Come out of the NEGATIVES...

YOUTH??? Manjunath who died a hero, Sania Mirza now becoming a Youth Icon, Narian Karthikeyan first Indian to race F1, Pune’s pride Shital Mahajan –the only Indian woman to take a jump on the North Pole and many others like them… But on the flip side, lovers butchering their partners, fathers raping three-year old girls, children, youth ending their lives on the spur of the moment, Vijay Nakula an aspiring IITan ending his life because of depression, 4 boys aged just 20,19,17,16; killing 16 month old baby and 54 year grand mother, one night stands, flings and much more like these…

Reason? Stress? No. It is more than just Stress. The main reasons behind this are Money, Power, Fame and that too asking for it instantly! Last but not the least, nobody to bank upon if anything goes wrong i.e. loose, unfaithful bonds of relationship. These ‘(in)famous’ dragons are eating up today’s youth, their way of thinking, thus their acts, completely twisting their psyche to a negative note. No doubt the base is the same- Stress. Stress- a trickle down effect from the society down to our parents and lastly to their pupils. It’s a mad race to be the best of the best in this highly competitive world, thus never ending wants, unable to cope up with them, therefore a consistent unhappy life, so the ‘acts’ done to satisfy one’s wants. But does these acts satisfy one’s wants? You know the answer. But still they are done, to satisfy the hunger of the dragon and therefore the repercussions.

There may be many examples like this, probably more inspiring; but let me cite. At the age of 17, being very naïve, knowing nothing about the outside world, it was the first time that I came out of a cocoon to pursue engineering near Shirdi. First year result: 9 A.T.K.T.’s out of 10! Flunked for the first time in 17 years… I thought I should give another shot, but same result! 2 years wasted; with all the money. Then I came back to Mumbai and got admission in a private college but due to technical problems I decided to take a drop. So in the first formative years of my life I failed miserably. But those 3 years were really like hell. Society pinning, nailing, me all the time, all my ‘so called’ friends turning away, nobody to share my emotions, relatives and others looking down upon me, targeting me as a ‘Big Looser’, even my parents lost hope at some point of time. I was even told “Engineering is not in your blood”; that too in front of few people. I had taken to smoking, lost all confidence, always thought that life is a waste, I had gone for counseling sessions in the Institute of Psychological Health because of serious depression, but I never thought of ending my life or killing those who nagged me. On the contrary I decided to give a fight and remove the stamp of a ‘Failure’ from my face. It was just at that point I was introduced to Reiki, an alternate therapy that includes healing and meditation (for self and others). It is through Reiki that I came out of the negative completely and to my astonishment I emerged as the topper in my First Year B.A. Once a very shy guy on stage, having very less self-confidence is now bagging prizes in one-act plays, elocutions, debates etc. I was on TV once on NDTV and 4 times on MTV. Both were discussion shows on political and social topics. It was a powerful urge to get out of the negative by doing something positive. And it was through Reiki that I got my Mentor. In fact I am standing on my own two feet, confident, having right kind of attitude towards life, moreover able to understand life only because of Them. I know this is just the start; and I have to go a long long way.

Likewise there are many alternate therapies like Yoga, Meditation, Art of Living; etc. that one can avail to remove stress, tension, and depression from life. So why end life? Reach out for a helping hand and you are sure to get one. Talk to closest of your friends, share your emotions, try finding a solution amidst problems and empower yourself with any of the alternate therapies. Negative doesn’t go until and unless something positive is done. It’s like drawing a longer line above the shorter one. But on the contrary today’s youth is thinking more negative amidst negative, which adds to the gray scale. Does any failure mean- End of Life or Addictions? No it just means that you have to put in a bit more than before and go ahead. Next a ‘30 gm Certificate’ of any ‘so-called’ degree doesn’t mean everything. Life is beyond that. It is the attitude that counts your altitude, not degree. You become a B.A. or a B.E. or M.B.A. everything has its own unique importance, don’t differentiate. Even if you are not a graduate and are doing excellently well in your field of interest; then nothing like it. The right approach is to work upon weaknesses and convert them into strengths.

“Dreams shatter…
They ought to.
Put them together To a totally different one
And go for it!”

Whole of our life is wasted in analyzing, thinking about others, but not our mind, not our inner self. It is only that if you know yourself in totality then you can know others in clarity. Don’t try to give meaning to your life. It has been given to you when you were born. Try finding out that. How? Very simple! Start talking to your inner self and see the difference.

If a nation’s youth is weak the whole of the nation is weak. Youth is the foundation of any nation, it empowers the nation… A DNA reader (26th Nov.2005) said, ‘The young Indians should join force to work towards cleaning Indian society of corruption.’ It is not going to happen ‘this’ way, neither by mere talking about it. Youth of similar interests, having same goals like him, others should come together make a Youth Force beyond religion, caste, class, creed, politics or sex - those who want a change and are ready to work for a cause, come together and start off! Youth should understand themselves first if they want to make any change in the surroundings. They should empower themselves in a very positive manner so that they can empower others. Only then things can start to change and it is only then we can look forward to a better future.

“Every Second is a NEW one…
Every new second brings new HOPE…
The world lives on HOPE.
Live on CONFIDENCE…
This will give you the Energy to face Anything.”

-- Sachidananda.
(Eternal Happiness)
(24-01-2007)