TO BE A LOSER OR A WINNER, IN LIFE...

9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero, New-York City. Pic.: Ashok Ahuja




Life of an individual is no different from life of a nation...

Both need to possess zest for life… and, when crushed under challenges, both need the bounce-back spirit…

Sulking, blaming and brooding are for losers… 

Determination, acceptance and hope are for winners!

On Sunday night, I watched KBC. There was this young girl – Sonali Mukherjee, her face devastated through acid attack of lust-and-hate driven young men. Once, a very beautiful, graceful and energetic young woman now she is reduced to a sight… which is difficult for us to behold. Her survival story – supported by her caring family – is the story of what I have refereed above – Zest for life and bounce-back spirit.

Sonali has not given up on life… on hope… or living with purpose…

She has moved on… resolved to do something constructive for those inflicted with even graver tragedies…
 

Sonali is a brave girl… an inspiration for all of us!

Yesterday was 26/11. Four years ago, terrorists had brought our city to its knees… The amazing Taj Mahal Hotel was ruined in the attack… along with Trident, Leopold and scores of lives were destroyed…

And, what happened to our city, since then?

We bounced back… 

Life is on roll, with even more vigor… even more zest and hope!

One look at the images of today’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki is enough to convince us that Life is an ever-changing movement. We all have within us what it takes to rise-up from the ashes… unless we chose to be ‘losers’ in life!

Japan is an inspiration for all of us…

It paid for its mistakes, learnt a few lessons… then, resolved to bounce back… It did so incredibly!

There is no point in sulking, blaming, crying… 

and, it serves no good to hold grudges 

against our tormentors…

Revenge is an act of weakling…

Bouncing back… re-structuring our lives in even better and nobler way… is an act of courageous…

 There is Life in re-building… 

There is meaning… fulfillment!

Rising up with grit and grace... The new towers! Pic.: Ashok Ahuja

My photographer-friend, Ashok, had been to New-York City recently. He has come back with loads of images… and, yes, there are images of the memorial at Ground Zero… where, once, stood America’s tallest twin-towers! 

The terrorists, in one mindless-blow, had brought these mammoth structures down… 

The mighty Super-power down to its knees…

Thousands of innocents were killed…

And, we, suddenly, had felt: “What will happen now?”

In times like this, either you give up… or, you rise up!

Yes, these are the options for every individual or nation…

To be a loser or a winner, in Life!

America resolved to rise up… with even more grace and grit… 

Today, just beside the 9/11 memorial, there stand, almost in their full glory, even mightier and even taller towers!

In life, while it is necessary to remember our sad days, it is even more necessary to rise above them… walk past them, gloriously!

Without feeling victimized…

Without holding any grudges…

The earlier that happens, the better.

True, both for individuals… as well as nations!

GERALD D’CUNHA