So, you’ve come back to read my blog... Hi! It’s nice to meet you.
First of all, I am really thankful for the wonderful interest you’ve shown in reading me. I will try to maintain your expectations and trust. I am suddenly reminded of that dialogue from the movie Mann –
“Vishwas jeetna asan hai, use todna aur bhi asan hai... magar mushkil hai use nibhana...!”
Everything has a purpose. We only need to ensure that the purpose is right or wrong (in the interest of everyone). So I now leave it upon you to check whether I have done something really good by starting a blog once again. And I expect your opinion in the form of comments after you read this post (that, of course, only when you indeed have fully read and understood this!)
It was not a long time back that I started having some, what do you call it, umm...inner voice may be. My instincts told me to start blogging, in order to speak up what I stand for. It was way back that we heard the famous line – anyay sehna bhi anyay karne ke samaan hota hai... (To not go against wrong is as good as doing wrong). At this, I am reminded of two incidents.
The first is from the Mahabharata, though I am not sure how many of you have read, or seen the Mahabharata. It so happened that there was a war between Pandvas and Kauravas (You know this, I guess). So as part of their strategies, both the armies approached Krishna , and his brother Balram for help. The Lord was firm that he was with the Pandvas. And as a gesture of it, he also decided to be the chariot-rider of Arjuna... so it was clear that Krishna was with the Pandvas (representing righteousness).
But when Balram was approached, he decided to be neutral and not fight from anybody’s side. He wanted to avoid taking any sides, and so he went on pilgrimage instead of participating in the war. When he returned, Lord Krishna said that when there is a war between good and evil, there is only one pilgrimage on the earth, and it is the battlefield...! So Balram did wrong by not choosing his course of action. We must always choose what we stand for, instead of being so confused that we don’t recognise ourselves.
The second incident is from my own life. In 2006, I attended a Global Youth Meet on Health organised by HRIDAY-SHAN in New Delhi and Agra
At that point, I stood up from among the audience, and asked him a question. I asked, “Sir, we do respect you for your move. But, don’t you agree there is a difference between ‘not endorsing the bad’ and ‘endorsing the good’? Would you not want to join our side and tell people how bad soft-drinks are, instead of being content by ‘not’ telling them how good they are?”
In other words, I made an appeal to Mr. Gopichand to join the youth in spreading health messages. He chose not to tell them (a lie) that soft-drinks are good. But he also didn’t say that they are bad. So I wanted him to join Y4H, a health campaign that was initiated at that point of time, and I am a member of it. As a result of this, Mr. Gopichand actually commended me for this question, and he said he’d love to make any contribution in the positive direction. I was interviewed by Kolkata’s Daily Telegraph newspaper as the organisers thought I would be a good choice to voice the opinion of youth (and I am not telling all this to you just to praise myself, there is always a purpose).
So one day, these incidents suddenly came up in my mind, and I pondered whether really I am doing the right thing in my life. Often, when we ask ourselves this question, “Am I good or bad?” we always respond by comparing our deeds. “I never supported terrorism”, so I am good. This is not the right way to choose. If I want to be good, I should oppose terrorism. And there is a difference between “not supporting” and “opposing”. Balram never supported the Kauravas, as they were bad. But he also didn’t support the Pandvas, which he should have.
And that is the lesson we should learn. We should not only know what is right, we should also speak up for it. When I asked that question to Mr. Gopichand, this was just the thought in my mind, but it was not until recently that I asked this question to myself, to check whether I do it myself or not. That was when I thought I must create a blog to speak up, for my satisfaction more than anyone else’s.
And here I am, amongst all of you. I am not here to debate on some topic, I am only here to share my views, and you reserve the right to disagree with me. In fact, it will be in the interest of everyone if you choose to correct me if you believe I am wrong somewhere. Further, it will be in your interest also, if you think I am wrong you should “speak up”, and if you think I am right, then also you should “speak up”.
So there are two lessons that we learn from this-:
· Always form an opinion on things. You should not be diplomatic when it comes to fundamental questions regarding ethical choices. We are known by the choices we make. Remember that dialogue from Harry Potter, “A man is not known by the attributes he possesses, but by the decisions he takes.”
· Always express your opinion. Be confident in expression. Article 19A of the constitution gives us a freedom of expression, so why should we not express what we believe. And we should also not be afraid of facing criticisms. As long as you believe that opinions are free to change, you are doing just the right thing.
I would even like to refer to my last post, and that poem I wrote. If you recall the I-J-K-L lines, it said this:
In life, that’s how the Lord comes to bless –
Juggling the pains and gains, to make it a mess,
Kicking us hard till the time we confess –
Lies, Crimes and sins; and the hesitation to express!
Did you ever wonder why I put “hesitation to express” in the list of lies, crimes and sins? This is because hesitation to express our opinions is also something that we should avoid, just as we should avoid lies and crimes and sins! So as I said, that poem is very special for me, because it speaks so much for me. I am proud of it!
So, in my upcoming blogs, you will find my opinions on various issues that surround us in our lives, and my views as to how we can solve those big and small problems that we often encounter in our lives. Wish me all the luck. Hoping you “enjoyed” reading this...
So the punch-line for the day is...
Be brave enough to decide what you stand for... and be braver to support your decision by being with it... and be humble enough to accept criticisms... because you can’t be right all the time, but you will never know where you are wrong until you express your views, and accept criticisms!
Desperately waiting for you to form and express your opinions...
Yours forever,
Palkesh Asawa
Really? like dont u think sometimes its just better to not say anything and b diplomatic? u cant say clear cut that u know expression is d way in life-sure I definitely agree 100% that for most things we should have an opinion that what is correct and what is wrong and support what we think is good rather than merely "not supporting" the bad-but is hot-headedness always the way to go? it depends a lot on the situations, lets take what u wrote-ki soft drinks are not good-if i believe they arent good-i cant go around telling people ki nai dont drink bcuz its bad its bad-people have free choice-people r free to do what they want to do, and they'll do what they want to do and like u cant always always just b too expressing-other ppl mite c it as u knw as if u dnt agree with their choice and get d wrong message that ur saying what they think is wrong-sometimes its better to b diplomatic.
ReplyDeletesometimes u mite b genuinely confused ki whats d right choice and sometimes-for eg terrorism-what can a person really do?
il b very interested to hear ur views!
again-not that i totally disagree with u-heheheh-see? im being diplomatic-because thats what it is! it depends on situations!
like for eg, when theres sth like eve teasing-u can definitely have a strong view and express it every time...
you are right about freedom of expression and yes I do agree that we must be able to form opinions and think critically however, it is not always wise to express views openly particularly when they r critical. As in the case of Mr.Gopichand, he is a public figure, the world knows him.... if he gives any statement it will soon become a controversy, a news headline.
ReplyDeleteif u remember, during the recent commonwealth games, Saina Nehwal was asked about how she thought the games preparations wr going on..... on which she said before th media that it was pathetic... not up to th mark .... and she had to apologise fr that later....
It is good that u form opinions but it is very important that u express them wisely.
Suvarna.
I am so happy you people commented so beautifully. The only point I wanted to make was that we should be able to defend what we stand for. For example, if I believe something is right or wrong, I should make it known.
ReplyDeleteThis plays the role in determining your character. Like if I believe something is wrong, I should stay with it. I may not be able to change the opinion of many people, but I should be strong enough to try my level best to it.
Of course, my decision may not always be right. In fact, there are circumstances where we don't even need to form a firm opinion. Soft-drinks was just an example. It does not have so many disadvantages that I should publicly go and tell people about it.
But don't you think there are a number of cases where we should voice our opinions? If you just saw a person driving his car so badly that he hurt another man on his scooter... would you care to stop and tell him his fault? Or would you just say, mujhe kya karna hai?
Or for example, you are present when your boss shouts at an employee for a fault which was actually done by someone else... would you care to say sir its not his fault? Or would you just leave because you don't want to affect your relations with that other person?
These examples are not to be taken personal, i only wanted to say that there are a number of people, including myself in many cases, who don't want to express their opinions because they are afraid some people may not like it. Balram didn't participate in the war, because he thought what will the other side think? But that's not fair, if people are wrong, they ahould know about it.
And I agree with what Suvarna mam said, opinions should be expressed wisely. But I believe opinions should be expressed, so that later you don't regret the fact that you did not support what was right.
Tell me if I am wrong somewhere, and thank you so much for expresssing your opionion. I know there are cases where you just can't find your opinion, like yash you are not able to decide whether you agree with me or not.
But I am not talking about such things, I am talking about cases where there is clear cut difference between right and wrong, these are fundamental ethical choices, and we should learn to take such decisions. I know i am no-one to say this, because i haven't done any such thing in my life. But I am only here to express what i feel...
hello palkesh!
ReplyDeleteI definitely support all that you have said here, about not being diplomatic and standing for what you feel is right.
Changing peoples opinions so that they match your's and trying to stop people from doing something is one thing and simply saying what you believe in is another. The second, as it may not seem as such, also make s a huge impact on the other person.
Thinking about something and not acting upon it doesn't help anyone at all really. If you cared enough, then you would be strong enough to say what you feel especially when it comes to right and wrong!
That is what draws the line between the people who make the difference and those who go along with the changes.
Brilliant work palkesh! I really love the way you have written this. Keep it up! :)
palkesh every1s view of whats wrong and correct is diff-so if u tell smn they r wrong-and what if from their point of view its totally correct and maybe some time later u also feel that they were correct and u were wrong-what then?
ReplyDeletetell us what exactly r u thinking like behind what you have written-thats ur next post maybe?
I agree everyone is of their own view. But i never said you will always be right, did i? read the last lines in bold. You may not always be right, but you will never know where you are wrong unless you express your opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnd yash you are taking this wrong somewhere. I never said i should go and tell people where they are wrong. I only said that i should make it known to everyone what i feel... is there something wrong with it?
and if there is something wrong in what i feel, then i will come to know it when i discuss it with people. i am not here to change the world, i am here to change myself.
its not your responsibility to correct everyone, but it is your responsibility to ensure that you take the right approach.
And you'd like to read the next post may be
and thnx bhakti, for the support!
hmmmmmm okkkkay its a bit clear to me now ;)
ReplyDeletei agree you can never know you are wrong unless you express your opinion-and i'd definitely like to read ur next post :D