Darjeeling – Where are we heading?

Writes: Atish Subba

When was it easy for anyone to survive? Who doesn’t need to work hard to live this life?

“I am not a person the great personalities in history admired and talked about. I am surely not” he said, “Look what have we become?”

Reality: “Yes, you are not. Those days were different from now”

Conscience: “In those days too, people used to work hard and earn money to live their lives, it was not easy for them to make this place beautiful, as we find.”

Reality: “They were not educated, smart, and intelligent like us to make differences in their lives and society. They had to work hard to earn bread and butter. We know that our ancestors planted tea in these hills and served as soldiers in the British Army. They worked hard. So what, do we keep on following their footstep and keep struggling like that, for all our generations to come?”

Conscience: “No, definitely we should not keep on following the same things and trudging on the same path. We have to change the way we live to grow as a society. What we have today is all because of their hard work and dedications. We have access to good education and good schools in our hills. We are privileged and have leverages to get recruited in armies. We were known for being Trustworthy, Honest, Humble, Kind, Caring and Selflessness apart from our Bravery. But the change does not mean to forget those values. If roots for coming generations are not made strong then it will not stand the harshness of the world. Fight within you is good but fight within a society and culture is not good. We have already seen the outcome of such a strife unfolding right in front of our eyes.”

Reality: “That’s what we are doing, we are living smart.”

Conscience: “Where is that honesty, trustworthiness and Selflessness? Are we smart or cunning now? For an example; why do newly constructed road starts to get damaged in few weeks or months? We start a blame game or make excuses. We all know that blame game is very dangerous. It will somehow save you, but you know very much what is true.”

Reality: “So what? This is a way of living life nowadays. You need to take care of yourself to survive; you need to be smart and cleaver enough to seize an opportunity.”

Conscience: “What do you think? By taking money given for a project you are taking the money from the government’s treasure?”

Reality: “No, I know that is our money paid by us in the form of different taxes; income tax, land tax, property tax, taxes paid to get foods, furniture’s and so on. They are distributing back to us in the form of projects, that’s how government works. I am taking my money”

Conscience: “Your money, are you sure? Aren’t you cheating others, yourself and your family? You walk on the same road that you have constructed. If your family fall sick, you need to take them to hospital on a vehicle which plies on a same road you’ve constructed improperly. You need to bring goods to your home on vehicles which ply on the same road.”

Reality: “I need money to fulfill the needs of my family and they have many desires which I need to fulfill. Also I do have my own needs and desires to fulfill with what I earn. I got an opportunity to earn money through government project, so I earned.”

Conscience: “Earned? Are you sure? Isn’t it a facility you are creating for public by the money which they had paid in the form of taxes? ”

Reality: “Who cares? There are many people doing same thing. They are making money for them from the government projects. How am I only wrong?”

Conscience: “Who said only you are wrong?”

Conscience in us speaks to us. We all hear but do we listen to it?

We all are different from each other. We all have different challenges in our lives and it cannot be compared and explained to other. However, sometimes do we sit down and take time to question ourselves. Is that what we want? Am I only good for these, lynching and snatching? I am doing right?

In reality, who cares? That is where we need change. Why can’t we set good examples for others?

Haven’t we become opportunist and greedy than before?

Reflection, I know it’s not as easy to do, as to write because to do is so much more difficult. Only the person doing something knows what he or she is doing and why is he doing so. But everyone has a conscience in him or her. How and what difference can be made by taking an opportunity in hand matters.

Schools are there for children because they can be directed and taught good lessons. Have you ever seen schools for grownups? Life itself teaches a lot and there are different societies from where we can learn and implement good things within our society and culture and progress like them.

Think whether you are cheating people or yourself? We are no more same and don’t know what are we learning. Is this what we will teach our coming generations? Is this how we progress, alone?

In Britain a telecom company British Telecom sponsored in Common wealth game 2012, I remember because I was working with them. They believe, to grow together is better than growing alone. They believe in giving back to the society, because without people living in society they could have not become such big.

 

But, at the end of the day, all of us are really truly answerable to just one individual – and that is ourselves. We can request for you to look deep in yourself and let your conscience guide you, after all we cannot teach people, we all have brains, hearts, eyes, ears to learn and implement things and shape our lives on our own.