AngrY?

When was the last time that my dear reader lost his/her temper? No, please actually think about that. Done? Now... Was it worth it? Please dont be a smartass and tell me that it was justified etc etc. Was it worth it? Did you feel good about yourself later? Do you feel good about yourself now? If the answers to the last two questions are yes, please stop reading and think about your life.
Anger is not a strange emotion to me. There was a phase in my life where i would get angry for the silliest of reasons and unleash my temper or anyone and everyone. That was five years ago. I admit it here on a public site... The last five years have been bliss. I have learned to control my temper. This one change in my life has brought me wonderful peace in my life. I now have friends and family who look forward to my arrival. They genuinely want me around. That feeling i did not have earlier. I had it as a polite feeling from relatives. But never from any friends. Hell i didnt really have many back then.
What changed? I honestly cant remember what trigerred it, but i decided that i will not resort to anger to solve my problems anymore. When i passed out of school i left my temper behind. Here we have junior college and i honestly made an effort to be a new person when i entered the gates of the college. You will not believe me. The friends i made that year, are my best friends to this day. I carried on that trend when i entered another college for my b.tech degree. I admit i did not make a good impression in the first semester but i honestly made an effort to change and today i am blessed with a friend who would never leave my side and who i would easily trust with my life.
The point of this blog is this, anger is the one emotion that ruins relationships. Its absence strangely brings forth many. Being one who has actually experienced this, i ask my readers to do themselves a favour. Do you have a close friend? Anyone that you trust with your life? Someone who you just cant see hurt? If yes, Please never ever lose your temper or get angry with that person. You are hurting yourself. No one else. If my reader does not possess such a person, well, you really need to find yourself a friend. trust me. I thought i would be fine by myself. I wouldnt be anywhere near this happy if not for my dear bud.

Dear Mumbaikar

I have the following questions to ask you. I ask you these questions after condemning the ghastly act of terrorism, and salute you for the small uprising you have tried to create at South Mumbai. I commend you for that.

1. You never responded in this manner when there was blast in the trains across the city of Mumbai. Is it because it was not South Mumbai or is it because you have awakened now?

2. You never responded in this manner when innocent Indians were getting driven out of Mumbai because they were not Maharashtrians? May be in South Mumbai, you have too much of money and clout to be driven away.

3. You never responded in this way in the 1993 serial blast. Why?

4. Most of the people who have risen to this call are people who assumed that their life is safe and suddenly have realized that nothing is safer. Is each of you on a personal agenda?

5. Suddenly you find congress gives ticket to Mr. Deshmukh, and NCP gives ticket to Mr R R Patil, and Raj Thackeray decide to contest from Mumbai. Whom will you vote for? Will you not vote? If one of them gets elected what do you plan to do about it? Can you ensure as Mumbaikar you shall not vote for anyone, who does not deserve and does not get elected.

6. Thanks to television. Everyone is getting visibility. Are you not responding to the calls of the media for exposure with rhetoric’s?

7. Many of your Mumbai celebrities were and are in touch with the Dawood. Many of them have developed sympathy with the incident and are on air asking for action? How sure are you of your actions?

8. The economic recession of the financial markets and the turmoil in the stock markets, has given space to the South Mumbai residents to do what they are doing and are galvanizing crowds across Mumbai. Otherwise they should have woken up in 1993 blasts.

9. The insulation of the middle class from the political process in the country is visible for the last 60 years. Suddenly they come to the front. It is good. But will they be able to sustain it? How do they plan to ensure it?

10. India as a country has believed in “tolerance for nonsense”, for a long time. As a nation, we have witnessed ability of its citizens to talk a lot, emotion a lot, vent a lot, and then forget about it with a reason “ life has to go on” “ people will come and go” . Why should you not be doing the same?

11. Many of the corporate big wigs have come on air and have expressed themselves. But they have also done this in the past. What difference is it going to be today? Are they supporting the cause of Mumbaikar or talking against terrorism in the nation? Such actions should not get repeated in any part of the world, but if it does say in XYZ in India do they think they can participate their as well.

12. TV channels have done a good job in galvanizing the movement. Essentially it was good TRP rating move for them.

Believe nothing

Here is a thought. I do not believe in the word believe. How is that for a paradox?
But it is true. How much difference does it make to this world what you believe in? Lets start big. How many of my readers are atheists? I ask you this. If there is a God, do you think He is going to run this world any different if you believe or not? Better yet, do you think that he will exist only if you believe?
Let me rephrase that. How does it affect this universe what you believe in? How? What difference are you making through your beliefs? Even if you are able to change the way people think or act, the sun still rises in the east. It will continue to set in the west. It continues to rain and snow. There continues to be sadness and happiness in this world.
I know I may sound very vague to you, but the point I am trying to make is this:
HOW DOES IT MATTER? Let me define matter for you. Some thing that has mass and occupies space. Do your beliefs matter to you? Most of you might say yes. Now i ask you this. Should they?
Here is a real life example. There is a beggar who lives near my house. Everyday he begs to scrape through a few meals in a day. Everyday I feel sorry for him. I pity him. Sometimes I even help him. That is just me being human. Now lets see our beliefs. The average person may believe one of two things. Encouraging beggars is wrong or encouraging beggars is right. Decent debate topic but that's not why I am here. Now tell me this. What difference does your belief have on that beggar? Immediately you might say based on your beliefs you might help him or not. So back to my point, should you?
Another example. You have an examination. You study and pass it with decent marks. Now how does your belief on whether exams are a good form of learning or not going to matter? Either way your life and career are on the line. Again you will say based on your beliefs you might give importance to the exams. Again I ask, should you?
Enough of riddles. Lets get to the point. Should we believe in something? Should we believe in someone? In the end it boils down to you. Does it help you? Does kneeling and praying to the Almighty soothe your troubles? Then do it! Does getting good grades make you happy? Then do it! Honestly speaking beliefs are not what define you. Principles are what define you. And trust me when I say this, have atleast this one principle, ALWAYS DO WHAT WILL HONESTLY MAKE YOU HAPPY. I stress on honestly.