My Philosophy

No obstacle is too great; no distance is too far to traverse. Stand by what you believe in, live life on your own terms. How can you ever be satisfied? I think I have realised today the purpose behind my birth, the reason for my existence. We are all part of a process. Each one of us is in a constant battle, between what we desire and what we should do. Every moment of my existence I ask myself: what do I want from my life? I think I have the answer now: Everything. Right from when I was a child, I was being prepared, mostly at an unconscious level, to work towards my purpose. My mother reading me Wind in the Willows, back then, it was the sound of the words that made me chuckle. I did not gather the import of the writing at the age of 1 and a half. Through our schooling, we are asked what we want to become. The answers range usually from: I want to be a good human being, I want to be successful, I want to be a pilot, a computer engineer, doctor, fire-fighter, and soldier to what not. It was the thrill of the job that inclined us to the field. I went through the same phase. If I wanted to play cricket for India then, why don’t I want to do so now? The sad answer seems to be this. As we grow older, we become afraid. Afraid not of our incompetency, we are afraid of our potential. All of us can make things happen. Nothing is impossible. We grow up in a state of denial. We don’t want to get free. We are afraid to attain the self- realisation. I visualise self realisation as a man standing on a cliff, the highest point in the whole universe, he stands there alone with none else for company. He is blinded by light, all encompassing, and the brightest he will ever see. This is what makes me sad. All of us see this light within us, all of us see ourselves on top of the cliff, yet we blind ourselves, shield ourselves away from our purpose. The idealism we cherish through our childhood diminishes to a point of non existence. We resign ourselves to our desks in office. We fall prey to the instincts of survival. Is that all we are expected to do? The most successful men are those who are unafraid of giving themselves up to the brightest light. They know that their purpose is what is supreme. They work towards their goal. Life comes only once. Should we die unfulfilled? Shouldn’t we have a zest for living?

I believe all of us are philosophers in our own right. We don’t need Plato to tell us about an ideal state. The day we as individuals realise our true potential and work towards our purpose will be a day when humanity will flourish. Ironically again this is similar to Plato’s concept of enlightened individual self!

I have had all the requisites of a happy and contented life. I am 17 now. Throughout I have been blessed with tools without which I would never have seen this day. This piece is dedicated to those tools. What are they?

They are parentage and education. My gratefulness to my parents goes beyond words. People say that the Supreme Creator is God, I do not know. I am just a part of the Universal Process; it is way beyond me to comment on the existence of the Supreme Being. My parents are my creators, I can’t think beyond them. My father is a principled man. He has always stood by his ideals. He has always believed that one should only do what he likes. A person should choose his path and cannot be compelled to do so. I don’t want to make this essay a personal one, and then you wouldn’t be able to associate with it. So I won’t talk about his life or the particular instances that are the basis of my analysis of my father. I think I can fairly conclude that he was individualistic. I have inherited from him the analytical mind.

My mother on the other hand is determined, she never gives up. For more than twenty years she has perspired. She quit a well-paying job and bore two children, my sister and me, five years apart. One of them was very troublesome. A multi tasker that she is, she managed to balance her writing with taking care of us. And she hasn’t compromised on either. Every rejection makes her more resolute. She knows she belongs to the big league and she will not quit until she gets there. I also admire her patience. She goes out of the way to help people. She cooks even when she doesn’t like cooking; she has tolerated and successfully tamed two men with a lot of attitude: me and my father, I salute her.

Education, it opened my eyes. I have never learnt anything by rote. Without understanding the concept, without asking the question ‘why’ I don’t think that true learning can ever take place, and true knowledge can never been achieved. The world is in such a sorry mess today only because of the absence of the above two tools.