The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings

“Deceptive illusions and varying perceptions,

Life is more than just cross-road junctions.

It is a whirlwind of danger that poses

To the naked eye like a bed of roses.”

            Life- this four letter word seems indeed very small to us, because the mind of a human can scarce conceive the plethora of opportunities it has to offer. We also have an inner life that defines the real us, our wishes and our dreams. This is what that gives meaning to our lives. Very often than not, we find ourselves at fork-roads, unable to decide which path to follow- the one that has been treaded upon yet seems uninteresting, or the one that remains unexplored, yet appeals to us. It is the general human tendency to follow the footsteps of others, because paving a path for oneself is something extremely difficult and requires immense dedication and will power. Also, when one embarks upon a new path in life, they tend to face defiance from the society and not everyone can show resilience. But the question that needs to be thought upon is: Are we a master of our own life or slaves of the world around us?

            We all have just one life to do whatever we wish to. But then if we waste this one chance to pursue our goals and fulfill our dreams, then it will be an utter waste of a golden opportunity. Everyone who has begun this journey has to reach the finishing point, being a star at some or the other point in time. But to be the brightest among them all, you must walk your own path, without fearing the darkness, shining your own beam of light. For that we need a positive outlook, curiosity, desire to do something new and not be afraid of going against the flow. It is each one’s right to carve out his destiny out of the boulder that resembles life. For the final sculpture to be beautiful, we must learn to endure the pain caused by critics. People will mock you and knock you, but put your head up and stay strong for the world remains unaware of the obstacles that you cross. Charles Evans Hughes had rightly said “We need to realize that when we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free”. Looking at this struggle in life from a different perspective, we can also see scenarios wherein people dream big, but are afraid to follow their dreams because they succumb to the surroundings rather than listening to their inner self. They then end up working tirelessly towards fulfillment of someone else’s dream. In this case, has it ever crossed your mind that if you could contribute so much for a stranger’s dream, how much you would have and could have strived towards realizing your own?

            It is said that people often tend to learn life lessons from real-life instances, rather than preaching and bookish-knowledge. In that case, we won’t fall short of examples. If we take a peek into history, we have the example of Mahatma Gandhi. India was then under colonial British rule. While some Indians kept whining in self-pity and others revolted against the rulers in vain, this barrister of law left behind his promising career for India’s freedom. Revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and others opposed him, reason being he chose the path of non-violence, something that people weren’t used to. But listening to his inner voice, he went ahead with his ideology of Ahimsa and the ultimatum of ‘Do or Die’, which in the end gave India her much-awaited independence. Speaking of literature, the name J.K.Rowling comes soon enough in the minds of all Harry Potter fans. It is widely known that as a divorced, unemployed, single parent, she found it hard to make ends meet when around eight publishing houses turned down her book- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. People kept telling her time and again that her stories weren’t worth a penny and no one would read them ever. But without giving in to the pressure, she chose to walk on her chosen path until Bloomsbury published it and she became a renowned author whose book-series was later on successfully adapted into films. When it comes to sports, we have the God of Cricket as an example. Sachin Tendulkar dropped out of school to pursue cricket as a career and went on to win laurels and set records. Much later, giving in to pressure he became the Captain of the Indian team but when he realized that captaincy was affecting his performance as an individual player, he showed the courage to step down, which many wouldn’t have had. These people have set examples for others, not to be followed, but to inspire.

            On the other hand, we have the examples of politicians like Manmohan Singh which tell us how we end up if we give in to the pressure, ignoring our inner wishes and wants. Sonia has adapted herself to Indian culture after her marriage and worked for Indian politics, in spite of being an Italian. When her party won the elections and she could not take over as the PM of India, Sonia roped in Manmohan Singh. Thus a person who was very good at economics, but had no interest in politics reluctantly came in as her dummy substitute, to represent the masses as their Prime Minister. These kind of people lack both, an inner voice and inner life, which give purpose to human mind. They ended up ruining their and their political party’s image, leaving a bad impression in the minds of Indian citizens, which proved to be harmful in the long run.

            It is high time that we learn from these examples, respond to the wake-up call, realize our potentials and embark upon our journey to fulfil our dreams because like Henri Frederic rightly said, “A man without an inner life is a slave to his surroundings.” After all, why should we try to fit in, when we are born to stand out?

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