PRACTICE WHAT YOU DON'T PREACH





Pic.: Chetna Shetty

“Practice what you preach.” A wise advice.

But, how about this: “Practice what you don’t preach”?

I wasn’t aware that Nana Patekar’s date of birth was 1st Jan…till I watched the video of a spell-binding poem-rendering on social media. I show our young Public-speaking students several videos to help them become effective speakers. So, instantly, I decided to show this video to our young-ones…

I am going to share it with you here, today…

Yes, not to motivate you to become better speakers… but, to become better persons... Simple, quiet and sensitive souls, to be precise.

When people keep reacting to situations around them… by blaming, criticizing and hating… I feel sorry for them. It serves nothing by reacting like that… Anyone can react. But, to ‘act’ in whatever capacity you can, takes extraordinary will. It takes guts.

The drought-hit dry fields of farmers – call them the ‘killing fields’ – are only a stone- throw away from us, the Mumbaikars. Yet, the gravity of these hapless farmers’ plight had never been felt by any of us, till Nana took up the cause in his own way…

Imagine, a few hundred miles away from this prosperous city of Mumbai exist places with no electricity and water at all! It’s after 68 years of our Independence… after change of so many governments…

Is not just a shame… It is scary, too!

Scary because, as Nana keeps reminding us in his interviews, that such apathy can breed Naxalites… If we do not do something to prevent these farmers from killing themselves in their hour of agony, they can kill us, one day!

Nana is not trying to be dramatic or filmy when he echoes his fears!

Meanwhile, Nana doesn’t accept the idea of suicides. He wants the farmers to live, fight back… and look forward with hope…

But, for such a hope to take birth in farmers’ hearts, some of us have to lend our hands…

Nana has…

So, here is the poem I was talking about. Even if you have heard it, watched it and felt it… I plead you to do it once again…

There is immense strength in it…

Do it for Nana… to wish him a belated happy b’day.
जगण्याचे बळ आणि लढण्याचे धैर्य देणारं हे भावस्पर्शी पत्र तुमच्याही मनात आशेचे नवे किरण नक्कीच निर्माण करेल!! आवर्जून पहा नानांसाठी आलेली डोळ्यांच्या कडा ओल्या करणारी 'कोरडया' पावसाची कथा सांगणारी कविता.. #CHYD Nana Patekar Natsamrat Mrunmayee Deshpande Sunil Barve  Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar Chala Hava Yeu Dya Chala Hava Yeudya. Chala hava yeu dya
Posted by zee marathi on Tuesday, December 29, 2015


GERALD D’CUNHA

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