I am the Master of My Fate

I am the Master of My Fate

Man is the maker of his destiny. He is his own star. His character and actions determine his future. Chance plays only an insignificant role in life. There is no effect without a cause, although sometimes the cause may be hidden from our view. Every failure of a particular person should be attributed to the limitations in his person and not to a call us God with arbitrary ways. ‘The fault, clear, Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underling.”

Man himself is responsible for his failures and successes. He is not the creature of unto wand circumstances, but creator of congenial circumstances in which he may thrive and rise from glory to glory. He will be what he wills himself to be. Only cowards are fatalists and live daily in regular fear of imaginary being like ghosts or phantoms. In Europe only a small number of men believe in fate. In the east the masses are ignorant and superstitions and believe that man is a slave of fate to the powers that be leaving alone the philosophical discussion about fate, it will always pay man to assume that he is the master of his fate.

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We Live in Deeds, Not in Years

We Live in Deeds, Not in Years

Keats passed away at the age of twenty-six. But what of trat! He is immortal as he has left behind imperishable footprints on the sand of time. The poets smear by Odes. His achievement compels wonder. In a period of four years, he wrote verse that so far is Un-excelled. As a matter of fact, one’s achievement counts more than one’s length of life. Surely, Keats lives in deeds, not in years. Truly has Ben Jonson saying:

“In small proportions we just beauties see;
and in short measures life may perfect be.”

One day of action, beauty and glory is better than a year so passivity, dullness and indolence. As Ben Johnson would tell us ‘a live of day’s is far better and blessed than ‘an oak, three hundred years’ because while the former is ‘the plant and flower of light,’ the better is destined ‘to fall a log at last, dry bald and sere’. The perfect life is the life of beauty, nobility and utility, howsoever short is be.

Sidaey Keyes dies prematurely at the age of twenty-one. Still he carved out a niche for himself in field of modern poetry and his ‘Prospero’ is a gem of a poem. The instance of Mrs. Toru Dutt is illuminating and revealing. She died before she was twenty-two and like Keats she is also the inheritor of unfulfilled renown. Her poem, like ‘The three of life’ and ‘Our aserarina tree’ and immortal. She lived in deeds and not in years.

So Sheridan rightly remarked ‘A life worthy should be measured by deeds not years’. A single movement of achievement is thousand times better than thousand flat and tame moments.

Tagore is revered for ‘Gitanjali’ and not the many years be lived. Mere breathing or causing won’t do. One should live virtually and vigorously. One should do something worthy of note and recognition.

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Honesty is The Best Policy

Honesty is The Best Policy

It is possible that dishonesty may succeed for a short time, but honesty is sure to succeed better in the long run. This may be seen considering the career of students in schools and colleges, and of men engaged in the business of life. The student who cheats in an examination may, if he escapes detection, gain a few marks more that he would otherwise have got. But what is the probable result? He learns thereby to trust to dishonest means of passing his further examinations, and neglects hard work, the only sure means of success, Guess, even if his dishonesty remains undetected, he is likely to be out stripped by his more honest rival, and in addition he exposes himself to the risk of an ignominious conviction, which will run his reputation and surely wound the hearts of parents and friends.

The effects of dishonesty are much the same in the case of clerks, merchants, government servants and others. They may suddenly make themselves rich by dishonest means. But wealth so obtained is as a rule rapidly squandered, and to regain resource is likely to be had again to new acts of dishonesty. Thus the dishonest man lives all through his life in continual dread that his misdeeds may at any moment be revealed in the light of the day. Success in the beginning of his career only tempts him to become corrupt on a larger scale, and the end is generally disgrace and punishment. 

So far we have been considering the question merely from the point of view of material success, and have seen that the dishonest man is very unlikely to succeed in life. But even if by some rare chance he should manage to escape detection to the end and die famous and wealthy, he must nevertheless all through his life suffer pain through fear of detection and consciousness of his own baseness. Had he been an honest man, he would probably have won still more wealth and honor in the eyes of the world, and would have been spend the reproaches of a guilty conscience.

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Prosperity Brings Friends, Adversity Tries Them

Prosperity Brings Friends, Adversity Tries Them

It is natural that prosperity should attract friendship, or at least the semblance of friendship. The friends of a prosperous man derive many obvious advantages from their connection with him. If their rich friend is hospitable, he invites all who have the privilege of caring him to pleasant entertainments in his five house and beautiful grounds. The rich man has also many opportunities of conferring more material benefits on his friends. Also from a feeling of variety most man takes a great deal of pleasure in being seen frequently in the company of the rich and powerful. Thus there are many motives by which men are urged to cultivate the friendship of the prosperous.

But when the rich man loses his wealth, or the powerful man is deprived of his power, all the friends, who were attracted only by considerations of self-interest, fall away. They did not love the man himself but his riches, his hospitality and his favors he could confer on those who pleased him. Therefore, when, owing to a change of fortune, he loses the power of conferring benefits, and is himself in need of the help to others, they leave him and seek more profitable friendships.

The true friends is constant is evil as in good fortune, and remains faithful until death. Thus it is that friendship is tired by adversity, as gold is tired by fire, and it is one of the consolations of adversity, that it gives us the satisfaction of knowing that those how cultivate our friendship are not self-seekers, acting with an eye to their own advantage, but true friends who love us for ourselves.

History and fiction give us many instances of friends tried by adversity, some of whom were found wanting in the hours of trial, while other show their genuine worth. One should therefore, cultivate friends who are friends in need and friends indeed.

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The Television

The Television

Television or the ‘idiot box ’ is one of the latest blessings of science. It is today no more a luxury but a necessity. It is an improvement on the radio. It combines both sight and sound. While sitting in our drawing room, we can enjoy film songs and music, listen to speeches, see exciting matches and enjoy national and international programmers. Television is an entertainer, educator and a third parent. It is an important means of information on different subjects. It takes us into a world of knowledge, beauty, glamour and charm. It broadens our outlook. While enjoying television, we forget the worries of life for some time. Its programmes include children’s films feature films, news, reviews, debates, interviews, discussions by experts, short one-act plays etc. it appeals to men of different tastes and temperaments. Housewives gain a lot from it. The T.V. is a source of advertisement and propaganda. We can promote communal harmony, national integration through it and fight for social and economic justice. On important festival days and other historical and national days, informative and interesting programmers are organised for out benefit. The T.V. is doing a great service in the field of education and research. During the election days in plays an important role. With the introduction of satellite transmission, television has reached almost every part of India. The government should take steps to see that the programmers are entertaining, educative and informative.

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Life An Indian Village

Life An Indian Village

                     “God made the country, man made the town.”

India lives in villages. It is here that our first forefathers lived. The village life has many charms. There are plenty of trees, fresh air and a lot of greenery. We can breathe in fresh air to our heart’s content. The villages abound in natural greenery. We can breathe in fresh air to our heart’s content. The villages abound in natural greenery. In the village, life is very peaceful, calm and quiet. The villagers have all the time at their disposal. On the other hand, the people living in cities are always in a hurry. They have no time to stand and stare at beautiful things or places. More so, people living in villages are simple in their ways and honest in their dealings. They lead a healthy and contented life. They live in the lap of nature. People enjoy themselves in the villages. Some sit in the shade of trees and gossip. Some sit at their tube wells and while away their time in leisure and pleasure. They are really innocent and simple-minded people. They have no craze for fashions. They do not run after the “cut” and the “latest style”. Village girls dance and sing folk songs. In short, villagers lead a happy, noble and virtuous life away from the dust and noise of the cities. It is a pity that the evils of the city life like hypocrisy, flattery, artificiality and cut-throat competition are fast entering the villages. All efforts must be made to retain the native character of village life. Let us hope that the purity and innocence of village life is not swept away by the air of materialism.

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Life In A Big City

Life In A Big City

Life in a big city has a charm and beauty of its own. There is a world of difference between the life in a big city and the life in the country side. City life is fast, mechanical, artificial and materialistic. We cannot enjoy fresh and pure air, peace of mind or contentment as we can have in the countryside. Cities are overcrowded. But in spite of all these drawbacks, life in a big city has many advantages. We enjoy different comforts and facilities. There are cinema house, clubs, hotels and restaurant which provide us entertainment. There are adequate arrangements for education. We have schools, colleges, libraries and reading rooms which increase our knowledge. If we fall ill, we can go to a dispensary or hospital for medical aid. We have better means of conveyance and transport. We have post offices and telegraph offices from where we can send letters and messages to our friends and relatives. We can enjoy the benefits of coolers, refrigerator, colour televisions and videos. Policemen protect out life and property. In a city, we can enjoy different comforts and facilities which are no available in villages. Life in a big city is much better and more comfortable than life in a village. People today like to live in cities and do not believe in the dictum: ‘God made the country and man made the town.’

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