GETTING OUT OF THE 'BOXES' WE ARE RAISED IN







Pic.: Alwyn Mathais
“If you don't get out of the box you've been raised in,
you won't understand how much bigger the world is.”
- Angelina Jolie
The ‘box’, Angelina is referring to, is our mind. Unless, we bring ourselves out of the rut – the image – we are in, we shall, always, be held captive there. Yes, inside the ‘box’. Someone had said it, rather bluntly, this way:
“A rag-picker’s son will, always, remain a rig-picker as long as he has the image of the rag-picker.”
And, that’s the story of each and every one of us…
We have this image of the situation in which we are born and grown… That’s our ‘box’, our ‘image’… our ‘world’. So, till we don’t look at it hard and decide to re-sketch this image, decide to re-write our script, we will, always, remain caught-up in our ‘boxes’.
There should be something bigger than us calling us, all the time… There should be something greater challenging us, all the time… A bigger vision, a greater cause… a brighter place to be… Only then will we give our best, only then will we come out of our ‘boxes’…

A frog’s world is the pond he finds himself in. When the pond gets full, he has the choice to go out to find a new world – brighter and bigger world. Or, he can hold on to his pond and die there… And, just as this frog, we, too, have these choices to make… To get caught-up in our ponds, or to come out in search of a bigger and brighter world…


The sorrows that we choose to live with… The hurt, hatred, resentment and self-pity we choose to live with… the self-defeating habits we are entangled with… negative influences and friendship that seem to rule our lives… the poverty we are faced with, the jobs that we are placed with… the religious beliefs that dictate our reactions… yes, all these are the ‘boxes’ we are caught-up in…

Unless we take a hard look at our boxes, we will never be able to find a new world…

A frog will always remain as a frog-in-the-pond… A rag-picker’s son will, always, remain a rag-picker…  

Yes, inside the ‘box’ called ‘mind’!



GERALD D’CUNHA



Comments

Balan R said…
Loved the rag-picker's line.
March 23, 2015 at 11:16 PM
Richard D' Costa said…
Getting out of our 'boxes'... You have given a different dimension to this phrase, liked it.
March 24, 2015 at 6:50 AM
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

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
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 does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...