Perceptions
Ramesh was shocked when he was told
by his soul-mate Latha that her parents fixed an alliance with a
doctor. After a brief conversation she told him how her parents
forced her to accept the alliance and all he could mutter was
“Congratulations”.
She raged in anger and frustration,
“I never expected this from you. I thought you would hold my hand
and say, ‘Nobody on earth can separate us'. I hate myself for being
in love with a coward like you” and went away crying.
After a few years he fell in love
with another woman and one day she told him that her elders fixed
her marriage with an I.A.S officer. He pulled her towards him and
yelled, “Nobody can separate us in this world. Let heavens fall, we
will marry”.
She looked at him with disgust.
“When my life is going to be rich and beautiful, are you jealous of
it?” she said with hatred, “I am sorry for loving such a selfish
person like you.”
After three years, Latha met him
with new born baby in her hands. She apologised, “My married life is
happy with the doctor. I am sorry for having hurt you. If you had
forced me to marry you on that day, the story would have been
different. Thank you for your decision.”
Few months later, his second woman
came to him. “My husband is a drunkard, gambler and had already
married, but he kept this as a secret. I did a blunder in my life.
When you asked me to marry you, I misunderstood you.”
The philosophy:
“There are no good or bad values in
this world. Our actions are judged by other people with their own
beliefs, ‘benefits' and customs and by the norms fixed by the
society, religion etc. You need not do anything for others unless it
gives you happiness and satisfaction. You are at liberty to do
whatever that pleases you other than those acts that harm you at
present (e.g. gambling etc) or in future (smoking etc), and those
deeds that harm others (like cheating, theft etc)” writes Ayn Rand,
who lived by the said philosophy.
Last week's riddle: The snail
cannot attain an average speed of 0.02 mph even if it travels by
light's speed. The winners are intimated by mail. They may send
their postal address to receive the prizes.
SUCCESS VS FAILURE
As the
dispute between two groups of students whether “Athadu” is a better
film or “Pokiri” reached a climax, the room vibrated with heated
arguments. Blood pressures raised and their top of the voice shouts
continued till the lecturer stepped in. They later tried to
concentrate but failed.
For this reason psychologists advise students not to involve
in fierce arguments before examinations and also “not to talk” one
hour before exams.
Argument is a waste of time. Normal people argue, whereas
successful people discuss. If you are arguing, you are finding “who”
is wrong. If you are discussing, you are finding “what” is wrong.
No student plans to be a failure. He simply fails to plan to be
successful. Ordinary people derive
pleasure from watching movies and chatting at tea-stalls, whereas
winning students get it in creative hobbies like playing chess,
music and reading books.
Enjoying a hobby is not wrong but one should realise whether it would
help in the future or hinder. Realising
that “enjoyment is the same in both types of hobbies” is the first
step to success. Some students have a notion that successful
people work hard, never smile, spend sleepless nights, wear thick
glasses, have no thrill in lives etc. Take the example of Abdul
Kalam, Mother Theresa, Manmohan Singh, Sachin etc to realise that
this perception is wrong.
A work becomes hard when you are not capable of doing it physically, or
not interested to do it mentally. Is studying
a hard work? If so, is it physical or mental? A work becomes
mentally hard for two reasons. You might not have understood the
basics of the subject in the initial stages and developed aversion
towards a particular subject or there is a luring interest by your
side (such as TV or Cricket) when you are studying.
Our brain can store about one million concepts called bonds.
It is up to us to prioritise between the bonds. It can be Arti
Agarwal and Mahesh Babu or Archimedes Principle and Mercantile Law.
The Snail’s riddle:
There were two interesting answers to the question “A snail
travelled at 0.01 mph while going. At what speed it should crawl
back to attain an average speed of 0.02 mph?” The best answer was:
It can attain the said speed, if it takes an alternative route that
is longer than the original one. The funniest answer was: A snail
cannot crawl backwards.
