“All of us are incandescent with the same light, infected with the same blight.” —Valson Thampu
Human beings are indeed the most unique of species. We are empowered with the strength of imagination, the willpower which enables us to dominate animals and species physically superior to us, prime examples being horses and elephants and, not to forget, an indominable determination and sense of wisdom which has, over centuries, given shape to the modern civilisation that we witness today.
In our daily monotonous lives amidst the hustle and bustle of this vibrant and ever-expanding civilisation, we seldom have the liberty or leisure to stop on our tracks and introspect—face our own selves and interrogate as to how or what provided us with the inspiration to develop the modern society as we know it today. For instance, what inspired the first real-estate developers to construct a structure (or “mega-structure” as they are popularly known nowadays) which we have subsequently christened “buildings” or “monuments”? What was the source of idea behind the first man-made “bridge”? What caused us to imagine the structure of the first-ever “dam across a river”? What led to the emergence of the “Internet”, the “World Wide Web” and the myriad wonders of the scientific age it has given rise to in subsequent times?
An obvious answer to all the above questions may be “necessity” going by the famous adage—“Necessity is the mother of invention.” But mere necessity did not provide a complete blueprint of the structure or constituents of these inventions. Something much more powerful, much more comprehensive and yet much more abstract has gone into the making of a thing we call, in simple words, “inspiration”. But as enunciated earlier too, there were no such things previously existing which could have inspired these man-made wonders. Then a million dollar question arises as to where this inspiration behind the first such creations of the kind came from. The answer to the above question requires a bit of pondering but after deep introspection and thinking one can conclude that there could have been only one possible origin—the creator itself!
It is indeed strange and should leave one awestruck as one marvels at the vastness of the inspirational powers within us. Since time immemorial we have been traversing the endless path of civilisation guided by our “Inner Light”—the power of inspiration within us that makes itself prominent at each hurdle that we face along the path. And yet, it is indeed most unfortunate that most of the time, we are reduced to being at the mercy of others’ ideas and beliefs when confronted with a situation not very much within our self-defined “comfort zones”. We do not rely on the inspiration and inner strength we are endowed with but prefer to surrender our independence of thinking and innovating at the altar of the narrow notion of “flowing with the tide”—being subservient to the so-called established and traditional forms of thinking.
I share a personal experience which I am quite certain has been faced by many people. Since early childhood, I had a fear of facing a large audience a majority of whom were unknown to me (a mental state many commonly refer to as “stage-fear”). In the first such instance of my life, I was asked by the organisers of a cultural programme at my apartment in 2014 to speak at a gathering of the residents for a particular occasion, most of whom were hitherto unknown to me. To be very honest, initially, I was quite nervous and eagerly looking for a chance to skip the programme altogether. However, someone within kept on repeatedly telling me to calm down and snatch at this opportunity of reaching out to an audience largely unknown to me. Finally, I did muster the courage to stand in front of the gathering and give a speech which was greeted with a thumping round of applause. That was indeed the day when I triumphed over my “stage-fear” once and for all, guided by the inspiration which came from within.
We are citizens of the world’s largest democracy, and are gifted with the freedom to think independently and in the light of our self-acquired sense of rationalism and values. Our dynamic and vibrant nation is in itself testimony to what the greatness and inspiration from a billion human souls can achieve, only if they are allowed to act and think in tandem with the convergence of Western civilisation and Eastern orientalism. Celebrated personalities and achievers from various walks of life in our country have proved time and again that it is not the riches or legacy one is born with that determine the quantum of success that she/he shall achieve in her/his lifetime, rather it is the self-confidence, self-inspiration and superiority of innovative ideas over established notions that result in the development of an enlightened persona, glimmering with the aura of positivity and strength whose source can be traced to the “inspiration from within”. Today, in an age when news headlines across most countries of the world are dominated by incidents of depression and suicides due to a variety of reasons like unemployment, jilted love, rural distress and so on, it is my firm belief that one basic ingredient that really needs to be revived within ourselves is self-confidence and a belief in the indomitable spirit of humanity.
Before plummeting into the dismal abyss of depression or before bidding adieu to this God-gifted human life once and for all, it may be fruitful to face ourselves for once and interrogate our inner self as to what can be the possible way out. Turnarounds are not unheard of for the resilient human soul, but if only one believes in the strength of inspiration that eternally enlightens our inner selves. To quote the words of Swami Vivekananda : “We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions.”