GIVE LIFE A CHANCE- ITS PRECIOUS & BEAUTIFUL

                                                                             -By Milan K Sinha

        
Every morning you notice some reports in the newspaper on suicide deaths in different parts of the country. Let us first see the hard facts related to this growing menace in our society. Reports say, ”Suicide in India is slightly above world rate. Of the half million people reported to die of suicide worldwide every year, 20% are Indians. In the last two decades, the suicide rate in India has increased from 7.9 to 10.3 per 1,00,000 population. In a study published in The Lancet in June 2012, the estimated number of suicides in India in 2010 was about 187,000 ( 21 deaths every hour) of which  71%  are by persons below the age of 44 years. This is a serious cause of concern which imposes a huge social, emotional and economic burden.

                    We all know, Life is Precious & Beautiful. After the darkness of each night, the golden rays of morning fills our life with lots of hope & happiness. If you see the sky at dawn & dusk time, if you see the birds flying in herds in the sky with lots of conversation among themselves, if you see the new leaf, new flower in small plants in your terrace garden, if you could see the  whole life coming out for day long activity & struggle whether in the fields or factories, you would definitely feel the beauty of life all around you. Go out in the rain, play with small kids in the rain water like a child. Try to catch some rain drops and taste it. After this unique experience, come back, have a nice bath and  sit to sip your hot tea or coffee rethinking about the moments just passed by. Come out of your own “self” some time every day to live like an ordinary human being  and feel the fulfilling difference.

          Try to practice, in whatever manner & magnitude you like, the prescriptions of Swami Vivekananda, the great  role model  for Indian youth who lived in this world for only 39 years but could leave an indelible imprint on the soul & minds of  millions of people world over. Swamiji says,” Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity. … Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer to the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of the pledge . … Be a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a river for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victims of oppression. …Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive…. Be eyes for the blind and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring….

             No doubt, life is full of ups & downs, but if we open our hearts, say an emphatic “Go to Ego” and embrace the changes of life, believe me, even in most difficult situations, we can feel that life is full of suspense & splendid things. And after all who has all the goods & no odds in life. But all those great personalities whom we admire knew well that we are all born  with a divine fire in us . Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glory of its goodness, as our beloved former president, scientist & thinker, APJ Abdul Kalam used to say. And, by the by, happiness is not a happening, it is a state of mind. You can have everything in the world and still be miserable or you can have relatively little and feel unbounded joy. See around you and you will appreciate the truth of these words.

         Life is very precious & hope is the main driver. Do you know: man can live without food for 40 days, 3 days without water, 8 minutes without air(Oxygen) but without hope- may not be for a minute. Isn’t it? So, never say die. Give your life full chance. True, everybody doesn’t get everything at the same time despite putting up seemingly same & similar efforts. You may get something today which your friend might get some years later. Life is after all not a 20-20 cricket match. Everyone passes though different phases of life from childhood to senior citizenship, but  how young or old you are, you can still be creative & influential  provided you have faith in yourself and a conviction to do what you think is right. 

         The great Hindi poet, Ramdhari Singh  Dinkar expressed these sentiments in the following lines:

खम ठोकता है जब नर 

पर्वत के जाते पांव उखड़ 

मानव जब जोर लगाता है 

पत्थर पानी बन जाता है . …

          So, say a Big “YES” to life & the Biggest “NO” to negative thoughts. Have large circle of good friends to share the pain & gain, spend quality time with your family and last but not the least, have  time for  your passion.  Life has many  good things in store for you. 
                                                Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.
# Published in Patna Daily .com

* Do visit my site : milanksinha.com