I saw a hornet’s nest in a neighbour’s house in our community and was wondering what it was. My neighbour explained to me ,that it was a hornet’s nest. Till then, I had only heard of the idiom in English – “ Stirring a hornet’s nest” and had never seen one.

After a few days ,I noticed that the hornet’s nest had quietly disappeared from my neighbour’s home and set its nest at my backyard. I decided not to disturb the same but observe it every day silently and learn from it.

The English idiom goes as “Stirring a hornet’s nest”. The belief is that if you do not stir a hornet’s nest, it does not harm you. A hornet’s nest is a nest of wasps which can sting you, if you disturb them. As long as you do not disturb them, they do not harm you, in any way.

I have experienced this ,multiple times in my life. The first incident was when I had noticed a cobra in my bathroom at the steel plant quarters, where I lived. My wife had gone for delivering my first kid and I was staying alone. When I got up in the morning and opened the bathroom, I noticed that a cobra was relaxing inside my bathroom. I was scared . so decided to close the door and leave for office without disturbing it. In the evening, when I returned home ,I noticed that the snake had left my home ,from the same ventilator ,from where it had entered.

The lesson learnt from this incident is that ,if you do not disturb even a dangerous cobra, it will not harm you either. I have experienced this multiple times in my life time. It is equally true for dogs, cats or even monkeys, which generally frequent our community since it is green. It is full of fruit trees ,providing good fodder for them.

Life is no different ,in general. If we do not disturb the life of other human beings knowingly or unknowingly, nobody harms you. However, if we interfere in someone else’s life, then they do hit back either through words or actions.

We need to live life ,without harming anyone around us. It could be other humans,animals or birds. The moment we try to enter their personal space, they may harm us ,in order to defend their own territory. For eg. a snake may bite us, if we try to kill the snake ,using a stick in the garden. However, the same snake may disappear in the woods ,if we let it go ,as it may have just come to our garden ,in search of food.

Sometimes, we may also need to realise ,that due to human greed, we may have occupied the territory of animals or birds and not the other way around. We may have destroyed forests or lakes and built our homes, which originally belonged to these animals or birds. In this scenario, if they end up attacking us to defend their territory, we cannot blame anyone apart from ourselves.

Human needs can always be fulfilled but human greed is limitless. We need to learn to try and fulfil our needs and not our greed. The day we realise this basic tenet of life, we may have arrived and no animal or bird or plant will harm us in any way.

Let us learn to live and let live from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

3rd Sep 2023

Everyone of us want to be perfect in everything we do. We sometimes wonder as to why the world is imperfect around us. We believe we are perfect and everyone around us is not.

This may not be true. We have to realise sooner than later that the world is imperfect and so are we. Nobody can be perfect, all the time. We are human and it is natural for us to make mistakes. It is perfectly fine to err but as someone said – “ To err is human, to forgive divine”

The day we understand that we are as imperfect as the world around us, we may become more human. We need to accept the imperfections in others and also the same in us. All of us make mistakes and so do we. As long as we accept our mistakes, seek forgiveness and move on, life will be better always.

While this may be easier said than done, it may be worthwhile to reflect on the same and understand on how to deal with these imperfections. The best of sportspersons practice day in and night out, to perfect their game. However in spite of all this practise, they do err and are ever willing to learn from their mistakes and improve ,in their next game.

Life is no different. As children ,we make mistakes and we have our parents and teachers to guide us and show the mirror. We learn from them and become better human beings, as we grow in life. At the workplace, we have our seniors, who guide us and mentor us to evolve as better employees.

My life lessons teach me that there are three things, which could help us deal with the imperfections of life. First is acceptance, second is learning from our mistakes and the third is forgiveness.

If we are willing to accept our mistakes, that would be the very first step. Generally, we are in a state of denial and keep floating in that state till we hit a roadblock ,in life or our career. We may hesitatingly accept our mistake only when such an incident happens in our lives.

The second quality one needs to develop ,is learning from our mistakes. Like someone beautifully said that making mistakes is fine ,but not learning from them could be disastrous. We need to learn from our mistakes and ensure we do not knowingly repeat them.

The third and the most important quality is “ forgiveness”. We need to learn to forgive ourselves and others in life. If we continue to regret a mistake for the rest of our lives and not be willing to learn from it ,and forgive ourselves or others for their errors, life could become treacherous.

The day we are willing to accept our mistakes, learn from them and forgive self and others for the same, life would turn more positive and energising for us.

Let us attempt to start from today. We can first forgive ourselves and erase the memories of the multiple mistakes we may have done in our lives. Then let us try to forgive ,all the near and dear ones around us, who may have erred like us.

Let us start from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th Jan 2024

I am a born optimist and think of life as full of possibilities. Every day I wake up to think there is something good likely to happen to me today. I have looked at every challenge in life as an opportunity to learn and grow. This does not mean that I have not faced any difficulties in life. It only means that if you are willing to face life as it is rather than as you want it to be, anything is possible.

I have come across people in my every day life, who will crib at everything around them. If it is a bright and sunny day, they will complain about how hot it is. If it rains, they will say their day is spoilt as the weather has dampened their spirits. If it is cold, they will still complain stating they cannot go out shopping. So any weather does not make them cheer.

On the other hand, I have met people who not only look at life as full of possibilities but also look at everyone around as their enablers in life. If it rains, they will dance in the rain. If it is warm and sunny, they will go sun bathing and if it is a chill winter morning, they will jog in the forest to admire nature in its full glory.

One has always a choice in life in everything we do. If we want to crib, we can invent reasons to do so. But, if we want to be happy, we can find reasons to be joyous always. It is up to us to adapt to every situation in life. It is our attitude to life, which makes it what it is and not the other way around.

Some people have asked me as to what benefit one gets by being optimistic in life. Further, they ask how one can be positive when you go through the toughest challenges of life. The power of positivity has to be experienced to be believed. The best way to deal with any challenge is to think positive. If we have lost a job but have full faith in our capabilities, we may like to believe that something better is in store for us.

Every challenge in life is an opportunity. It is up to us to live life the way we want to. If we want to crib, we can till our last breath. On the other hand, if you want to enjoy life and be positive, nothing prevents us from doing so. It is like while walking one day morning, I wished my neighbour – “Good morning” and he responded by asking – “ What is good about the morning ?. I smiled at him and said that for me everything about the morning is good – the clear blue sky, the chirping of the birds, the pleasant morning chill and the smile of the kids running to catch the school bus.

Let us choose the way we want to live. Think positive.

S Ramesh Shankar

28th March 2023