'THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF"






Pic.: Rajiv Sharma

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had made this famous statement in 1933 in his first inaugural-address. I have, often, wondered: What has made these words live so long!

I, seriously, believe that it was the timing. The gloom of depression had crippled, almost, every one… Hope was dim, dreams had died… anxiety had made leaders and citizens, all, fear… yes, fear about their future… “What will happen, tomorrow?”

Against such a gloomy backdrop, FDR, who had just been elected to head the greatest democracy in the world, was, now, expected to do away the gloom… inspire the masses with hope, reignite their dreams, fire their imagination… and, that’s what he did in his maiden address after being voted to lead… He reminds his people: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”


To me, the timing – ‘depression’ – is symbolic. Gloom comes with depression in our lives… Our financial worries, our relationship conflicts, our moral, spiritual and social crisis. Fear comes with doubt… Anxiety brings worry… Worry brings gloom… Despair and sadness. Hope fades, dreams die… and, cynicism and pessimism come to reign…

The good-news is that depression – no matter how ‘great’ it is – never lasts long. But, hope – may I call it faith – does. Earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes – call them depression or whatever you like… none of them rule life. Nature is trustable more, dependable more… Loving and merciful more than otherwise.

And, because gloom is only momentary – caused only by absence of light… let’s not say, there is no ‘morrow. Yes, the Sun will rise… He will dispel the gloom. Let’s hang on… never giving in to fear… There is nothing to fear but fear itself!


“There is a tide in the affairs of men,” Shakespeare had pointed, “which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat…And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”

Yes, the tide ‘will’ change… We ‘will’ float’ on a ‘full sea’!


GERALD D’CUNHA



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE AREN'T THINGS

Image
  “ A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.” Henry David Thoreau   I remember feeling the strongest, the most confident and secure – when I had decided to knock on strangers’ doors, telling them, “I want to teach young boys and girls.” That’s when I was just 20-something… I was a newcomer in this big city… consumed with the desire to teach… and restless. I was jobless and penniless, too. The earlier evening, TC had caught me ticketless at Mankhurd railway station, which, in those days, was the last Harbour-line station. The next local arrived only after 45 minutes… and the fine for a ticketless passenger from VT (now CST) to Mankhurd was a ‘princely’ sum of ten rupees and fifty paise! And, I had nothing in my pocket to pay the TC and get off his hook. Nor did I possess a wrist watch or a ring to pledge as security till I could arrange the fine amount. But, that evening, when I went through some forty-five minutes of embarr...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...