When I look back constantly upon the very events that drove ourselves to this present circumstance, I feel indignant of certain occurrences. You see, dear readers! Our very basis of accomplishment, be it in any field, is solely on dependability. By dependability, I mean acute conscious strangle that has bound all of us with an invisible force of weakness. This modern era has come up quickly than people could ever have imagined and this swift transformation of ideas and ideologies has made us a pawn of our own indolence. We are unable; actually, to cope up and match the pace of this reaction and this lagging behind has created a dangerous home of satisfied knowledge and erroneous concepts about all things that are around us and also about our own selves. There exist a humungous interlude between what actually is and what we have thought and learnt and driven by those irrational concepts, our every action reflects the multitude of negativity that is dwelling inside us. We all have contracted a disease of flawed ideas and a broad perception about everything that constitutes our environment. Youth, we, all of us, were meant to be structures of flesh and bone, built with infinite strength and iron will, where our mind would be a home of pure and true knowledge and our actions being a mirror of selflessness and hope. And all we have ended up are having made ourselves being of doubt and depression born out of our own immoral thoughts. Sometimes, people, around us, whom we call as needy and poor, do not need clothes or money as charity but giving hope of life, sharing warmth of positivity and stretching a hand to impart great strength is also charity and this, I believe, is more pious than materialistic givings. And to impart these, we ourselves need to know first, who are we? Why are we here? Are we just sent on this world for meagre tasks? Do I have the potential? If yes, where is it inside me? I remember a quote by Swamiji- “Talk to yourself once in a day, or you may miss meeting a beautiful person.”
I have heard often people say, humans are slave of their destiny and habits. I do not agree. We all are slave of our thoughts. Our fate is not engraved on this forehead, rests on our palms, clutched within which is hard-work and great positive will. Ignorance is sufficient and knowledge is deficient and so, I have encountered beautiful people ending up doubting their own strength. Rather than talking to themselves, they end up talking to whom they consider near and dear ones. And I question them all- how dare you call yourselves independent when you cannot even think freely about your own self? Who are others to judge your weakness and strength? An ill flower will pollinate sickness. And thus, all actions, driven by this self-doubt are reflected in our every reaction, even in charity too, which is meant to be a service to God. You bathe yourself to cleanse before a religious ceremony. Then why do not we cleanse our minds and hearts before charity? And all you end up is imparting merely materialistic things to the poor who actually needs much more than that. Money and food cannot give him will power and inner strength but you can, we can, our words can and our actions can. All these annotations have been said in many forms before by revered personalities but we have ended up relying our inner strength and peace of mind on people, who perhaps mean nothing to us. Are we really the children of God? I wonder, because Godliness represents belief, brute inner strength, iron will, mansion of positivity and an unending source of hope, the flame of knowledge burns you and the light illuminates the whole world reflecting hope and life, brighter than the Sun. And when you have burnt your mind and body in this flame, you have performed the deed of charity greater than anything.
“Do not build you hopes on anyone”, as Swamiji always has said for unworthy expectations creates delusional notions of belongingness and clouds our perception of ourselves. We make ourselves, we destroy ourselves. If we can choose to be unhappy, then why happiness cannot be our choice? The world is looking at us hopefully, that the youths of today will give something selflessly, the youths of today will stand up for themselves and others, the youths of today will realise their importance in our society and building our India. Thinking merely, is not enough but the strength to carry out a change. If you want to make an effort to create a difference, bring the first change inside you, your attitude, knowledge, perceptions and your mind. More than that believe in yourself more than anyone in this world and for this, you have to look inside you, not around. For all the worldly knowledge is inside us. The cosmos exists inside us; all we need is a friction, by own words of Swamiji, just as two stones create spark. Let us not be a slave of outward perceptions, but slave of our own belief and free thought and none can interrupt that as the South-westerly winds bringing the monsoons upon this very land. Efforts are many, true efforts are less; driven by self-belief and the thought “I can do anything and everything”, a true effort is made. Before helping others, let us help our own selves to be free and strong, to be illuminated only by true knowledge and pure perception. Let us impart strength to this society and people, not to be dependent on anyone but their ownself and learning to build them for the betterment of our nation.
“Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thoughts leads and dare to carry that out in your life.”
-Swami Vivekananda
– SHOMIK DASGUPTA