CAN THIS BALLOON, TOO, GO HIGH UP?

Pic.: Manoj Nair

What makes a person strong and confident in life? What gives him the inside-strength which helps him walk like a king, speak like a scholar and touch lives like a saint?

Today is Ambedkar Jayanti. When I think of this man – Babasaheb Ambedkar – I feel more and more convinced, that it is never the color of your skin or the caste and class you are born into that decide to what heights you will rise in life... but, it is the substance that your mind, heart and soul contain, that will.

Look at Babasaheb’s life story: Born into a poor, low-caste family, yes, at a time when caste discrimination in our country was epidemic, he went about acquiring his academic, scholarly and transformational power... that, he became a beacon of hope for the entire suppressed community, members of which were shooed as ‘untouchables’... He took up their cause, fought for their rights and dignity... brought the noble teachings of Buddhism into their lives... drafted the newly-born nation’s first constitution!

I, always, remind my young-students, that, in life, self-confidence does not come from outside... It comes from inside. So, I encourage them to focus on the inside – the substance their minds, hearts and souls carry... their God-given talents, hard-earned skills, their unique strengths... and, to believe in them. The more the focus shifts inward, the lesser they would depend on their outward attributes such as their looks, attire, speech and the caste or class... for their self-confidence... “The Sun is a burning gas,” I tell them, “And, just as he does, you, too, will glow with self-confidence when gas inside you make you burn!”

The endearing story of the balloon-vendor, once again, comes to my mind...

One day, a little black-boy was feeling very sad and dejected in his house. Everywhere the black children were discriminated and shooed away, which made this boy feel hurt, sad and angry. Just then, he saw from his window a balloon vendor with lovely balloons of different colors. To attract little children, he would fill the balloons with helium – gas – and let them go up in the air. Fascinated, this boy went near the balloon vendor and, pointing to a black balloon, asked, “Sir, can this balloon, too, go high up?”

“Oh, yes, it can,” the balloon vendor quickly lifted the little boy, “I will show you.” He sent one of the black balloons up, which went high up just like balloons of other colors – red, yellow, pink, green, blue and white...

Then, caressing boy’s soft head with his hand, the balloon vendor explained, “Son, it is not the color of the balloon that takes it high up... It is what it carries inside – the gas!”

The story is an old one...

And, the question: “Sir, can this balloon, too, go high up?”

GERALD D’CUNHA