Compromise, Thy Name is Life. Do You Agree with It?

Below is an essay which I wrote sometime back for a special occasion. Let me share this small yet interesting essay with you:

Strong and heroic people, like you and they, may not agree to the aforesaid line. So did Napoleon Bonaparte, Hitler and many others. But, all, at one time or the other, have to agree that it is indeed true --- Compromise, thy name is life. And I agree with it.

Life, at every point; from the lazy mornings, when you curse your boss for having been the reason for your such a miserable life, to the cozy sweet-doing-nothings of mid-night, when you curse your wife for being such a bad partner; is full of compromises. You don't like the kaamwali (maid-servant) for being such a frequent absentee, but you compromise and accept her as happily as you are accepted by your wife! Else, she will leave you. You, don't like the government's ban on AXN's World's Sexiest Commercials, but you compromise with a smile, lest your wife, or for that matter, your little son should call you an old, immoral psychopath! You don't like the long never-ending queue of vehicles, burping and blowing at the busy crossing on your way to office, but you compromise by mouthing a few chosen adjectives at the system, or at the hefty, bald man, who overtakes his vehicle just in front of yours and makes his way! You compromise, because you just can't reach out to the system and shout at it for its follies, you just can't get the better with the hefty, bald man and rough up.

So to say, there is a zillion of example to prove the fact that, we all are the preys to Compromise and at some point or the other we keep on compromising. But, nevertheless, we must keep on fighting with all our might, not to cut a sorry figure in front of compromises. Because compromises keep on teaching us the lessons of patience and perseverance.

Story of a Cracked Pot

Years ago I received a mail from my friend that carried this story about how our flawed friends can be our greatest assets. I thought it will be wonderful to share the story with all of you. Here's the link: click here to read story

A Mantra that Assures You a Malice-Free Life

Relationships are like mirrors. Smile and your image on the mirror will smile at you. 

Show your fist and the person at the other side of the mirror will hurl a fist at you too. Same is the case with human beings.

We are, by nature, social animals. And our daily routine includes interactions with dozens of other humans. All these small interactions can be related to the analogy of mirrors. When you smile and say good things to a person, he or she also reflects the same vibes. If you frown and say ill of him or her, the same is expected from the person. In other words, there is a universal application of physicist Issac Newton’s Third Law in all realms, that is to say, “Every action has got an equal and opposite reaction.”

You can find many manifestations of the same law. “Thou shalt reap what thou hath sown.” To sum it all we can say, “Every effect has a cause behind it.”

Next time, if you find yourself at a situation in which somebody has frowned at you, you should consider his anger as a manifestation of an effect. And try to find the corresponding cause for the same. For this you need to calm down and replay in your mind the entire set of interactions you had with the person, leading to this effect. If you can find out the cause, without asking him/her, half the problem is solved. This method can be used to solve an otherwise escalating situation which is bound to land up everyone in trouble.

But, if you can keep a tap on all the actions you do, you can considerably reduce frown-inviting troubles from other people. It is because, we have a control over the causes; albeit, we don’t have a control over the effects.

This way we can win more friends than foes, and can amass more love than hatred and can greatly improve our personas, our business and above all we can make the world a better place to live in.

True, this way you are actually moulding other people’s actions, taking all the malice away from them and replacing it with love and goodliness, whenever you require. This simply means, their love and smiles are just a creation of your whims. Does that mean you can never get true love from anybody? No, the route to receive genuine love is still open. It is not necessary that people behave like a mere reflection of your actions. There might be a handful few in your life who go out of the way to love and smile at you even when you are at your fighting best! Those are the people who are actually made for you (by Him!) Wait for them to come in your life.

But for all practical purposes keep spreading the most unstinted love and the cutest smile so that the process of receiving love and smile from others remain a continuous process.

How far is Ayurveda relevant to modern lifestyle?

Not all people in India repose faith on Ayurvedic system of medicines. A section of advocates of Allopathy (or the modern system of medicine) consider Ayurveda and some of its sisters like Unani medicines and Homoeopathy as a pseudo-science and a system best followed by quacks and the illiterates.

True, Allopathy is the single uniformly followed system of medicine across the world due to its accuracy and speed. But an exceedingly great number of people are now looking for alternative form of medicines like Ayurveda and the like for their obvious “only-effects-no-side-effects” advantage. And for over 5,000 years now, Ayurveda too has evolved and become more organised.

At least in India, love it or hate it, knowingly or unknowingly, generations have been subscribing to Ayurvedic products or procedures some way or the other. To put it simply, Ayurveda can not be detached from the Indian household.

Even doctors have been prescribing such Ayurvedic preparations as Liv.52 for healing liver damage (cirrhosis,) Neeri for preventing and curing kidney stones, Janma Ghunti for helping digestion in babies or Boro Plus for curing cracked lips and nipples. We have heard our grandfathers pushing us to eat Neem leaves for eliminating worms in our stomachs. All these testify the role Ayurveda has in our lifestyle.

While allopathic treatment requires you to visit a registered medical practitioner even for common ailments like fever, cold, headache, etc., Ayurveda, on the other hand, teaches you to be your own doctor. Any thing that is easily available in or around your home such as herbs, vegetables, fruits, spices, grains or oils, can be used as a home remedy, unlike in the case of Allopathy. Simple home remedies can be very effective in relieving symptoms, and preventing further development of a disorder. More importantly, these home remedies may also support treatments prescribed by a physician.

Since, Ayurveda is so ingrained in our daily life; it is foolish to ignore the benefits of Ayurveda. We can, of course, choose a two pronged approach: for common ailments we can follow Ayurveda and save ourselves from a thousand of side effects; and for diseases which demand elaborate procedures like invasive techniques or surgery we can accept the boon from modern medicines.