The firebrand Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, the revolutionary leader of Young Bengal Society said - "He who will not reason is a bigot, he who cannot reason is a fool and he who does not reason is a slave." How appropriate this saying is! I have come across many people of the above 3 kinds - not speaking up thinking "what would they say?" or don't have the knowledge to participate in discussions or are just wondering "what's the use of me saying anything?". People going about their daily business without thinking, without opinions, just following what everyone else does. They don't make a difference to the world, they would never be missed. I'd rather have these people go extinct than the Polar bears or Royal Bengal tigers!
One needs to ask a lot of questions. One needs to be curious to try out new things. Those ventures might fail but nothing can beat the experience you've got. Don't ever take anything on the face value, try to sift to the bottom of everything. Ask yourself "WHY?" before following anything and don't do that unless you get a truthful answer that makes sense. If the answer to "why shouldn't I eat beef/pork?" is "I don't like the taste" or "I have high cholesterol and I need to stay off from red meat" then you are on the right track, but if it is "that's what my religion tells me" then you need to think more. Same about societal laws and family laws. "Daughters-in-law in our family have never pursued their careers" has been the end of many Indian girls' dream, but those girls who ask for reason, who simply say "why?" have an option to break free. Nothing has come out of "tradition" and "expected of" in this world. Nobody "expected" humans to fly, but the Wright Brothers had the courage to try and succeed. It wasn't "expected of" Marie Curie to pursue a career in science and get two Nobels, but she had the Courage To Know! Same for Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar who started widow remarriage for Hindu girls in the dark days of the history of Bengal. There are many many such examples in the human race who have reasoned, who were not satisfied with "that's what we always have done", those who had faith in what is true and in themselves!
That doesn't mean you wouldn't need to fight. Actually you'll have to fight more as you try to row against the current but you'll achieve something at the end. Try to say "yes" to new things and new opportunities as Google's Eric Schmidt has said. You'll see a whole new world unfolding in front of you as you try out new things, meet new people and listen to new ideas! After all "it's much better to be a crystal and get shattered to a thousand pieces than to sit silently all your life being a piece of tile on a roof top"!!!
2 comments:
nice one !!
so so very true....
i dont know what inspired u to write this, i think we out at bengal will relate this with the fiery spirit of the indomitable lady who with her whole life questioned and fought for something, which others thought was quite usual and acceptable.... her stance may not be that correct at various instances viz. hawker eviction.... but most important is she continued her different way of thinking...
when whole bengal got used to with the practice of gulping in fertile lands for township/ industrialisation etc,. she questioned WHY? why not at some barren land.... WHY only the flourishing districts? WHY not at the backward ones? she was immensely criticised at that time... today different pockets on India are agitating at the same issue...
we have not seen much of the legendary figures we know, barring mother teresa. Hope that in future we'll be able to tell some generation that we've seen the evolution of ms bannerjee in our life... WISH HER ALL THE VERY BEST....
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