FREEDOM OF THINKING IS DIFFERENT FROM POWER OF EXPRESSING-ESSAY

We are blessed with a brain that gives the power of thinking. This possibly is the best gift, the creator has given us. Not that other organs of our body are not so important but brain outsmarts them all. All our senses are controlled and commanded by our brain. But are we really free to think? I don’t think so. Having power is one thing and using that power per choice is entirely different thing. In our day to day life we do what is expected of us and not what we really want. Right from our childhood we have been conditioned to act and react under some circumstances in a predetermined way. For centuries we have been repeating these expectations without a break. As a family man we get married, have children, provide for them and retire to obscurity. Nothing really changes the pattern. Even the circumstances are not of our making. In our conduct as a member of the civil society we think and act in a familiar pattern and walk the beaten track. What is therefore freedom of thinking? Freedom of thinking comes from freedom of attachment. Independent thinking is a precondition for free thinking and for independent thinking detachment is essential. Our thinking process is biased because of our attachments. Since we do not want to harm our interests caused by attachments, we think and act in a familiar pattern. Another precondition for free thinking is the courage to take personal risk. Our free thinking may cause us social boycott, personal injury or even threat to life. Only when we are prepared to take these personal risks, we are in a position to think freely. Many a times we abjure free thinking because of our so called reputation, social status or our very existence may be at risk. People who have made huge contributions for the good of mankind were free thinkers. They thought differently or were in today’s lingo ‘out of box thinkers’. They did not walk the beaten tracks. Gandhiji could think freely because he thought truth must prevail. This is what he said in his autobiography ‘My experiment with truth’:- “The instruments for the quest of truth are as simple as they are difficult. They may appear quite impossible to an arrogant person and quite possible to an innocent child”. All throughout his life his followed the path of truth and non violence. He thought that the only way to fight the might of the British Empire was non- violence. He was ridiculed for his thinking which was not on familiar pattern of violence for violence. Finally his FREE THINKING got freedom to India. This idea was successfully adopted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa and before that Martin Luther King in America Galileo thought differently and finally proved that the earth resolves round the sun and not the other way round. All inventions are result of free thinking. Newton watched the falling apple and propounded the theory of Gravitation. Mansoor braved the wrath of religious heads when he said ‘I am God’ on the lines of “Brahamam aham”. All changes in the religious and social are the result of free thinking. Gautama Buddha detached himself from family obligations and proceeded in search of Truth. Swami Vivekananda was an embodiment of detachment and free thinking. It is not enough to have power. It is important to use that power differently for the benefit of all.

I UNDERSTAND- MOTIVATIONAL

1. I will stop asking “why me God” for my troubles and start asking “why me God” for my blessings. 2.I understand the one within me believes in me even if no one else believes in me. I will still cross the finishing line. 3. I understand it does not matter how much I have, but what really matters is what I do with what I have. 4. I understand when I lift others, I automatically move to the higher rug of the ladder. 5. I will express my love for my Creater for caring for His Creations in all the possible ways. 6. I understand deep relationships are created through investment of time and communication. 7. I will go into any relationship looking at what I can give and not what I can receive. 8. I understand small beginning, incremental improvement and sustained progress will result in monumental possibility. 9. I will creat a legacy for working for a goal that is larger than myself. 10. I understand my life is my responsibility and no blaming is allowed. 11. I will go as far as I can see and I know when I reach there He will show me further. 12. I understand it is not a question of how powerful my ‘God’ is but it is a question of how powerful my ‘faith’ is.

THE OTHER SIDE OF PROSPERITY INDEX

(Our locality is prospering. Residents no more worry about two square meals. Above all there is more to the mundane affairs of food, clothing and roofs.) Sample this: 1. Within a span of just two years four Unisex Saloons have come up in our locality not counting the numerous beauty parlors we already have both for men and women... The oldest one has two portions one for ladies and other for gents. The newest one has one open hall for both visible through the glass doors. This is women empowerment at its best where they can sit side by side with men and be pampered by male hair stylists and beauticians. Gone are the days for ‘Ladies only saloons’ may not as yet because I find more such ladies beauty parlors are opening. One such has just opened namely “SPLENDED BEAUTY STUDIO- YOUR BEAUTY SOLOTUION”. I guess the miss-spelled words are on the advice of some astrologer.(Yesterday on the eve of karwa chowth when wives fast for the welfare of their husbands, all the beauty parlors were crowded) 2. Every next lane has at least two boutiques dealing and designing ladies garments. Who says readymade garments will make tailors redundant? 3. The last five years have seen the opening of two liquor shops. And liquor shops are there, non-veg- snacks stalls cannot be far behind. It’s an office complex with some five or six banks around and a couple of shops. There is quite a big open space in the center of the complex which, in the evening when the sun goes down, turns into a bar for sundowners. With hidden support from the authorities, tables are laid in the open. Urchins become helpers and in addition to tips collect the empty bottles also. Once in a while, as an eye wash, some raids are conducted and then it is business as usual. 4. Almost every household has at least vehicle, two or four wheeler. Some have more. All ground floor houses on the road side have turned into business ventures of some kind. All Kothies (houses built on individual plots) with some exceptions have turned into high rises. God stopped creating land from the day of creation but continues creating people. All in all the density of population has gone up. More people and more vehicles have burdened the limited road space. Walking on the roads is a nightmare particularly when no one follows the traffic rules.