Is there luck in life?

The immediate answer is yes. Your childhood, parents, poverty or prosperity at birth, your native country, the era of your birth are all beyond your control. One can pass his childhood in utter poverty or amidst wealth depending on the parents. Educated and wealthy parents may give a better childhood than uneducated and poor ones. Those who do not like or love each other, irrespective of their other conditions, can make a child’s life a hell. The country of birth determines to a large extend an youngster’s years. One that is born in Somalia, Ethiopia, India, or Bangladesh will have to confront diseases and wants from day one. The chances that it will survive childhood are very low. Whereas those born in the United States, Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Australia, Japan, Korea and some of the northern European nations will have far better childhood.  Childhood is beyond anyone’s conscious control.

Prince Charles is born the Prince of Wales. Rahul Gandhi is born the future PM of India.  The sons of Mukesh and Anil Ambani are born inheriting business empires. There are millions who become billionaires by virtue of their birth alone. Dynastic ascendance to power and wealth is commonly seen in many parts of the world.  At other end of the spectrum we see billions inheriting poverty, diseases and death. There is a lot of luck and ill-luck in life. By persistent efforts one can overcome debilitating poverty but he lost childhood and its sad memories will haunt him throughout life. Further everyone do not get the disposition to put in the efforts.  

All the great artistic geniuses are more born than made. One cannot, by any amount of hard work, become a Picasso, Michel Angelo, Shakespeare or Beethoven. An inherited athletic frame is very much needed to be a world champion. Anyone cannot become a Michael Jordan, Carl Louis, Mark Spitz  or Ian James Thorpe. There are people with unique voice most apt for singing like Ray Charles. There are people who sing and those who take that voice to another, otherworldly place andcreate a euphoria within themselves like Elvis Presley. Any amount of effort will not take one to their levels. How many can dream to have the sweet melodious voice of Lata Mangeshkar? How many girls are endowed with the features of Iswarya Rai, Bar Rafaeli or Jessica Homes ?

How many can become like Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt or Mother Teresa? Even greatness is more born. The biology and the structure of one’s brain, IQ level, will and one’s EQ-which propel one to success or failure, is very much genetically transferred.  They are, by far, a product of genetic lottery and early environment. But this is not to undermine the impact of one’s personal efforts. But the urge to put in the effort emanate from one’s convictions and beliefs which, to a very great extent is influenced by the circumstances where one is raised. But there is no point in crying over what one does not have. We have to try with what we have and live a meaningful and successful life making us happy and alive.  

How do our youth become communists!

Are they attracted by the thrill of shouting slogans together against the rich, the authorities and the successful?  Is it the thrill of marching behind the red flag throwing their fist up in the air opposing everything and whatever the party wants?

Do they know the fate of those societies which have embraced it? Do they study how USSR –such a rich, vast nation with abundant natural resources, became poor? The rulers adopted fascist tactics and they eliminated thousands who stood on their way. Stalin is perhaps the greatest fascist (along with Hitler) the world has ever seen. The dictatorship of the proletariat is an authoritarian rule and there is no way one can differ or hold a different view. Dissidents simply disappear as they do in Kerala even now. Do they know how East Germany (under communism) regressed and became an underdeveloped nation while the West Germans (following market economy)became prosperous, rich and developed? (Remember these nations enjoy the same geography, climate, they speak the same language and the people belong to the same race. The only difference was one was forced to follow communism and the other capitalism. Look at Cuba-how it turned into a poor country when its neighbor, the USA became the most developed and most powerful nation on the earth! Look at Vietnam, Cambodia and a dozen E. European nations which came under communism and became poor.   

W. Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have gone down the lane too. May be communism has made the people in these three states lazy-slogan shouters clamoring for their rights and more pay but unwilling to undertake proportional responsibility or increase production. People are not willing to do the available work.  They will do what they want by force at their terms. Head load workers are examples for this sort of mentality. The governments are there to give government jobs to the people (which will ensure good pay and life-long pension without much work but with ample free time and holidays). If the revenue of the state is (at the moment 75%) devoted for the salary and pension for the ever-increasing employees, who are highly inefficient, will the state advance? Not even 2% of the population can be accommodated in the government sector. And the vast majority is poor unorganized peasants and workers eking out a precarious existence. The ‘classless socialism’ has already created two distinct classes here: the well-off government servants and the poor unorganized peasants and workers.

 No society has improved without industrial advancement, and without the hard work of the citizens. In these three states no industry gets started, those which were established earlier have been forcibly locked up with labor disputes, protests, work stoppages.  People of these states do not seem to love work; three people do what one can easily accomplish, draining the state coffers.  There is no accountability, everyone will be paid equal amounts and will be promoted based on their years of service disregarding merit or efficiency.  At this rate if the remittances from those employed abroad and outside stop, the state will become a pauper like the USSR two decades back. I fail to understand what motivates our youngsters to line up behind the parties; maybe they want government jobs ensuring a care-free life with good pay and life-long pension. Or is it the sheer thrill of protesting against anything and everything as they have no clear aim in life or profession?    

     

Is India doomed?

Today an Italian rules India.  There is a PM who is more than eager to do her bidding. He was a thorough professional and he had performed very well under a well-intentioned PM, Narasimha Rao. But today’s chief executive does not seem to be interested in the welfare or the development of the country. The Italian wife of Rajiv controls the strings of power. Her family is reported to have the highest amount of black money deposited in foreign banks. May be she thinks she can buy the country (win the elections) with her immense wealth. Her other agenda is to enthrone Rahul Gandhi, into the PM’s seat. The PM is a rubber stamp who seems to enjoy being in the chair more than anything else. He is not interested in revealing the names of those who have black money in the foreign banks as he has to shield the thieves in the ship itself. In order to protect them he has to bend laws, make the investigating agencies puppets in the hands of the rulers. Endless scams, corruptions stories and misappropriation of mind-blogging amounts of public funds surface every other day. But who cares?

60% of India’s population (626 million Indians) defecate in the open! Almost half of the entire population do not have a toilet and are living below or at the brink of the poverty line. 40-45% of India’s children suffer from malnutrion, diseases and are stunted. Women are the worst sufferers in this patriarchal society; they are by and large illiterate, unemployed and are suppressed by the males. They are mostly reproducing machines or sex objects who work in the murky and smoky house-holds tending to the ever increasing children and looking after the abusive husbands. There are a number of government welfare schemes for the poor, a greater part of the funds of which are eaten away by the bureaucrats. As almost everyone in the government is corrupt (remember India is the most corrupt nation in the world); the salaried government servants make illegal income and thrive. The government is directionless; fiscal deficits, inflation, are all very high. The defense expenditure, salary and pension for the bureaucrats are enormous. There is no serious infrastructure development and the nation seems to be doomed. Yes, the black money getting deposited abroad increase day by day as per the statements of those foreign banks. And those who keep depositing large amounts there (to the tune of thousands of crores) have a hearty laugh just like Rajiv Gandhi, the former PM (husband of Sonia) had always a smile dangling between his lips thinking about the Bofors Gun kickbacks.                        

Shut off the 'internal tape'

Studies on psychology have shown that success on whatever we undertake depends on our internal communication or tape that keeps going on with or without our conscious involvement. It is like a never ending recorded message that goes on for ever. It gives positive or negative affirmations depending on our attitude, confidence levels and above all experiences. If we keep repeating to ourselves: 'I have not been set right from the beginning' (when there is a failure) or 'this is all in my stars,' theses thoughts get indelibly marked in the subconscious and they will ensure further failures. Break these thought patterns: You have not been always set the wrong way. There has been good things happening to you too, you have achieved success as well as failures. Failure has no monopoly in your life. 

We fail not because we set out in a wrong way or due to anything else; the villain is this internal tape. Whatever we think continuously turns out into reality. Thoughts have energy of their own; bad thoughts produce negative energy. Consequently bad effort, bad associations, and bad forces come to play and we end up failing. So let us be beware of what is continuously going on in our minds. If a negative tape is on shut it off and install a positive one. Remember all the good things that have happened  in your life and allow them to fill up every nook and corner of your mind consciously. We have the option to enlarge the good stuff --goals and successes achieved, pleasant and confident experiences and happy moments. Brighten them up, enlarge them, hear whatever you heard in them louder, closer, feel intensely whatever you felt and thus shut the door of your mind for the entry of a negative tape.
 

Be not in a complaint mode

A lot of us are always in a complaint mode. We don't have this, we don't have that. We did not get a university education. we did not inherit wealth, great talent or influential relatives.....well, we have a lot to complain about. 
Let us assume whatever you complain is genuine. Still, what is the use in complaining? There are some who are born rich, famous or talented; there are others who are athletic or beautiful. But there are millions who are born blind, deaf or crippled. No one can stop this; that is the way the game of life is played down here. Those who are born rich or handsome did not ask for it. It is not their fault that they are lucky. You have no right to complain as there are billions not as lucky as you are. If you stop for a  minute and look around, you will be amazed at the good things you have around you.

Be grateful for what you have and don't regret what you don't have. However poor or unlucky you feel you are, you will be better off than so many others. You compare yourself to the less fortunate. You are blessed in so many ways: you are probably an educated, healthy,  normal individual with a steady income. Savor what you have-- your normal body and mind, your education, family, children, friends and so many others.
There may be some more things you would love to possess. Remember, as Vermon Luchies says, "if we get everything we want, we will soon want nothing wee get." If we don't enjoy what we have already, how could we be happier with more? You are sufficiently blessed and ungrateful people cannot develop happiness.

The truth is nobody is interested in your wants and deprivations, in your pains and failures. The world is not interested in your problems. People want to associate with those who have something good to share and those who are promising. Show you are worth and promising, show you are climbing up the hill and invite others to the top. .         

Make your child feel loved

Parents normally have a lot of love towards their children. But children do not feel so; they think parents do not love or understand them. A big chasm develops between the two. Parents do love their kids in all sincerity and there are many who literally live for their children. But the sad paradox is children do not feel their love. A lot of misunderstanding develops in some way or other and the gap widens as they become teens. In many of our homes today, there is hardly any relationship between parents and their teenage kids.Is there a way out?

Well, there are some simple techniques which can alter the scenario. How many of you look into their eyes with love at least once a day and hold your gaze for 10 seconds or so. Parents normally look at their children (especially if they are past eight or ten) sternly to reprimand them or in a cross examining way to find out the 'real truth'. They look at them very often angrily or disapprovingly too. But how many parents look into their eyes with love brimming in their hearts? If you do not, practice it from toady and observe the difference in their attitude to you. Remember this is not very simple or easy, especially so if your children are  grown ups.

Do you tell them you love them? You may think, 'why should we?' You have been doing everything for their good, and they must understand.  They don't as you do not tell them. Whatever you do as a parent is taken for granted by your child. Express your love in unequivocal terms. simply say, 'mummy/daddy loves you' even when they are 'grown ups.'

Touch your children. Put hands around their shoulders and walk with them for sometime.  Box with your sons or daughters in a playful mood, play with them, embrace them and and hold them nearer, let them feel your love. Touch is one of them best ways to convey your love. Touching makes them stronger and more courageous. Spend time or them exclusively, devote say half an hour every day.  Earmark one day in a month entirely for one child. Go for a movie, go fishing or sight seeing. You do not even take your mobile. Let the whole day be theirs.        

Sharpen your saw

Is it not good to reflect upon the state of ourselves occasionally? It has a physical and a mental dimension.
Are we physically and mentally fit?
Is our memory and brain in good shape?
Are we investing in ourselves to better our value in the  market place?

Physical fitness involves eating less, keeping our BMI well within limits and doing aerobic, muscle building and flexibility exercises. Above all move more as success very much depends on the quantity and quality of our movements. Do we eat more fruits, and vegetables? And avoid sugar, sugary soft drinks and salt? Do we take enough water to flush our system? Are we always fruitfully engaged?

Without keeping our brain and memory in top shape we cannot expect much from this life careerwise or otherwise. If they get rusted or unexercised, that will tell upon our lives. Apart from the chances for an attack of Alschemers or Parkinson's  diseases, our vitality, sharpness and intellectual ability depends on you keeping them exercised. Improve the left and right brain synchrony by making both the hands dexterous.Do we do some memory exercises and brain puzzles? Do we learn something new and update ourselves in our chosen fields?   If we activate our brain and memory and keep them in top shape our countenance will display energy and vitality.