240. Nothing can remain the same yet we want certain things to continue as they are and invite grief! What begins, ends.

- Sujit Mukerji

239. Man is born free but is everywhere in chains.

- Rousseau

238.    Shouldn’t we seek hope

Even when there is no scope;

… As in darkness

For light we grope?

- Sujit Mukerji

237. We may be said to have an idea only when we put forth an effort to realize it.

- Mahatma Gandhi

236. Suffering well borne is suffering removed.

235. What we waste deliberately we shall be sadly wanting someday.

234. The one who does not dare to do great things is not likely to come to grief and yet, one has to be bold to achieve something.

233. A child is instinctively driven by its likes and dislikes. That is where the role of an elder comes in. If the child is allowed to have its way, the only thing that grows unchecked would be its instincts. In other words, it grows into an animal! So, it needs to be checked as per the old dictum of checks-and-balances. But, it is often noticed that the elder, at times, has the tendency to be guided by his own convenience rather than the child’s welfare. So, we have elders, who would rather load the child with the things of its liking or, maybe, create opportunities for the child to have its way so that it could be steered in the direction that suits only the elders and has nothing to do with the child’s ultimate welfare! We even see parents scolding their children for the flimsiest of reasons just because the child must be causing them some discomfort or, maybe, doing something which is not to the parents’ tastes, even if such an act is beneficial for the child in the ultimate analysis. Like, for instance, playing with a free mind, no matter if the clothes get dirty. Sooner or later, the child realizes that its elders, more often than not, keep showing tendencies to manipulate it to suit themselves. So, it learns to manipulate even its “own” people.

- Sujit Mukerji

232. Try, we should;

Else, lament: “we could”!

- Sujit Mukerji

231. PATIENCE PLEASE …

… And balance, of course, without which nothing good can ever be possible…

- daughter, Josheca Mukerji

Most of the time, we are unsuccessful due to lack of patience. This is one of the most important things in our life. If we have patience, we can solve our difficulties easily. I have been hearing many moral stories/proverbs from the time when I was too small; at the age when we do not have the capacity to understand things when said in a metaphorical way but rather take them by their literal meanings. “Patience and perseverance bears fruit.” I have been hearing this from my earliest days when I thought patience and perseverance were names of people and they carried fruits! I find it very difficult, at rimes, to have patience but I have realized fully well that I do not have any choice if I want to succeed.

Many a times we are in a hurry and say that we want to save our time. Let us consider the case when we are caught up in a traffic jam at a railway level crossing where the gates are closed. We see many people losing patience and walking past the closed gates to reach the other side. Let us consider another case from our day-to-day life where lack of patience either proves fatal or leads to a person’s becoming a permanent patient – rash driving. It is better to reach late than never reach at all. Impatience or hurrying to “save time” can lead to time otherwise and ill-spent or, in simple terms – wastage of time. In our bid to reach our destination “in time”, we end up at the hospital before time to spend a whole length of time (i.e. if we have any time left; which is to say, if we are alive) at another place for an entirely different and undesirable reason. The time factor is extremely important. We know that time never waits for anyone and wasted time never returns. A fruitful utilization of time is what maters. It is upon us how we utilize the time. Accordingly, we have ‘good’ and ‘bad’ times. We fear bad times and welcome good times. Hence, it is all the more important to understand the importance of patience.

It is also important that we don’t get bogged down or swept away by our experiences. Once again, we should remind ourselves the importance of patience and balance and that nothing is permanent. I remember having heard a popular story where a man visits a learned sage to know how he should deal with life. The sage simply handed him two folded pieces of paper and asked him to open one when he was happy and the other when he was sad. In both the pieces of paper, only one message was written – “This time will pass.” The moral of the story, therefore, is that during bad times, we need patience because such times will pass and during good times, we need balance so that we are not swept off the ground and we do not go overboard, because, again, such time too will pass.

If a person does not have the patience to give the examination for a job, he wouldn’t get the job. Likewise, if we fail to have patience while giving the exams that our life takes from us, then? The only result would be that we would fail. Thus, it can be safely concluded that the role of patience and balance on the major decisions of our life can not be over-emphasized.

Last but not the least, I would like to quote something which I read somewhere; I don’t remember who said it but I am sure it would fit here – “Half of what I say is meaningless but I say so, so that the other half may reach you.”