Dear Son,

Should I be presenting to you, an image of myself, like many do, which befits a God?

Would it be fair on my part to keep you in that illusion?

Just because I have the power to influence you!

It is an illusion isn’t it?

Because the truth is, that I am neither an Angel nor a God!

It is a lie, the truth of which, you will find out one day, and curse me for.

If not, through your words, then through your actions.

Hence, I have decided to tell you this;

That I am flawed, and far from perfect,

And what’s more, I have made mistakes in the past, and I will in the future too.

I am helpless, and unfortunately this is my reality,

And it’s because I am only human.

But don’t worry.

All is not lost, and this is what I can vouch for;

That although, I do make mistakes,

I do also, possess the remarkable ability, to correct them, and to learn from them.

Despite falling a million times,

Miraculously, I do find the grit to rise, again and again!

And that, the thousand cuts, the ruthless world inflicts on me,

Only manages to bleed me, but not deter my zeal.

Not one bit!

You know why that is so my son?

It is because, I am human and not God,

And I am ever so thankful, that I was born as one!

And, you should too.

Photo credits for video: Adobe Spark- Pixabay- Free photos collection.

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Last night my son went into a frenzy while eating his meal. Not a new occurrence in the house and something we have gotten used to. But while throwing his tantrums he slipped, hit the side of his leg against the centre table but luckily fell straight on my lap. In the end there was no physical or collateral damage but for his perceived leg ache.

Hence, his frenzied behaviour went into overdrive. I was having dinner on the sofa and in an instinctive reaction I managed to divert his attention towards a glimmering light in the horizon. What I sold to him was the story of a spaceship landing from space! Although it was far from reality, he bought my story and was compelled to get distracted. Miraculously, he stopped crying in an instant. My wife who had left her plate and was standing beside him, sold the story to him with full fervour until he was completely pacified.

Although, this was not a new incident, I somehow felt the urge to brood over it. Hence, I endeavoured to pen down this thought.

I found similarities between this incident and what happens to us daily when we walk our dog. My dog is very territorial and whenever another dog approaches him, he goes into a frenzy wanting to tear the probable competitor apart. To make him come out of this hysteria we distract him by making weird sounds, much to the amusement of onlookers. We ignore their giggles because more often than not we manage to salvage the situation using this technique.

I often wonder, why small children and dogs take so little time to come out of their hysteria when distracted? Although, I am not an expert in child or dog psychology, basis my past experience I came to the conclusion that it is because their conscience is clearer than ours. They are neither biased nor egocentric. Hence, they have the remarkable ability to attain normalcy through distractions.

We, my friends on the other hand are not so lucky! On the contrary distractions are detrimental to our well being. In a world where new stories, many of which are factually questionable are being hurled at us every second, the power of distraction could prove to be fatal. These stories have the capacity to take us into a frenzy and divert us from our real issues. Since, we are biased and egoistic, unlike children we cannot come out of our hysteria and become victims of our rage. Only few manage to come out of this vicious circle while the majority gets trapped in it.

To see things factually, objectively and in isolation is the only way out of this vicious circle. But this is easier said than done. Such is the power of distraction!

Photo credit: theladders.com

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We the common yet privileged people of this great country called India, often ask each other a pertinent question,

“We are ordinary citizens. What can we do for this country?”.

Well, before we ask each other this rather romantic question let us first introspect for a moment and ask ourselves the following much easier questions:

Are we segregating our house waste?

Do we break traffic signals and drive rashly?

Do we jaywalk on roads?

Do we throw waste onto public spaces?

Do we allow an ambulance to pass conveniently in peak traffic?

Do we park our cars in no parking zones?

This list could be endless.

Thus, a few more questions emerge:

Are we doing the above right?

Do we expect others to do the above right while not doing it ourselves?

If all of us do the above right, will it not solve many of the problems of this country?

Most importantly who or what is stopping us from doing the above things right?

Fact is, that the politicians, police and civil servants did not come out of thin air. They are one of us. Hence, before we exercise our right to criticize them for their “Chalta hain” (everything is okay) attitude, let us first delve deep within and ask ourselves, “Are we guilty of the same?”.

Funnily, the above questions do not demand an extreme sacrifice from our end. Just the need to be more civil. Is that a big ask?

Before we solve the much graver issues of the world, country and economy sitting in the comfort of our AC living rooms over a peg of whiskey or a cup of coffee, can we first deal with the much smaller issues directly concerning us.

Before we call upon the right, left or centre leaning concerned citizen within us, can we first call upon just the “citizen” and ask him to be accountable?

Finally, next time we are in a public space, can we be more observant of our own behavior and thereby help in making this country great?

Jai Hind! Vande Mataram!

Happy Independence Day!

Please note: I am not an outsider I am one of you. And yes, mistakes are mistakes unless done purposefully.