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Assamese version, please click here.
Man In The Mirror
Let me begin
with a question.
Who is your
worst enemy - someone near you, your boss, colleague, government, system,
neighbouring country or someone else ? I would not know your answer but I would
like to share my own experience – a modest enlightenment I got some 10-12 years
ago.
I was not
that bad in studies. Initially, the professional life too was going on fine.
But as time passed by, I observed that progress in my career had been very slow
– it was moving like a car driven by an engine that would break down at any
time. I was clueless thinking why this was happening to me – were my skills
getting blunt or were there other obstacles? But people like me had been doing
pretty good. No – I would not find an answer. Desperation to desolation – all
crossed my mind – days after days, months after months. Blamed corporate
governance system at times and sometimes, doubts on others lingered on. But
nothing was convincing as a root cause of my problems. Slowly, my problems
became part of me. It was a pathetic phase of my life! Around the same time,
instead of looking out for the reasons of my misery, I started looking inwards.
At first, a few superficial things like keeping up with technology trend etc.
came up. But my quest was not over. I still went deep inside. And there, after
long time, I found, not one but my two main enemies – my fear and my laziness!
Both had trapped me so firmly that there was absolutely no chance of moving
ahead! Laziness made me a master of procrastination and fear would not let me
come out of my comfort zone and do something challenging.
Since the
time I have identified my enemies within, I am at peace with myself. I am not
being able to conquer them fully. In some battles, I have defeated them. And in
many others, they have been still prevailing over me. But, I have not given up.
My enemies
have taught me a great lesson – that it is easy to blame others for one’s
problems. It is easy to find fault in others and criticize them. I am not
saying that someone else or something external cannot be your enemies – they
can be. But taking a glance inside is essential, especially when we blame an
entity like government or system for our problems. Who is government? What is
system? People like you and me form a government. We build a system. When I was
around 10 years old, some people from common walks of life formed a political
party in Assam. At that age, I did not understand what was politics but the
wave of change was so strong that that little me drew a picture of the symbol
of that party and kept it in our prayer hall so that God could bless them to
win !
But what was
the outcome? Nothing changed. Corruption, dysfunction of the overall system remained
same or became worse. But that failure was not of that party alone. It was of
the entire society. One important note here – the reason to pick up that
government was because it was a government formed by some common men, who did
not have any political lineage. Otherwise, the measures of non-performance of
governments before and after, are more or less same, or even worse.
A government
is a reflection of the greater society. If that ruling machinery is a product,
then its raw materials and the basic instructions of its production come from
the society, from the values of the society. If we want work from the
government, then we should do our work sincerely. If we want the government to
stop corruption, then every one of us should take a pledge that every rupee we
earn will be through an honest means only (these are only a few examples).
Otherwise, when you or I or someone else will form a government in future, then
we will continue our fraudulent way of working on a bigger scale. And, the
vicious cycle will continue!
Yes, it is
difficult to change oneself. But if each one of us can bring in a small change,
that will form an ocean of change. The waves of that ocean will wipe out our
decades long sufferings. Then, a good government will come out of us spontaneously,
without any protests or sit-down-strikes. Our system will be so beautiful that
it will be the envy of the rest of the world.
This may
sound like a dream to us. But people like us, in many parts of the world, have
made it possible. Look at Germany. From a German vegetable cutting machine till
their sophisticated cars, the quality standard is so high that Germany and
Quality have become synonymous. This culture has not dropped down from heaven
nor has it come as an allowance from government. Every German person has built
it together. I have got the privilege of working with many German people in my
professional life. Their sense of duty, discipline, dignity of labour are
amazing. Otherwise, they are people just like us. If they can, we can too.
“Be the
change that you wish to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi had said. Its
resonance is everywhere. Famous pop singer Michael Jackson also sang –
“I'm gonna
make a change,
For once I'm
my life
It's gonna
feel real good,
Gonna make a
difference
Gonna make
it right
.
.
.
I'm starting
with the man in the mirror
I'm asking
him to change his ways
And no
message could have been any clearer
If you want
to make the world a better place
Take a look
at yourself, and then make a change”
Our world
will be beautiful – and, we will build it by ourselves! We will not keep on
waiting for others to build it for us!
