HOW DIFFERENT WE ARE!
How
different we all are! Many of us are as different as cheese and chalk!
I had an opportunity to
grasp this truth, yesterday morning, during our Personality-development
session. I had asked the young participants to write, at least one page, about
themselves. “Feel free… Feel happy… Feel authentic as you write,” I had advised
them, “Do not worry about any pattern, format or tradition. It has nothing to
do with what you had learnt in schools… Just get in touch with your deepest
thoughts, trust your thoughts and express your thoughts. No one is going to
judge you… and no one is going to disapprove you. Be creative, be free and be
happy and authentic as you write about yourself.”
Most of them were new
to the session, with no past experience in writing and speaking. I had
encouraged them to wipe out whatever experience they had in school while
writing for the English subject. So, here they were, totally guided by their
inner light… fearless and free.
I was pleasantly
surprised when they went up on stage to present what they had written about
themselves!
Each one of us is
different. But, not until we get in touch with our deepest thoughts… trust them
and express them!
As our young ones
shared their thoughts about themselves, they ‘revealed’ themselves. Some were
easy-going, some were serious… Some had a funny bone, some had a thin skin.
But, nothing of this kind would have come to the fore had they not felt free to
get in touch, trust and express their thoughts.
In
my own case, the more I help young ones to get in touch, trust and express themselves,
the more I realize that I am a very private person. I am more comfortable
expressing through my writing than through my speech. On stage and in my
classroom and sessions, even though I flow naturally and confidently, in casual
circles, I find myself straining to express, while many around me are able to
go on and on, endlessly.
Just a couple of days
ago, two of my fellow-trainers and I, accompanied by the Principal of the
college where we held our training, were returning home in a car. It was
heavily raining and the traffic was dense… It took us more than an hour and a
half to reach our place. What still puzzles me is how different I was from the
rest! From the word ‘Go’, the Principal madam and my two colleagues got into
casual discussion… They jumped from one topic to another, without a pause. I
could hardly contribute anything… Whatever I did, I did as a response to what
was asked me…
Was I doing it
deliberately? Was it some kind of ‘attitude’ – ego, arrogance, indifference,
lack of enthusiasm etc?
With all my honesty, I
wish to confess: it was not.
When we parted our
ways, we all parted gracefully and respectfully. I was in touch with what was
happening inside me… My comfort came from the fact, that while others were
wired to speak non-stop casually, I was not…
Yes, I was not… I was
not!
To me, that was not
only such a peaceful thought, it was so beautiful, too!
How different we all
are!
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Kamal Kishore Rikhari
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