Words


Words have life infused in them. If used appropriately in the right context, words can add meaning to life. Words could be verbal or written. It could be prose or poetry. It does not matter. What matters is the choice of words and the occasion to use them.

Do we realise that every word we speak impacts others ? We sometimes are reckless in our choice of words. We do not realise that our children at home or our team members at work could be impacted by the words we use. If we are generous and kind, the future generations will value kindness and generosity. On the contrary, if we are rude and arrogant, the younger generation will consider that to be the best use of words.

It is equally true in written text. Today, we use emails as a norm in our personal and professional life. It is efficient and cost effective. It reaches in seconds and is transmitted seamlessly across the world. What we may not realise is that choice of words reflect our personality. Most of us are in a hurry and we do not spend enough time to choose our words. We are not bothered about the content or the target reader as long as we think we have conveyed our message.

In communication, there is a beautiful quote, which says ” I know, you believe, you understand what you think I said. But, I don’t know whether you realise that what you heard is not what I meant. ” There can always be a slip between the cup and the lip. Hence, it is important to choose every word we use – irrespective of whether we are speaking or writing.

No wonder the great statesmen in the world chose their words in speeches and in their essays. Every word was always loaded with meaning and had a context. Every word pierced your heart and you could never forget what they meant. I assume they spent a lot of time in their choice of words. They were clear of their target group and reflected on it.

I have been frivolous in my choice of words. It has made me learn a lot of lessons in life. Now, after committing many mistakes in my life, I do realise the value of words I use in life. I am cautious now both in verbal and written communication. I take my time to prepare a speech or write an article. I realise it is useful not only for me to convey my message but also helpful for the audience to get it almost as I want it to be conveyed.

Words are like an arrow. Once released from your mouth or your pen, they cannot be retracted. Hence, it is all the more reason for us to be careful. We need to choose our words and the context in which we are using them. Every word is valuable and you realise it when you are asked to convey your message in a specified number of words.

“Not the last station from the south but the first station towards the north” signifies in words the emotions of the people of north and south Korea to unite some day.  This was picturized in the photo above at the border station Dorasan of South Korea.

All of us will remember that it is tougher to write a precise than an essay on any subject.  

Do you agree ?

S Ramesh Shankar

The Invisible Power


    I am not sure if I believe in God or not. But, I do believe there is an invisible power, whatever you may call it. I have experienced many a time that something happens in life, where you do not have a logic for it.  

     I had planned to visit a temple near Jammu many times,when I lived in Delhi but it never materialised. However after I moved to Bangalore and tried again it worked. So, although I lived in Delhi for 5 years, every time I planned for it, it misfired.

    Similarly, I planned a holiday to a resort near Lonavala. This plan got cancelled thrice for some reason or the other.  It  is just 100 kilometres away from Mumbai, where I stay but this also did not click.

    On the other end, we sometimes do not plan for something and it happens. I always enjoyed listening to music in my life although I have no knowledge of it.  I always dreamt of buying a good music system. I used to visit a showroom and look at the system and return home since I could not afford it. I did this for many years but somehow felt one day I will have that at my home. It took many years to realize that dream. But, it did happen. What I believed was a utopian dream but did become a reality in my life.

    Sometimes, you think of someone and that person calls you. Is this a miracle ? I do not know. Some may call it telepathy or intuition.  I think it is that Invisible power. 

    I always had a dream of living in a house facing the sea.  For most of my work life, I did not stay near the sea.  Then when I did work in a city near the ocean,  I could not find a house nearby.  I had almost felt that I will never get a chance to live this dream.  But, after 30 years into my career, I got a chance to move to Mumbai.  This time I was lucky to get a company flat, where I get to admire the sea almost on three sides of my flat.  Now, I have been privileged to live in this flat for the last five years.  I get to admire nature every day in my life. As in the photo above, this is the beautiful view of the sea I admire every day today. 

     I always had a dream of buying a house and settling down in Bangalore.  I first tried in 1992 but it did not work.  But life did take me to Bangalore to work in 2005 and this invisible spirit made my dream a reality in 2007.

     Every time an incident like this happens in your life, you wonder why it happens ? Some may call this divine. Others may call it luck or chance or even destiny. I would call it the “Invisible spirit” in your life.  You may refer to this spirit as God. It does not matter which religion you follow, the feeling is the same.

     Many a time in life we find it difficult to believe what we see around us.  Hence, it is much more  difficult to believe  what is invisible. The visible things around us stare at us and make a physical impact whereas the things we cannot see make a spiritual impact and hence may be difficult to experience and believe.

    It may be this reason that all faiths lead us to the same destination. 

 S Ramesh Shankar

Born to be “Happy”


We all are born in life with equal measure of joy and sorrow. All of us go through life with all its ups and downs. While some choose to be happy others are sad. I some times find even when people go through similar events in life, some drown themselves in sadness, while others bounce back even before the event is over.

It may be fair to say that God gives us joy and sorrow in equal measure. God also bestows us with the things we want in life as per our needs. But some are happy while others are sad under similar conditions. If we try to understand this better, we realize that the environment is the same and the benefits similar to different individuals. But some choose to be happy, while others unhappy because God always fulfills our needs and not our greed.

In my view, life always has choices. We can choose to be happy if we want to and unhappy if we choose to. One factor which may help us to choose happiness in life is contentment. If we are content with what we have, we may be happy always. On the contrary, if we are greedy to want more all the time, we may never be happy because there is always be a gap between what we have and what we want in life.

I have always admired people who are happy in life.  While some may wonder if they are over optimistic and not realistic in life. In my view, it is not over optimism. It is one’s ability to bounce back. Even the happy go lucky people face tough and sad situations in life. It is their ability to take it in their stride and bounce back much before others sense their sadness.

Let us take some simple examples from life. If one loses a match, the choice for the players is to sink in sorrow and brood hours over why they lost. On the contrary, we see sportspersons, who take it in their stride and look at lessons learnt and bounce back even before we realize that they lost the match.

A child can easily teach us of how to be happy in life.  Even when a child is injured either physically or emotionally, they spring back even before we realize it.  It is this ability of a child we forget as we grow into adults.  We refuse to let go and hence take time to revive ourselves.   We just need to kindle the child in us under trying circumstances.  

All of us would have also met people in our lives who look happy at all times. It is not that they do not have their share of miseries in life. It is their ability to absorb, adapt and recotiate.  They realize that others in the world also face similar miseries and possibly their miseries are less grave than others. They choose to be happy and forget their miseries at the earliest. It is this quality, which we need to imbibe from them. We do not need to go around the world to search for them. They may be present amongst our own family, friends or colleagues in the workplace.

As in the photo above, I learnt this attribute from my wife. 

Let us choose to be happy and spread happiness around us always.

S Ramesh Shankar