Because all it takes is one small act

So, I struggle almost every time with a topic. What is important for me and relatable to other people, because those two things almost never match.

Well this one is a little different.

The other day, I was walking down the street and I saw a woman struggling with her two wheeler. She couldn't get it started. The owner of a pathetic Activa myself (because it is old and not well maintained, no offence, Honda), I know the struggle all too well. So I had seen her from a distance, while I could not gauge the exact problem, I knew I could help. But I kept looking and thinking what the problem was. I passed her and I realised I should have stopped and asked, yet, I did nothing to turn around and actually help her. I just kept walking and thinking how it was wrong that I had walked away. Five minutes later when I came back on the same route, someone was there helping her. I felt better. But it was empty consolation.

I knew I could and should have helped her, but I didn't. There has been not one, but many instances involving different things where I could have been of help but chose to walk away. It's shameful. There have been instances when I needed help, and nobody volunteered. I guess that's how the circle goes.

Maybe we don't have to help every time we see someone in distress, but if we do it every 5 times of 10, Maybe those 5 times will come around for us out of every 10 times that we need help, and if we manage to get help 50% of the time in this crazy world today, I would be proud that we have still humanity left in the world. 

It could be the smallest of things, like helping your grandmother find her way about her new smartphone, or helping your mother bring down a heavy box from the shelf, or running an errand for your dad, or helping some random stranger kickstart her scooty. 

source: goodnet.org

If anyone anywhere needs a little bit of help, and we can give them that, then we add a little bit of human into this increasingly machine dominated world. 

Why sometimes backups, and not dreams, should come true

So, have you ever had your dream come true?

I never had too, I always had my backup come true, like when you want to study in IIT but get NIT, or how you want to be the Head Girl at school but end up becoming smaller fish with lesser power. Like when I aimed for the first position but always got second in dance competitions. 

Backups come true, all of them :D

But then I look back now, and see the good in all of them, I know I am being holier-than-thou here, but just look at things this way. If I hadn't gotten second every time and only first, I would have stopped making the effort. Being second best in my formative years taught me what prolonged effort is. How you don't give up and keep working towards what you want to be. How to persevere, how to stay focused.

Being a deputy of something and not head, taught me how to get work done, and how not to wait around for credit. It gave me freedom to do work my way, and have somebody else be responsible for it. It gave me time to explore other things, without taking away the importance associated with a position holder. It taught me to multi-task, and manage all deadlines. It taught me whatever the position, only will is needed to make a change.

Getting NIT instead of IIT was simply the best God could have done for me. I mean I was a stupid kid, I still am, but was even worse back then. Protected child with no clue how the world worked. I would have collapsed had I been in IIT. When I left home for college, I barely could talk to guys properly (yes, even at this day and age, girls with low self-esteem can't talk to guys straight up). So, while I was unhappy that I couldn't get my dream, I know now, that I wasn't ready to live it.

What I didn't know then was that, eventually, I was getting prepared to actually live the dreams I would be aiming to achieve henceforth. Each and every one of my backups came true, none of my dreams did, but the one thing I did right was to never give up dreaming because of it. And all my backups taught me enough, to be strong enough to live my dream once it did come true.










And one day, it did. My dream. My one singular dream for two years. I literally would have dreams about this one thing I wanted. 

And I know now, that I am moving towards the life I always imagined I would have. I know all this sounds very fairytale like, but it is true. Because paths are lighting up for me as I look towards them.

The mantra is, don't give up, not for one second. And don't be disheartened, not for one second. Accept gracefully what comes your way and make the most of it, eventually, all your second options and backups will pave your way to the path that leads towards your dreams, the real high ones, not the believable and easy ones. 

Oh but all of this doesn't come automatically, you have to work, with whatever you have and whatever you can get, towards what you want. Whatever little you get, make the most out of it. I know I am being condescending, but that's how it works, only if you constantly move. Only if on days you cant get up, you will yourself to get up, dress up, and show up. It's all in the will.

It's will that pushes a bulky person so that he dances nimbly. It's will that pushes an injured athlete to finish the race. It's will that gets you out of addiction. It's will power and your ability to dream which will take you places. Just trust me on this one. ;)

The Unsung Heros

So, I fell sick recently, and had to go to a doctor. It was the usual drill. Get an appointment, go at the designated time, yet end up waiting an hour or so, then the doctor gives you a look and diagnoses you and you are out. For all the build up there is, this kind of comes like an anticlimax. You aren't satisfied. You feel there should be more one to one time with the doctor. 

I call up my doctor saying the medicine isn't working, because well, it has been 4 hours since I took it and I haven't healed. Many times I also call up my doctor because I have forgotten the doses or the medicine. My doctor answers all my queries very patiently, whatever time of the day be it. But that's the part of their job description isn't it?

What if I told you there is a flip side to this. What if I told you, that doctors are actually humans too. They fall sick like everyone else. They love shopping and watching movies. They love to go for holidays. And yes, they also get tired. But doctors never complain of not having a 9 to 5 job description, that is because they know what a commitment of saving life really means.

I come from a family of doctors and everyday I see, the sacrifices all the doctors in my family make, to retain their commitment to their profession. My mother is in a private practice, and she was working when she went into labor when I was about to come into the world. And a week later, she was back to work. She did not get a maternity leave, because she had committed to cure other babies of sickness. And I couldn't be more proud of her.

My dad missed so many annual functions and PTA meetings because of emergency operations which cropped up. And I couldn't respect him more. 

He would stay up half the night operating on some head injury case, and would still wake up at 6:30 a.m. to drop me to school.

My mom would make me go to sleep and finish my project work, then would again be woken at night to resuscitate a newborn baby and yet she would wake up before me and pack my lunch.

Even today, the only calls allowed on the dining table are those from patients. Sometimes I get irritated and ask them to shut their cell phones. And they say, it is our duty to save these people, and while not all of them are dire, to everyone their family is precious and people tend to panic when they are at risk, we are their only hope and support. 

How do you argue with that? 

What I am saying here I guess is, that doctors sacrifice a lot, to do what they do. They work more than any normal human being can and yet they are patient and courteous and supportive towards all their patients. I have seen so many cases where people abuse doctors for long waiting times or unavailabilities. In fact, one person used abusive language with my mom for having to go for one of our school events. He said, "If you wanted a personal life, why did you become a doctor?"

There are so may people who fight for fees or preference while in queue, and so many who use foul language with doctors. So many who try to commercialize the noble profession and so many who try to buy health with money.

To all those people, Doctors are humans too. They are also someone's mother and father, someone's son and daughter, someone's sister and brother, someone's husband or wife. If they charge you something for their services, it is not for greed of money, but for their own sustenance, it is just like you having a job for sustenance. If they have a huge queue, I guarantee you that they are more tired than you and yet patient, because they know that someone has to be more selfless. If sometimes they are unavailable, it is because they are trying to have a semblance of normal life with their beloved family and friends. Because for each hour they spend like a normal human, they give 20 being a superhuman. And they don't even expect anything in return, they don't even expect a thank you, they don't even expect you to understand what they are doing for you. They just want to do the best they can, in the time they have.

 They want you to live happily and healthily, and never fall sick again.