Welcoming
the New Year sans any resolution, one feels something hugely amiss. I am experiencing
the same feeling right now. But still, I am OK with it. At the start of every
year, millions of people across seven seas anyway make resolution which they never
adhere to beyond the first phase. I, myself, have been a serial offender in
this case. Moreover, I think, we have seen so much being taken away from us in the past
one year that all other things appear pale in comparison. Then why must we
follow the stupid practice? So, today, on the very first day of 2015, I am getting
rid of the resolution-making habit. Instead, I am trying to revive the 'hope’ that has died inside me.
As
it is, a bit of introspection made me realize that what usually makes us feel truly
happy and worthwhile may not even present itself in a physical form. All the worldly things are made to appeal to
human senses but not necessarily they bring peace of mind and inner happiness.
See,
I am a fat guy and I understand that if I exercise regularly from now onward,
it will make me fitter and healthier in future. But will it make me happy? I am
afraid I am not sure.
I
started earning seven years back and my first salary-check drew me Rs 6000. It
was not much but still it made me happy. Today, I make a decent cut by any
standard but does it please me? Do I feel content with it? I don’t quite know the answer.
I
used to feel happy when I would see chirpy and innocent kids walking up to
school in the morning. For a few fleeting moments, I would forget all my
problems. The feeling is not the same anymore. Now, every time I see a school
kid, the disturbing images of the massacre in the army school of Pakistan by
terrorists hit me like a bullet. It has become increasingly difficult for me to
disassociate the ills of society from whatever good is left in the world.
I
will feel good if my peers feel good with my personal growth and happiness. I will
feel better if my colleagues feel better at my professional advancement at
work. I will feel truly happy and amazing if there is less of hatred and war
and more of love and peace in the world.
So,
on this first day of the year, I just ‘hope’ that the coming days, weeks and
months will witness more of tolerance, peace and unity in the world than
anything else. These three things together form the core of humanity and score
over everything else. Our world will indeed be a better place to live in even
if we are left with just three of these things... because, at the end of the
day, everything else doesn’t really matter. Does it?
