of age, wearing those small little shorts or skirts with matching shirts or tops. You saw the world as your parents did. You grew up under their guidance. 

Just then you stepped into the portals of your school where you met your batch mates. Some became friends and some turned out to be bygones. You saw the world like your teachers taught you to. You grew up under their supervision and regulation.

Just then you fell into a relationship where you met this girl or this guy whom you thought would be the one whom you wish to spend the rest of your life with. He told you not to talk with him and she told you not to talk with her. He asked you not to go there and she tried to stop you from going there. You grew up hurting yourself under his restrictions and her obligations.

Just then you are encircled in this marriage thing. Some have arranged marriages and some propose to have love marriages. You marry him or her and then your life is only about him and just about her.

Come on! Let’s be practical in here. Some might have already passed these phases and some might be on the verge of passing one and going into another and some might be living with one of these four phases. In all this recapitulation, did you see a change? When you grew up under the guidance of your parents, you were in a cocoon, they saved you from all the storms and predicaments coming your way & when you grew up under the supervision of your teachers, they molded you and taught you to consider every odd a challenge coming your way and to pass it with courage and confidence. 

Everyone pops into an affair, a relationship or a fling. Everyone has to get married one day. The former is touted to be the most common thing in today’s generation and the later is a fact that has to be accepted. Isn’t it? Now my point here, after all this visualization and the recapitulation is that we might have our own reservations to be sad or happy, we have gone through or are going through these phases. In all these mundane things, in all this drama, in all this hullabaloo, we tend to forget what we are? 

When your boyfriend tells you that you shouldn’t talk to that guy because he doesn’t like it, you do it. When your father tells you not to do a particular thing he doesn’t, like, do you abide by what he says? When your girlfriend tells you to buy her a gown for the prom or to take her for a ride, you do it. When your mother asks you to buy her the grocery or your sister asks you to watch a movie with her, you ignore, isn’t it? Give it a thought. When your husband tells you that he doesn’t want you to work because he is potent to feed the house, you agree. When your wife tells you she doesn’t want to live with your mother or sister, you try getting rid of them, isn’t it?

Why don’t you just do what you feel is right? This doesn’t mean that don’t listen to what your boyfriend or girlfriend says or don’t abide by what your husband or wife says, this exactly means that Believe in Yourself. When you will do what your heart says, nothing will go wrong. Your boyfriend will ask you not to speak to that guy, if it is seriously not worth it, you will end up scrapping the conversation with the guy or you’d explain why you don’t want to stop talking to him, if your guy is smart enough, he’d understand. If your father would ask you not to do a thing he doesn’t want you to, you will immediately put it off. If your girlfriend asks you to take her on a drive, you will, if only its suitable or you’ll make her understand, she would if she’s smart enough. If your mother asks you for groceries, you’ll get them for her and take your sister to a movie. If your husband says that he doesn't want you to work, explain it to him that your parents put in all the money, not for you just to feed your husband and his family but also, to create your own identity, if he's smart he would understand. If your wife says she cannot live with your mother or sister, tell her to deal with it and mend her ways, she would if she deserves you.

Don’t tend to forget your priorities, just because you are connected with that one person. Again recapitulate, how wonderful your childhood was, when your parents taught you to be yourself, when your teachers taught you to have confidence and sail through the odds. This is a materialistic world, you have come alone and you die alone. There isn’t a “baby” or a “honey” dying along with you. This isn’t a fairy tale nor is it a reel life, it’s a reality that doesn’t correspond to dreams. Dream big, but live practically. Believe in Yourself and you will cross all the oceans happily. Life isn’t a Karan Johar film or a Yash Raj script where everything is true and pure, there is lots more to it. Love but practically, trust but sensibly and expect but logically. Get acquainted with the facts and wake up, this is Life!

First-Time Voters: Weigh the vices and virtues!

By: Smriti Sharma

Paradoxically, the country has seen an upsurge in the first-time voters in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. These prospective first-timers would face a tough time making a choice between what is right, and who will benefit the country most. According to the statistics, about 10% of the voters during this election season are probably first-time voters, by far the highest percentage of the data show. For me, I believe this high percentage is unlikely to be improved in the near future due to fertility issues, so 2014 would see a wonderful escalation of the first-timers.

                                     
                                    

Well, who, according to you should be the deserving candidate to win majority votes and rule the country? Who, in your opinion can stabilize the economy as well as help exterminate corruption? Who, do you think can act as a balanced, unbiased, honest and a competent leader? In my opinion, none of the proposed ruling parties with the leading candidates. This can be debated and I’m sure many of you would opine, but then do you really think this whole NaMo (Narendra Modi) and RaGa (Rahul Gandhi) and AAP propaganda, these leaders deserve to rule the country? The answer is a blunt no. 

BJP dismisses RaGa as “late entrant” to anti-graft battle, NaMo harps being single and the best man to fight graft, RaGa milk booth to counter BJP’s tea campaign, Kejriwal resigned from his post as Delhi CM, Kejriwal writes to NaMo. This is the scenario, “Milk and Tea”, “Quitting and Writing Letters,” where is all this heading to? The whole NaMo, RaGa and AAP scene is simply beyond me. Are we going to choose between a chaiwala, a doodhwala and a naakam CM? I would again say that none of the proposed ruling party leading candidates deserve to amass the position of an able leader. We as voters have to choose as we definitely have choices, but not even one can deserve to be chosen as an option.

I know there are many to contradict on this note, but then, let me ask you to visualize. Envisage a group of three friends in your mind’s eye, X, Y and Z. X has promised to deal with all your problems and you just need to be calm about it. Yes X has “promised” to deal with all your problems and you need to be calm, end of the story. Y has promised to deal with all your issues yet again, you refute and Y is aggravated. Y would deal with all your issues, you counter and Y is agitated, end of the story. Z comes out of the blue, Z wants you to be with him all the time and only then, Z would deal with all your issues. You believe on Z and you are supporting, ironically, Z ditches you and runs away, end of the story. Well, let’s face it, this is the stark reality of the country where we have three majorly preferred ruling parties but none deserving that position. X is Congress, Y is BJP and Z is the much hyped AAP. You have some who promise and forget, you have some who promise, if you refute they get aggravated and then you have some who promise and quit. 

The dilemma that the Indian voters and primarily the first-time voters would face is who to choose, but obvious? I cannot frame anyone’s opinion nor it can change the democratic scene of the nation, but, perhaps, it would affect your psychology to some extent and that’s surely not just in my head but in reality. If people start bifurcation of the good from the bad and not just go by what the multitude believes, if people don’t think about materialistic things and think about the country’s well being first, if they vote not those whom they like or prefer, but who actually would prove their mark in the leadership of the country, the country would be a better place, for sure. It would take a few iterations and some time for all the corruption and the dishonesty to go but it would at least go. At the end of the day, let’s face it; you have to choose someone or the other amongst the three. Weigh the vices and the virtues, only then make a decision to vote because we are going to be the sufferer’s and not them!

IS TODAY'S “PRACTICAL” GENERATION IRRESOLUTE ABOUT ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION'S?

By: Smriti Sharma

The definition of success differs from person to person and field to field. One could take economic success as a touchstone to label a person successful in life, ignoring his or her other failures like health, divorce, inefficiency, etc.. Others may look at a capacity for overcoming challenges, irrespective of what someone earns and the nature of their private life. What are the characteristics of a successful student? While the definition of “successful student” has changed over the years, today's youth need to know a great deal more than reading, writing, and arithmetic in order to succeed. 

              Ironically, Today’s practical generation touts academic qualification futile and not obligatory to be successful in life. According to key business leaders in the US, students who are to succeed in 21st century America must be able to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information; proficient in science, mathematics, computer/technical skills, foreign languages, as well as history, geography, and global awareness; ethical individuals who are committed to their families, communities, and colleagues. Educators' conceptions of the successful student seem to parallel those of the key business leaders queried. Successful students, they maintain, have learned to effectively balance the social and academic aspects of school, expect to succeed, and may be described as socially proficient, goal oriented, and intrinsically motivated.

                 “Whether one is proposing marriage, applying for a job or looking for a new business partner, the first thing people ask is “what do you do?” they judge you by your academic qualifications, No bio-data resume or curriculum vitae is acceptable without the inclusion of educational qualifications. I would say it is an unannounced rule of both the corporate world and the social world that man’s acquisition of academic qualifications is a giant leap towards opportunities in every walk of life. An academic qualification as a whole gives people a rounded experience of life, with opportunities to meet people from a wide range of backgrounds an to consider the importance in life of values and culture. These are necessary things required to label a person successful in all aspects of life. It uplifts our morals and ethics by exposing us to the great thinkers of the past. 

                                    The current generation might harp about a few people like Bill Gates and others who have made it, in spite of their drop-out background and lack of academic qualifications, but this cannot be generalized as even Bill Gates could not have prospered without the skills of the IT professionals and engineers. Success isn’t just a matter of building a huge firm from scratch and making billions of dollars,  by that definition, only a tiny number of people in the world could be considered successful. Success is actually about making the most of your talents and abilities, and that requires dedication and study in academic institutions that will stretch students intellectually.

                      Unfortunately, the materialistic world has changed the concept of success. It has become a rat-race where every student chases grades and therefore the entire perception of success and prosperity has changed. Rather than studying to reach our full potential, we do it because we think it’s necessary for a successful career and some are even uncertain about this.

                Academic qualifications may not be enough on their own to ensure success, but they indicate their possessor has got what it takes. Academic grades are not everything but they are important because in order to gain good exam grades or degree at college, students have to work hard, master demanding skills and learn a great deal of specialist knowledge. All these qualities are valuable attributes for success in any field of endeavor, which is why employers value academic qualifications. More broadly, widespread further education makes us a civilized nation. It makes us aware about our rights and liberties and helps entrench a liberal democracy with active citizens and lively media. Wake up! There is a long way to go…