Saturday, April 27, 2013

The Whisper of Goodness

Like many others, like everyone actually, I hear a voice inside me.
A voice that  says don't worry.
A voice that also says that maybe someone out there is an enemy to be watched.
Sometimes this causes me worry. I start thinking. Planning for eventualities.
And then realise that this was just a demon in my head.

There are definitely both a Demon voice and a Good Voice playing a Chinese whisper inside us.
Like my father in law says, The Mahabharata is nothing but a war inside each of us.
Between the good and the not so good.
Between the right and not so right.

The challenge is, how do we know whether the voice we hear is that of our own fears, the demons, or the voice that comes from the soul and we should listen to.

Both sound confident.
And similar.

But from my experience, the demons in our mind makes us comfortable.
They do not challenge my thinking. Rather, they play on my thoughts.

The Good Voice however, challenges me.
Chides me at times.
Taunts me to get out of my blanket of fear and insecurities.

So unlike what we would like to believe, The Good Voice is quite a task master.
Strict. Firm.No nonsense.
And is loving only once we are calm and confident , and have overcome our fears.

The more we train ourselves to listen to this, the louder and stronger this resonates inside us.
Maybe one day, it will resonate so strong that the demons will be silenced.
Forever.



Sunday, April 21, 2013

Being Firm means Driving responsibility.

One of my distant relatives had a showdown at a family get- together one day.
After being pulled up for lawbreaking and being a menace to society.
A hot headed 25 year old.
Who stood with his arms folded and legs apart in front of the family patriarch.
What he said struck me.
He asked the patriarch  his father, "How come you never stopped me from doing this when I was young? All I got from you then was love and forgiveness".

True.
We do such a disservice to the young as leaders .
Whenever the words "strict" , " discipline" firmness" come up in conversations, both official and unofficial, there are naysayers who term these as constraints.
Freedom Blockers.
Words that breed negativity.
Anti -motivation.

Till we push our definition of freedom and free will to such an extent that lives are cut short ruthlessly.
Or Souls maimed for life.

What answer do we have, when these stare at us  in our face?

There is no answer, really.
Because we have decided to be liberal, shut our eyes, senses and sensibilities to all forms of indiscipline and law breaking around us.
Because we are free, after all.

Leaders. Whether we are leading a family, an office or a nation.
Let us not be blinded by a false sense of democracy, which reeks of indiscipline and lawlessness.
No one can be happy with this in the long run.
Those same people we were liberal about will ask us- why didn't you show us the path?

Being firm  means driving responsibility.
It means creating a sense of fear of the aftermath which all of us need to feel.
It means  punishment for actions, so that we learn.

Only then can we be responsible.
More importantly, only then can we be effective as  leaders.
And create a society where respect  and trust come to life again.