WE SWIM IN A DANGEROUS SEA OF OPINIONS









“Opinions are the cheapest commodities in the world,” I had come across this line in a book when I was a new-comer in Mumbai (Bombay) and struggling to get a foot-hold here. The context was: what I wanted to do in life and what others thought I was capable of doing. The book I was reading was ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill… “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

I needed to hear this message desperately at that time; because, I was so full of self-doubts… and so full of low-confidence. In such a state, one was so susceptible to external voices: “No, you can’t do it… Give up.”

So, the advice of Napoleon Hill had come just in time. I quickly realized, that others’ opinion – no matter who those people are – was only their opinion… It’s their truth, their belief and their story. Not mine. I became almost immune to such gloomy, defeating prophecies… I began to focus on what was important and dear to my heart… If it was good and right for me and society, I started going ahead and doing it…

Today, after almost four decades, Napoleon Hill’s line comes back to make a fresh meaning. We, now, live in a time of instant click…Mindlessness and soullessness are rampant… We are so influenced by others’ opinions, that we have lost faith in our own inner light. Our sense of what is good and right - is skewed, tilted, corrupted. So, we feed our judgments and actions on fake or biased news, incessant forwards on social media, which are, often, full of falsehood and poison... Yes, we swim in a dangerous sea of opinions!

I have spent more than four decades in the field of teaching… Most of my students have been young ones, the college kids. I have seen them graduating and stepping into the responsible world… I have seen them, eventually, getting married and raising their own families… and, I have seen the cycle of education being continued. And, when I see the sea of cheap opinions all around me, I wonder: Have I really taught my students to go by their inner light and less by the opinions of others? Have I really taught them to be more proactive and less reactive in life? Have I taught them to be more constructive and less destructive? Have I taught them to love more and hate less?

Hope, I have…


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Chetna Shetty


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

"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 pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...