Please learn to listen!

 Great  power always brings mass suffering in its wake! When BJP obsessively talks of Congress Mukt Bharat, they actually mean opposition-less rule. And opposition-less rule is almost synonymous with dictatorial rule. A healthy democracy is the churning result of a seesaw competition between equally strong parties who try to excel on the issues of development instead of flimsy rhetoric which have no say in alleviating mass miseries. Do religious wars give us oxygen when we die like gasping fish on the roads? Do grand temples and sky high statues give us hospital beds when all we need is a simple few days of care to avoid death? 

Why is America the strongest democracy in the world? It's because there are two equally strong parties who actually fight on the issues that really matter. Hope the current Indian government learns some lessons from the mass suffering in India and gives us common necessities of life instead of communal opium and an intoxicating, false, blinding and rhetorical sense of nationalism. Please learn to listen to those who differ with you. Don't just build a narrative to condemn them as traitors! Please learn to listen! There is a world beyond wining elections at any cost. Sometimes costs are too high! Great rule might be about great power. But grand and glorious rule is about taming that rampaging power to make it a slave instead of allowing it to sit on our head and be our master.

Keep mum and just pray!

 Critics of Them, justified of course in your intentions and reasons, a word of caution. They are down but not out. As the saying goes, a King is a bad enemy, a worse friend, and a fatal family relation. So stay rooted while you criticize Them. They will hit back at the level you are, wherever it may be, anywhere you are, using the hierarchical powers suitable for your position and standing to push and prod you again into the hole. They may not do much to take us out of our miseries. But They will surely hit back! I have no shame in accepting that I am scared of writing or saying even a single word against Them. Because I know They always hit back at their critics! They have the power! And they expertly mean to use it against dissent. That is the hallmark of powerful Kings! Power has natural disposition for misuse. Here at least they are subservient to the concept of power. Power has power over Them. So my dear angry, cantankerous birds, take a pause. The fear of corona and the fear of Them are both essential to stay alive and safe. So play it safe! Lastly, pray, pray and just pray for all of us. We the common subjects of Them have no oxygen, no vaccine, no hospital beds. All we have is our prayers. So let's pray for each other. Let's use all our power of emotions to keep our boat afloat!

Be your own friend first!

 Most of us are tired and bored of being our own self. The 'self' seems almost a prison and we are always rushing out to beat our self loath and boredom by connecting with people who we assume match our personality cast. These people to whom we rush to beat our boredom are but our opposites because who would go and enter the same prison one is trying to get out. So when the connection and relationships also don't dilute the feeling of self loath, we put the blame again on outside forces, people and circumstances. No relationship will work till we are bored being ourselves. The problem is always inside, our ego but would always try to dupe us by putting it on the people and life circumstances. To be a friend to anyone outside, one has to share a beautiful bonhomie with one's own self. You have to smile within to laugh genuinely with others. You have to be comfortable with your own being first. Only then others will feel relaxed with you. The inner turmoil, restlessness and stress of just being the way you are takes a big toll on what we make of our life outside. The way we feel, think or act is the cause, not effect, of all the shit we find outside in our life. The cause lies within. The externalities are mere effects. And solutions start with causes not effects. So if the game of life isn't nice outside, accept it as an effect of something wrong within. To be a smiling friend to others, first learn to be friendly with your own self.

Look within

 Only those in suffering and pain themselves become the source of sorrow to others. The fire within has to burn the carrier's inside first before spreading its effect on others. Happy people hardly cause sorrow around. Observe the fiery pit inside, the primary cause of one's sorrows. If we become aware of its burn, we will stop blaming others for our miseries. Others are merely triggers for the fire to flare up more viciously at the most. It helps to remember that all our so called miseries of life are primarily born of our inner condition rather than the life circumstances and the people around. Long before the pain manifests on the surface, exposed by the externals including people, it already has established roots in our self, deep inside, nurtured by our wayward thoughts and emotions, the self injurious dose of negative energy that we ingest ourselves with in little little doses over the ears. So next time someone hurts you look within first before hollering at the person. 

Regular guys always win!

 IQ fundamentalists shut up! When we fall down, it's not our extraordinary and special talent that sees us through. It's the plain old spirit of perseverance -- common man's ubiquitous heap of normalcy. At whatever level you are busy writing the story of your life, keep yoked to your mission like a diligent ox guys. And the furrows of your very own life and living will follow.

Dump all preconceptions about breaking galaxies with the shining supernovas of eye-blinding heroic traits and feats. Be the proud little man who keeps working on his small-time mundane qualities with persistence and passion. And then you become the joyful sovereign of your little world.

Don't worry if you don't have the elite sprinter's lungs and leg muscles to win the 100 metre race and reach the podium to see your success through other's eyes. Nurture endurance in spirit and strive further and push harder in the slow-paced marathon of your very own life. Choose your own pace and the miles to go and give it all that you have. Sweat out to get a thumps-up from your own soul.

Hey all you regular guys like me! Stick to your little mission very hard. And you and me have as much chance of reaching the finish line as any other naturally talented guy has!

In the long term, grit is more important than smartness and natural talent.