We are all having unlimited privileges in life. Today, I visited a home for the destitutes in Varnasi. There are about 65 inmates in this institution – both men and women. Most of them are differently abled – mentally, physically, socially or emotionally. Some of them have been left behind by their own children ,in these homes, although they are well to do.

I realised once again ,how privileged we are and have been, in our lives. We have been brought up in respectable families and had all the basic comforts of life, always. We have siblings .our parents gave us the best education and values.

When you meet each one of them ,in such institutions, you realise that everyone’s story ,can make you cry. Some have left home and reached here ,since there was no alternative. Some of them were left by their own families to fend for themselves and so landed here. Some others were deliberately abandoned here ,by their own children.

Some are physically challenged and others mentally challenged. Some are socially ostracised ,while others have been emotionally drained ,due to social distancing by their families and friends. We do not realise how lucky we are ,unless we see the suffering of such people. Our visit there was only for a few hours but it shook us apart. It makes you thankful to God and nature, for giving us all that we have in life.

The trials and tribulations of life, are varied for all of us. Some of us struggle in our early stages but make a better living, through education and hard work ,later in our lives. But some people like those I met in the ashram ,are facing tough times ,every day of their lives – may be from birth till their death.

We complain ,if we do not get good food at home ,on a day. We complain if we are not able to buy clothes, for a festival. We are upset, if we are not able to go for a vacation . If we look at these people, we may realise ,how lucky and blessed we are. We get good healthy food every day. We sleep comfortably and live comfortably.

We have a family to support us and friends to meet and greet. Imagine living all alone and not sure of the food ,next morning. You do not have any siblings or a family to support you. You have no friends to share your joy and sorrow. You live life ,with no hopes and no aspirations. This may shake us apart ,even if we try it for a day.

It is these experiences ,which makes us human and enable us to be grounded ,to Mother Earth. It makes us realise ,that we have more than what we need. We need to be thankful to God and grateful to our parents , relatives and friends, who have made our life ,so comfortable for us ,from birth itself.

Let us periodically remind ourselves ,as to how privileged we are. Our privileges are indeed unlimited.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025

Time is “timeless” indeed. What has gone by we could not control, what is stored in the future for us ,is unknown. We can neither control our time ,nor the time of others.

We can plan for our time ,but what may happen ,may not be predictable. Some times ,things go as we have planned and at other times, things go astray. We can neither blame time nor ourselves for it. We may leave home ,two hours in advance ,to catch a train and still may miss it, although the station is just a few kilometers away.

At other times, we may be sure that we may miss the flight ,since we arrived late at the airport and there were heavy queues but, the departure of our flight could get rescheduled ,for reasons we may never know.

Life is no different. We need to accept life and its events ,as it happens to us. This does not mean, we do not plan for our life and work hard ,to achieve our goals. But, what we need to realise is that, some things may be in our control but many others ,may be beyond our zone of influence.

Our ability to accept things as they evolve ,and adapt ourselves to weave our life ,around the uncertainties of life ,makes it worthwhile to live and enjoy life. If we keep cribbing about why something happened or did not happen, we may miss the bus ,as the bus in our life ,does not stop at our place ,forever. It keeps moving and we need to catch it, when it arrives ,or it may not arrive again ,in our lifetime.

We may keep wondering about why something happened in the past and forget to live in the present moment. We may sometimes worry about the future, which we can never be sure of and waste our time, instead of enjoying the present.

Life has to enjoyed everyday ,as if ,today is our last day on earth. Every moment is precious and does not come back. Have we ever seen the clock running backwards ? No moment in life ,comes back to us and hence ,we need to make the best use ,of every second in our life ,today.

It is almost like us sitting in a stationary train ,in the station. When the adjacent train moves, we feel as if we are moving ,in the opposite direction. The reality is that ,we are still ,but the relative moment, makes us feel that way. In life also ,if we remain static, life does not move ,but when we see others progressing, we feel left behind. This is more because, they are working hard, while we may be relaxing and being static at the same place ,without putting any efforts.

Another interesting sight ,is the trees at a distance ,when you are viewing them ,from a moving train. We all know ,that the trees at the distance are rooted in their places and we are moving ,but it looks as if the trees at a distance are moving ,along with us. It is also like the moon seems to be travelling with you, when you are driving on a full moon night. The reality is otherwise.

We need to understand ,the value of time and its reality. We need to realise that ,time does not discriminate, for anyone in life. All of us have the same time in a day, month or a year. Some of us become more successful than others, not because others had limited time, but because we made the best use of time available to us.

Time to realise that time is indeed timeless, non-discriminatory and relative ,for all of us.

S Ramesh Shankar

25th Feb 2025

Wanting to die is suicide but willing to die is sacrifice. Wanting to die may be out of desperation but willing to die for your country is patriotism. People, who are not able to face the realities of life may be wanting to die but people who want to give their lives for a cause, sacrifice for the sake of others and their countries.

I do understand ,as a student of psychology ,that sometimes people are wanting to die since they are not able to deal with what is happening to them in life. They may need support from professional counsellors or psychiatrists or psychologists to face complexities of life. Such vulnerable people should either seek such professional support or others could help them to get such support.

We hear of students committing suicide ,for failing in some examinations. We hear of ,either partners giving up their life ,since they are not able to cope up with each other ,due to various reasons. These, in my view are acts of helplessness. While some may say, it is due to their inability to deal with their own issues , I would rather state it is not their individual failure but the inability of their family or friends ,not being in a position to support them ,in time.

On the other hand, the defence personnel are willing to die for the nation. I was once attending a talk ,by an ex army captain. He was narrating of how a platoon commander ,will always lead from the front, when they have to attack an enemy. The commander will always put his life on the knife edge , before he orders his troops to plunge into the battle.

So, if we take these extreme ways of approach to dying, we realise that one is negative and the other is a positive way to die. A faint hearted commits suicide while a soldier sacrifices his life ,to save innocent humans in a terror attack. Our actions every day in life ,can either be suicidal acts or acts of sacrifice. We may either run away from situations or stand tall and face a crisis.

As parents at home or as leaders at the work place, we see both these characters. I have explained suicide and sacrifice ,as examples of how we deal with real life situations every day. Many of us are happy to run away from any crisis and transcend to safer zones. Few of us are willing to plunge and take the risk.

It is similar to a situation in a road accident. Most of us will speed past an accident site ,since we do not want to the face the music of answering difficult questions from the police. These are simple acts of suicide we commit every day. Some of us will stop, call the ambulance or even take the injured in our own car ,to the nearest hospital – these are the acts of sacrifice like a soldier, we are talking of.

So, let us review today of how suicidal or sacrificial we are ,in every day life ,from today. Do we develop cold feet and run away from uncomfortable situations at home or work or are we brave soldiers willing to die and save the life of others ?

Let us learn to sacrifice more from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025