My late teens and early twenties
were spent dreaming. Dreaming of making a social impact- from a very young age,
I was drawn to and aspired to teach. Along the way, I earned a fair share of
friends who shared similar aspirations. We even had an evening school set up. Those were the days when my only grouse was ‘MONEY’. Thanks to some of
the philanthropic, overseas friends, it came streaming- we got what we required.
I remember I used to squirm at the prospect of ‘asking’, even if it were for a
purpose. There was so much we did without money- like setting up a library with
used books from friends and colleagues, gardening without the need for
hosepipes (one of our student made a perfect canal of sand from the tap to all
the plants, without the need for hosepipe-I was stunned at this, to see what
they could do given the opportunity-today, he would be sitting uninterested in
an academic institution that does not churn his creativity). Today, I might
have some money- but I don’t have the wherewithal to contribute. I don’t FEEL
the essence- to see transformation-even if it were an invisible iota of change-
before my eyes. Most of my friends, including me, who shared such aspirations
are today, wailing in a quagmire of life- of family, of commitments, of never
ending EMIs, of never ending savings.
Life did play hide and seek-
earlier, we didn’t have the financial, political backing, today we are caught
in other commitments. The only wisdom that has shone through life is that- if I
need to DO something, I need not wait for any milestones to start-Start
immediately. Things will start falling in place. What adds value is my
discipline, my commitment, my conviction- not the money, not the materials, not
some imagined milestones.
-A loud thinking.
