"When an Opportunity Knocks your Door.."

I don’t know the pessimist who quoted the proverb which says, “An opportunity knocks the door only once but misfortune keeps knocking the door until you open it.” It is the opportunity which treats all humans equally as Indian Judiciary does (All are equal before Law). Though it is same for all, only some people utilize it in a proper manner. This happens because no two persons are alike. According to me, the world is classified into only two categories viz., the wise and the fools.
For a fool, an opportunity is like a bitter gourd and if he/she finds that the life has handed him/her a bitter gourd, he/she gives up and say, “I’m beaten. It’s my fate, I haven’t got a chance.” Then he/she proceeds to rail against the world and indulge in an orgy of self-pity. But, when the same bitter gourd is handed to a wise man/woman, he/she says, “What lesson can I learn from this misfortune? How can I improve my situation? How can I turn this bitter gourd to a sweet dish?”
The bitter gourd is same for both wise and fool. But, it is the psychology of humans which differs. (“The block of granite which is an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.”) One of my friends always complains about his parents who are not happy with his lecturer job. Though he is happy with his career, due to societal fears he’s getting discouraged. He used to say that, if he had had worked hard when at education, he would have been having a better career graph than now. He asked me, “How could I overcome this situation?”
I answered, “Two men looked seating on a park bench--one saw the mud and the other saw the stars”. It is the observation that matters, I said. He looked quite convincing, then I added, if you’re already looking at the stars then don’t bother about what others are saying/thinking about you. We are not here to imitate others or to follow and/or live on the conditions/principles that others try to set for us, so, let’s be ourselves and let’s find ourselves. Yes, it does seriously matter when we are looking at the mud. In this case, we should not neglect what others are saying/thinking about us. We must change if we really need to change. But it would be foolish to feel utterly wretched and terribly beaten. It is a wonder-filled characteristic of every human being to turn a minus into a plus. If you are looking at the mud, may be you can turn that also into an opportunity to make a craft from the same. For doing so, one must develop a strategy of working hard with a greater positive attitude to attain what ever one wants.
After some days, he phoned me and told how he had had changed his way of thinking and said that he had also shared a real life incident with his colleagues which I had narrated him that day. It is about a girl of Andhra Pradesh State. I don’t remember her name, but read about her in the newspaper and also watched her on television. She had completed her graduation and was about to fly to US the next day when she met with a fatal accident and she was completely paralyzed. She said to the interviewer that, she raged and rebelled and also fumed about her fate. But, as the days passed on, she found that her rebellion wasn’t getting her anything except bitterness. “I finally realized” she said that, “the people were kind and courteous to me. So the least I could do was to be kind and courteous to them.”
When Interviewers asked if she still felt, after all these time, that this accident had been a terrible misfortune, and she promptly said, “No”. She said, “I’m almost glad now that it happened.” She told them that, she got once the shock and resentment, she began to live in a different world.
She began to listen to good music and she was thrilled by great music that would have bored her before. But the biggest change was that she had time to think. “For the first time in my life”, she said, “I was able to look at the world and get a real sense of values. I began to realize the most of the things I had been striving before weren’t worthwhile at all.” She showed the courage to setup a small scale industry at her home and employed nearly about 25 members (status at present date) to help her in business. She manufactures pillow covers and stuff and now her business had expanded to overseas not just because of the sympathy but due to their honest efforts and the quality they maintain.
The more I’ve studied the careers of men of achievement; I have been convinced that surprisingly a large number of them succeeded because they started out with handicaps that spurred them on to great endeavor and great rewards. Yes, it is highly probable that, Helen Keller’s brilliant career was inspired and made possible because of her blindness. Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom struggle is an outcome of the suppression he had had undergone at South Africa. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Constitution of India is also an outcome of the tortures and suppression he had undergone in the name of caste. I feel, if Dr. Ambedkar had reared in an aristocratic family and hailed from a different community or say caste and had a happy youth, he would probably never have found in the depth of his heart to draft the highly appreciated Constitution of India.
From the above paragraph, I never meant that only handicaps or suppressed people gets succeeded in their life but at the same time, it is also a true fact that, “As the gold gets its true shine only after been burnt in heavy flames so is the human being gets the achievement after a hard struggle.” The classic examples are Late Dhirubhai Ambani of Reliance, Azeem Premji of Wipro, Rajinikanth, Shahrukh Khan, from Film Industry etc., who started from the scratch are now reaping the unimaginable profits. Opportunity will always be there, it is only in our hands to utilize it properly. One can easily turn a minus into a plus. Instead, sitting idle and complaining, one must work the ways to utilize the opportunities. Thomas Alva Edison says, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” It is in the human psychology itself to miss the opportunity and then sit back and simply cry.
Therefore, in my conclusion I would like to say though, “Opportunity knocks the door only once”, one has to build up the courage to go after it and ask why it has not waited for him/her until he/she have opened the door. Or else, one has to welcome the misfortune and try to turn it into good luck. Both are possible only when people show courage to work.

Thanks and Regards,
Srikanth Chintakindi.

Role of Youth in Nation's Building

Instead complaining on the topic, “Why India is Still an Underdeveloped Nation?” I thought it would be better to discuss the role of youth in nation’s building. According to me, “Youth is that spark which needs no ignition”. Youth is that clay which can be molded in either shape one wants. In my belief, this is the sole reason for both exploitation and utilization of youth in the destruction and construction of any nation respectively.
It is a fact that, the nation’s building is highly dependent on youth. Youth is that powerful resource, which can either construct or destruct the whole nation as already said. According to everyone, youth should step forward to take up on the responsibility in developing the nation. Yes, I agree that, youth is not given a proper chance to prove their potentials in countries like ours, but, “The young” , according to Pearl S. Buck, (a Nobel Laureate in literature) “do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible, and achieve it, generation after generation”.
Isn’t this single quotation of her is sufficient to motivate the whole nation? Or do we still need motivational quotes like the one above to recall our own potentials to attempt the impossible and achieve the success? It seems highly surprising that, we, the youth fail to display the same enthusiasm in nation’s building which we often display for getting ahead in traffic? Have we really forgotten our responsibility towards our nation or that we are knowingly skipping the tasks to achieve development? It is observed that, the youth who always fight for enjoying their rights, never wish to take up the pains of responsibility.
According to me, Indian youth is socially responsible and moreover is working dedicatedly to see India attain the developed status. Many educated youth had already realized the necessity of utilizing their skills for the betterment of the society but at the same time, the youth is also misguided to a larger extent by some evil sources making them irresponsible towards the society they live in. It is pathetic but true that, due to many –a-problems that exists in today’s world, youth is highly attracted and/or fancied towards evil sources. As a result, a huge destruction is occurring all over. It is true that, youth is highly amendable, but one must show the guts to take up the challenge to guide the youth to a correct path as Swami Vivekananda and other eminent persons did in the past. But, speaking frankly, one must never wait for any as it damages the power of self-confidence and courage.
Luxuries, evil habits and societal commitments also gain youth’s attraction to a greater extent. In search of the above three, the youth is losing its identity and goals in no time as said by one of my friends. I already stated that, I am not against self-prosperity, and I always feel happy for the youth who is self-reliant in nature. (In my article, “How to Achieve Personal Freedom”, I stressed the necessity of self-reliance.) And of course, I am completely aware of the Indian Society and Culture, where more number of parents doesn’t wish to see their children working, as they think that, at least their children must not suffer. It is one point of view, where parents think of their children’s growth in every aspect and on the other hand, the youth (to a greater extent in India), which is dependant on their parents, will never wish not to work towards attaining self-reliance. It not only showcases the laziness of the youth but also the irresponsible behavior towards their country.
It always hurts me, when I see some youth taking wrong steps and/or directions to attain luxuries viz., by corruption, dowry, all kinds of malpractices like treachery, plagiarism, etc., It sounds true, as said by my friend’s grand father that, “Modern Education ruins Moral Education.” People, at the present date are completely neglecting the ethical values and ruining the moral education they had had learned in their childhood. This may be the reason why, people (World has 6.66 billion population among which 27% constitutes youth) are residing mostly in many-an-old age homes, orphanages, homes for the destitute, juvenile homes, individual families, and jails. Youth must take necessary steps and find new methods or revive old methods to avoid the above problems.
Evil habits, is a hip in today’s world. It is impossible for anyone to escape from these until and unless they are self-confident to control themselves. Self-Controllability is the only measure to save oneself from evil habits. Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking, undesirable sexual activities etc., also hinder nation’s building. If the youth gets addicted to any of these activities, one can easily predict that, the destruction has started not only as the person but also harms the nation which needs young blood to run and/or construct it. One has to realize the necessity of being healthy in almost every aspect of life.
The statistics prove that, India stands second in the most populous nations, third in corruption, fifth in unemployment, twelfth in poverty, etc., It seems funny but true that, even after sixty years of independence, the country has a tremendous growth only in the population and not in all aspects and/or sectors to an expected level. Isn’t that making us feel ashamed of? What should be done in order to attain the development is a million rupee question (which has no answer, try to find it). Please don’t start listing that, the government must be changed, there are no good leaders etc., as said by Aparichit, first of all, we must try to be good citizens and question oneself that, what I have had given to my own country? One has no right to criticize who has not taken up the responsibility of nation’s building.
Youth in order to make his/her country developed, has to sacrifice not only their lives by protecting their country at the borders but also has to protect from internal threats, and make the society a healthy place to live. It is possible only, if the youth realize to stay healthy by sacrificing selfishness, laziness, evilness etc., and by thinking dedicatedly for the growth of nation. In my conclusion, as an Indian youth, who is proud of its rich and varied heritage, take an oath whole-heartedly that, I will strive for the development of my country and my people and in their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness. I will be happy if every youth who loves his/her country take a similar oath and strive hard to keep up the promise till the last breathe.

Jai Hind!! Jai Bhaarat!!

Thanks and Regards,
Srikanth Chintakindi.