Be The Change!

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who loved eating sugar. He would chew on his sugar granules throughout the day. His mother was worried that this excessive gorging on sugar would take a toll on his health. She tried everything from gently coaxing him out of this habit to scaring him to hiding the containers, but to no avail. Finally, she decided to take him to his idol, Mahatma Gandhi, so that the great man could talk some sense to her child.

So the next day, she started on the journey with her son. When she finally reached his Ashram, she saw that hundreds of people were waiting to meet the great man. When finally their turn came, the mother explained to Gandhi the whole situation, and requested him to talk to her son. Gandhi smiled at her and said, “Please come back in 2 weeks time and I shall speak with your son”. She was confused, but she left without any protest.

Two weeks passed, she went back to the Ashram with her son and this time, Gandhi immediately spoke to her son. Curious, she asked Gandhi why he hadn’t spoken to her son the last time they had come. Gandhi smiled and said, “Well, two weeks ago, I too was eating too much of sugar”. He couldn’t preach what he didn’t practice.

Relationships begin because, usually, one person gathers the courage and takes the first step. A building is comes into existence because “one” person envisioned it. Revolutions have happened because one person had the courage to stand up for what they believed in and didn’t wait for others to take action. Now, you don’t have to pick up your megaphone and yell for a revolution if that’s not something you want to do (if that’s what you wanna do, then don’t let me stop you). Be an embodiment of what you believe in and you might be able to move others with your belief too.

I see girls complaining about how unsafe the city/country has become and how wearing revealing clothes is not an invitation to unwanted attention. And yet, when there is a news report of some random girl who was molested in the bar, the same girls do not pause to pass judgement. It’s easy to complain about the world, but if you cannot implement the changes in your own life, then you have no right to complain. Do not be a hypocrite. We do not have control over others. We cannot change others, only ourselves. But in order for things to change, YOU have to change.

If you want to see some change in the world, you must start with yourself. Every significant change that has ever happened in this world has been the result of changes which began at individual level. If you hate how people throw garbage on the roads, then you must make it a point never to do it yourself. Just because “the streets are dirty enough” is an an excuse to add your own litter to it. Stop yourself from doing it, then your family and soon you will have a group of people throwing their garbage in the designated place, i.e., the dustbin. Then you and your family may pass this motto onto their friends, and thus, a chain would be created. It might not make the roads clean overnight, but the city will be just-a-bit cleaner and you would have done your bit in making the change.

Don’t just complain. Be the Change!