Great things happen within us

“If an egg is broken by outside force, life ends, if broken by inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from inside.”

This quote was very insightful for me. Many of us would have broken eggs for our breakfast, many times. We may have enjoyed an omelette but never thought about our action of breaking an egg from outside and thereby preventing a life to begin.

Every change in an individual or society ,begins from a realisation, from within. Imagine a dacoit, who has killed thousands of ordinary people for years. One day, she realises that it is not fair to kill people ,to make a living, when she loses her mother by an irresponsible act of someone. This insight comes within her and she surrenders to the police and leads a normal life, trying to serve the community thereafter, in whatever ways she can.

The freedom movement in India ,may have germinated ,in the minds and hearts ,of some freedom fighters. They thought it was possible and went ahead to challenge the British and win freedom for the country. This proves, that sometimes, enlightenment could be from within an individual and sometimes it could also be ,from a group of people.

In both these incidents, the awakening came from within and not from outside ,just like an egg breaking from within gives life to a chick and not the other way around.

One of the things, which many thinkers recommend is that, we should spend some quiet time, every day. If we close our eyes and think for ourselves in a blank state , We may get thoughts and ideas from nowhere and there could be some “aha” moments in our lives. This we need to experience, to believe.

Even when a popular leader is suffering from a terminal disease, we have heard of miracles, when mass prayers have healed the leader. The power from within us is more powerful than all external powers put together.

When we speak to a tree to bear fruit, since it has not borne fruit for long and we state we will NOT look after her expressing our anguish, it flowers and bears fruits! This may look amusing but it is true that humans do speak to trees and they respond.

We have also heard of mass prayers in almost all religious groups, when tragedy strikes a community. It could be a plane crash or an earthquake, when groups of people pray together for a common cause, the suffering people, feel better and recover faster.

I have seen a Labrador dog sensing her master’s distress ,without a word being spoken between them. This is the inner voice, which we are speaking and could be very powerful.

We need to remember that the force within us is more powerful than all forces outside us. Generally, We tend to focus on outside influencers and thereby blame others ,for our failures. If we focus within us, we may be able to take full control of our lives and make things happen.

Let us learn to look within us.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd June 2025

Life never waits for anyone..

“Life will never wait for you to be okay. Get up, carry your burden and keep going.”

We may go through highs and lows in life, but we need to learn to move on ,as life does not stop for us ,at any stage. Both at work and in our personal life, just learn to move on.

Some of us may have missed a train or a flight in our life. It really disappoints us ,but the reality is that ,no train or bus or flight ,waits for any passenger, who is late. If you miss the bus, you have to catch another bus and your program may need an alteration.

Life is no different. We think, life will wait for us ,to be okay . It never happens. One may have missed a first division in school by a mark. You feel dejected ,but we need to learn from this experience and move on, determined to do better in college and in our future life.

We do face a lot of hurdles in life. Sometimes it could be personal tragedies ,like losing a near or dear one. At other times it could be missing a promotion at work. We need to learn ,to move on in life. We need to realise, that everyone faces some hurdle or the other ,and we have to learn from this and move on.

We sometimes put a brake in our lives ,due to some mishap. This can only derail ,our progress in life. Every derailment can teach us some lesson in life. We need to learn a lesson from that incident and move on.

If an athlete sprains a leg and stops while running a 400 metre race, she may not be able to make up with the others and thus may lose the race. The other athletes may not wait for her to get up, get treatment and then continue the race. This is the reality of life too.

Life never waits for us. It is like a running clock. Time never stops and if we waste our time, we are responsible for it and nobody else. We may lose the race of life and cannot blame anyone else.

Life is like climbing a mountain. If we reach the base camp and feel tired and take a break, we may temporarily feel good but the other mountaineers will move on and we may not be able to reach the peak, along with others.

We may also need to realise ,that there are some things in life, which we cannot delegate or give it to others and move on. Our disappointments, our failures are mostly due to our own limited efforts and hence we need to take responsibility and cannot blame anyone. The earlier we get over it and move on, the better it is for us.

We may sometimes think ,that we could catch the next flight or train but may realise , with disappointment that what we missed was the last flight or train on that day. The train or flight does not stop for us and that day will not come back for us in life.

Let us learn to move on in life from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd June 2025

With love, you can get anything done

I was recently enjoying a break at a hill station, along with my spouse. When I was about to take a e rickshaw on the Mall Road for a drop, there was only one seat left and we were two of us. We were willing to take the next rickshaw in the queue. But the rickshaw driver requested one of the seated passengers to take the next rickshaw since he was single and advised us to take our seats in the rickshaw.

We thanked that passenger and also the rickshaw driver and took the vacant seats. On observing this act of kindness on behalf of the rickshaw driver and the passenger, one of the co passengers remarked – “ With love you can get, anything done in this world.” I found this remark of hers, very profound.

I reflected on the same for a long time ,along with my spouse and realised that, isn’t it true that you can get anything done in this world, with love. I recall many instances in my life, where I could get many things done ,because of love.

It could be as simple as requesting a seat in a bus, train or plane to be seated next to your partner or as challenging ,as seeking help of a stranger ,in repairing a stranded car on the highway. Whenever, we speak with love and sincerity and are authentic in our conversation, we generally achieve our goal.

On the other hand, a simple issue can get complicated ,when we tend to use a raised voice or try to show our superiority or dominance. A typical scene could be ,when someone parks his car in your allotted space ,in your gated community. Many a time, we witness a street brawl just to get a neighbour to shift his car out of your parking lot.

One senior colleague of mine always says – “only love is real” – which is so true. When we spread love, we get back love. When we spread hatred, we are responded with disdain. This has a spiralling effect and invariably ends up in an avoidable brawl.

I have met many people in my life, who will always speak with love and affection. When they request for anything, you will never say no, although sometimes their request may even be difficult to fulfil. The reason for saying yes ,is not because you like them, but because of the way they made the request to you.

In life, in everything we do, there are only two things – “What” and “How”. What is the thing we do and how is the way ,we do it. We need Intelligence Quotient (IQ) to do the what and Emotional Intelligence(EQ) to the do the how.

If we recall all our pleasant experiences in life ,right from our parents, siblings, friends, classmates or colleagues at work, we generally forget the what ,but always remember, the way we were treated by them. Just recall the best doctor ,you have met in your life. She may not be the best doctor in her field of medicine, but you still want to consult her only since she listens to you actively and always treats you well.

If we have to enrich all our relationships in life, we have to always realise how we behave and impact others. Our ability to be aware of our emotions and how it impacts others and our ability to manage others and their behaviour ,will make all relationships effective.

Let us learn to live with love ,from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th July 2025