"Be the change you wish to see in the world", we all have heard this.
This line doesn't answer "how?"
When we grow up, the first thing we want to do is to become self-reliant and that's a good target, with the passage of time we realize that though it was a good target, it wasn't "enough", we enter the thirties and we have various responsibilities and so we fight harder and become "good enough for family", be it your parents or your wife/husband & children.
Till here, everything is good. We are not only self-reliant, we are supporting a family, it's still hard to believe we did it but now what? Which way to go from here?
We are fed up of "responsibilities", we want freedom, we want life, not the one that came at us like an old enemy but one that we always dreamed about.
So, one such day we decide to visit the majestic Taj Mahal in Agra, all the way we are happy, we will visit the most beautiful building in the world, one of the new seven wonders, we took hours to decide what we will wear when we visit the monument of love, we have already decided the pose we will be making for selfies, everything is good so far....
Now here we are, we just parked our car and got out....What a beautiful day it is till we don't look around. You begin to walk towards the ticket counter and see some people in their seventies and eighties pulling rickshaws, the same age women trying to sell berries, bananas and grapes sitting on the roadside. It was raining yesterday in Agra, streets are still wet but they have no option but to sit there and try to make a livelihood. Our joy is now surrounded by the reality of the world we live in, as you walk a little more, a hand comes up from the side of the road, you see a women in the last leg of her life, begging to live, looking at you in the hope of getting something from you, so that she might get something to eat before going to sleep.
Now you enter the majestic corridors leading to the hundreds of years old marvel, the beauty in front of you is unparalleled. Surrounded by the beauty of this place, for a few moments you forget the world outside, you take hundreds of pictures and spend hours adoring the "Monument of love".
Once outside, you are again surrounded by the reality, small children come running at you, in the hope that they might sell you a few small replicas of Taj Mahal or picture books of Taj Mahal, they follow you in the hope of making a sale, they request you to take one, they tell you that they are hungry and they will get food if you buy something but you can't help everybody. You can't help all of these children, can you? You can't help the eighty year old women trying to sell bananas on the road, can you? You can't help all of those old and frail rickshaw pullers. can you?
So, what can you do?
"Be the change you wish to see in the world" what does that even mean? You no longer know.
When you were young, you wanted to be self-reliant, afterwards life threw responsibilities at you and you became good enough for your family..... This is life giving you signals that your work is not done. You have a long way to go....
Part one was self-sufficiency
Part two was to take care of your family
Part three is the care for your society, and
Part four is the work for your country and humanity.
You can't just walk by these people looking at you with hope in their eyes that you are the one who can make a difference in their lives..... You can't just shut your eyes.
You might not be in a situation to help all of them or any of them but this experience should be an eye-opener for you that your work is not done when you became good enough for your family.
Take a pledge that you will do the best you can, take a pledge that you will find a way to help "someone" and hope that the other people like you who are fortunate enough to "live life" will do the same. You help one, someone else helps another and so on.....
This is the meaning of "Be the change you wish to see in the world". This is how we make a difference.