I remember, last year this time I was one of those thousand other Indian students clueless n’ undergoing the agonies of an insecure future. This year, now, I’m off to my second year of graduation. Time passed and with every passing day you learn a new lesson. Some that others teach you, some that you teach yourself and yet there is this third category. A painful one where you are told about the truth you don’t want to accept. Even though one has the wish to change nothing is done since we are Indians n’ like every responsible Indian parent would teach us, we were also taught to adjust. I come from similar backgrounds and since I always filtered what was taught to me n’ learnt only what I thought was important, I skipped the “adjust lessons”. So for many I’m arrogant but for the rest who likes to believe me, it’s only my confidence.

Before I sway away from what I intended to say let me get back. There is this story which is much similar to our lives. Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death and this continues. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When sun comes up, you have to start running. But have we ever asked ourselves why? What is it that we get in the end? Is it to earn enough to rule out one meal’s hunger or to accumulate enough wealth to form pressure groups that overrule governments? Why do we run? Why have we become gazelles and lions? A 17 year old is sent away for a year so that she becomes intelligent enough to crack the competitive exams. She joins the best institutes, gets a degree, and marries a rich NRI, produce more doctor kids and a whole life goes on. What’s the point in such a life? What was the aim? A long evening walk, a positive deep talk with an old friend, to love selflessly, to smile from the heart- have we really forgotten them?

Being a doctor is being next to God. But today our “Gods” go on strike because they are not paid enough. 2010 and so forth has derived out of doctors their mercy and for that matter very medical ethics that they need to carry close to their hearts. What do our bureaucrats do? Sign on those policies which confirm them with better bribe amounts? Was that why they let down the most tempting years of their lives reading the thickest of books? If every citizen of India asked our politicians to perform first and then ask for vote most of our caste based dirty politics could have been wiped out.

We are a country of more than a billion with an enormous population of young blood and even if 20 youngsters from one state comes together, stay firm in their decisions, have a clear vision and a determined mind much of the coagulating corruption, bad policies and distorted planning can be made right. A movement is made then. The young generation possess a tremendous energy that only needs to be channelized in the right way. We can make wonders. All of us don’t need to be politicians and policy makers for that. Whatever you have chosen be sincere in it. If your father is corrupt pledge that you will not be one and if your father has been victim to corruption pledge that you’ll fight the evil. Our money should be just enough to let us live not take away one’s life.

When we see something wrong, how many of us gather guts to raise our voice against it? When X is publicly assaulted, nobody cares because X is nobody of ours. If Y is denied justice, nobody cares because we don’t know Y personally. We knew what happened to Z but we dint want to be a part of the dirty game so we kept quiet and finally when something happened to one of us nobody cared because we dint care for X,Y and Z.

In life remember one thing. Before you want to do something ask yourself one question, why? If the answer that your heart gives you makes you smile, then you are meant for it. Later if you are successful, you can be happy that you lived a life that you chose. If you not successful still you can be happy that you lived a life trying to prove a point.

And like I tell Meghna, for me, anything that makes me feel bad is my definition of ‘wrong’ and if we all have our definition set straight then many of our problems will find solutions.