EVERY DEATH GIVES A MESSAGE

It looks like just the other day everyone wished each other a Happy New Year and one month has already gone by. New year resolutions,analysis of the past year, plans and programmes for the new year are a regular part of the beginning of the new year both amongst the common folk, the celebrities and the organizations all over the world. It is time to check enthusiasm levels and to introspect about two things:

First, about our sincerity in making the best use of time and the second is about pursuing our goals without clashing with others.

At the very outset it would be of great importance to reflect on death. From the beginning of the year until now many people have died. Every death gives a message. One who dies has availed of his chance and it does not exist for him any longer. For those who are alive, every death gives a message that they still have their chance and therefore must avail of it. There are two ways to lead your life. One is to simply pass your time. The other is to use time meaningfully. If you fall into the first category, you are just wasting your life. By spending your days meaningfully, you are truly living and making proper use of this amazing blessing that is life.

Never waste a moment of your available time. By availing of your moments you can be the possessor of your months and years. Wasting minutes will cause you to lose months, if not years.

If you are wasting, daily, just five minutes of your hour, this will amount to wasting two hours in twenty-four hours. This will eventually come to 60 hours in a month, and 720 hours in a year. This is how the majority of people have been wasting most of their available time. A man whose life span is 80 years hardly makes full use of 40 years of his time.

Time is your greatest asset. Be meticulous about saving it. All great success ultimately boils down to an accumulation of small successes.

Once you are ready to achieve a small success, a big success will come your way by itself. Every new day that dawns brings with it many opportunities. These opportunities do not loudly announce themselves. It is for us to recognize and use them in a fruitful manner that can spread benefit to others. You need to skilfully discern the opportunities that come your way. Recognize those that are truly for you and those that are not. Learn to appreciate these opportunities and avail them in the best and most realistic way, but be aware of the limits within which you must remain. You need to be sensitive so that in the process you do not transgress into another’s territory.

The many opportunities that come your way are not exclusively for you. There are several others who are equally motivated. Success in your life can happen only by cooperating with others, never through conflict. Develop the skill of navigating your life without clashing with others. Just as you have some interests, others do too. A smart person carefully avoids clashing with other people’s interests and sails ahead to attain his life goals. To sum up one should be very cautious about making correct use of time and to move ahead in life without getting into conflict with others. Adhering to these two principles will ensure one’s success in life.

One who dies has availed of his chance and it does not exist for him any longer. For those who are alive, every death gives a message that they still have their chance and therefore must avail of it.

 

All great success ultimately boils down to an accumulation of small successes. Once you are ready to achieve a small success, a big success will come your way by itself.

  

SECOND CHANCE BETTER THAN THE FIRST

Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), the well-known British scientist, was born in a farmer’s family. Initially, his mother wanted him to pursue the family vocation of farming.

She started him on the job to learn the techniques of farming but he failed. Later, Newton was sent to school where he started his education, excelled and soon emerged as one of the greatest champions of modern science.

This story has a great lesson. And that is, if you are not successful at first, it should not dishearten you; because there may be a second chance waiting for you that may prove to be better than the first. Recognition always comes after rejection. It is a law of nature. If you find that one door is closed for you, don’t stop your journey,try to know the other door. And, you will happily find that there was one who was ready to receive you.

PEACE IN PLURAL SOCIETIES

After a long struggle, in August 1947 the Indian subcontinent won independence from the British. This independence came along with the Partition, which was on the basis of ‘two nation theory’. It led to the partition, not just of territory, but of entire communities as well. 

Prior to the Partition, the conflict was between two communities that lacked political power. With the Partition, it now became a conflict between two sovereign countries.

Mahatma Gandhi had, from the very first day, perceived how sensitive this situation was. And so, he stressed that Hindus and Muslims should learn to live together in peace and harmony. He said that he would give up his life in order that this should happen. However, shortly after India became independent, he was shot dead. This was undoubtedly a very big tragedy. Because of this, India lost its tallest leader who was committed to peace and unity.

The Partition was accompanied by horrific communal violence on both sides of the newly-created border. This violence continued unabated for many years thereafter. In order to address the issue, the first Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, called a national-level conference in New Delhi in October 1961. At this conference, it was unanimously decided to set up the National Integration Council to deal with matters related to communal harmony.

The second conference of this Council was held in June 1962. Speakers delivered their speeches on the occasion, suggesting various measures to promote communal harmony. Yet, no action was taken on their suggestions. Moreover, no more meetings of the Council were held during the rest of Jawaharlal Nehru’s life.

The third meeting of the Council was called by Indira Gandhi inSrinagar in 1968. It called for making it a cognizable offence on the grounds of promoting hatred between communities. Some other steps were also mooted. A few laws and rules were also passed. But still, nothing practical came out of this. And so, even today, the situation in the country is about the same as it was in 1947 as far as the issue of communalism is concerned.

What was the reason for this failure? The basic reason is that thisissue of communal conflict has been treated simply as a law and order problem. However, the nature of the issue is actually quite different. It is not essentially a law and order problem. Rather, it has essentially to do with the lack of intellectual development and social awareness.

To solve the problem, what is basically required is to properly educate people and promote proper thinking and discernment. People should know what to do and what to abstain from. They should learn to think before acting. Only this sort of an 'aware' society is one where communal harmony can flourish.