IT IS WRITTEN ON MY FOREHEAD





















In one of our Workshops, we, always, play this popular game: Six young-ones volunteer to take part. They are mostly the outgoing type…and, they are all excited. A white head-band is tied around each one’s forehead, on which a word is written: ‘Leader’, ‘Dependable’, ‘Responsible’, ‘Cautious’, ‘Joker’ and ‘Fool’. None of them knows what is written on his forehead… but, everyone knows what is written on others’. And, each one is supposed to treat the other according to what the head-band proclaims: “I am a Leader… So, treat me so”… “I am Dependable… So, treat me so”… Or, “I am a stupid Joker or a Fool… So, fool around with me; don’t take me seriously!”… And, it goes…


The game is: the six of them have come together to plan for a week-end picnic… everything about that… right from the picnic spot to the minute arrangements…


Now, the young boy whose head-band reads –‘Fool’, in real life may be a very responsible and dependable person. Similarly, the young girl whose forehead reads – ‘Leader’, actually, may be an over-cautious person, even a joker in real life. Still, who one really is and how one really portrays himself or herself to be before the outside world… are two different things. Finally, the world will treat us exactly the way we have presented ourselves before it… 


The world is not to blame… No, never!




Who am I? … It is written on my forehead, always… and, I go around the outside world revealing my identity and urging them to treat me accordingly…


We all do it, darling… Yes, we all do. And, yes, we started playing this fun-filled game right from our baby days…


We have become students or teachers… We still play the game…


We have become staff or bosses… We still play the game…


We have become house-holders or clergy… We still play the game…


You see, all this started as our habits… Habits grew to become our character… And, now, our character is all set to manifest into our destinies…




Nothing just happens in life… 

Nothing just out of nothing…
 

Everything comes from something…



If the world treats me as a Leader or as a Dependable person, it is because… over all these years, right from dawn to dusk, I have been revealing my identity to the world outside… by my speech and actions, my behavior and conduct. And, I have been doing it over and over again… so much so… it is writ large on my forehead now: “Hey, I am a Leader, believe me”… Hey, I am Dependable… believe me,”… Or, “You know well who I am: I am a Joker… A Fool… and, you better believe me!”


Oh yes, yes, there is no choice before the world but to believe in what I am saying! 



So, what is the moral of the story, dear? Why is the game played? Just for fun?


Hope, not!




GERALD D’CUNHA


Pic.: Navya Anand


Comments

Manu said…
One more from u... keep it up! Manu
May 9, 2013 at 6:27 PM
Umesh Nayak said…
It is a serious game, no jokes, dear!!!!!
--Umesh
May 9, 2013 at 7:58 PM
Vinay Shettigar said…
Needed this badly. Thank u. Vinay
May 10, 2013 at 11:02 AM
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