Why do Bad things happen to Good people?

At some point in time almost everyone wonders, why do bad things happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? Like for instance, a man driving on a street, abiding all the road safety guidelines meets with a terrible accident. The drunk driver crashed his car into that innocent man’s door killing him on the spot. What did that innocent man do to see such fate? Was the drunk driver solely responsible for the murder?

          Often people say you reap what you sow, that means if you do good deeds, good things will happen to you and if you do bad things, eventually bad things will happen to you. This is the law of karma. This statement doesn’t solve my problem. The popular phrase above looks only inwards and doesn’t include the cruel world and the things they do. There are so many good, loving, innocent people out there who haven’t killed a cockroach in their life, who haven’t done anything wrong in their life, yet terrible things happen to them. Why?

         Some people say it is because of their past life. They must have done something terrible in their past life so that’s why this happened to them now. Let me take an example of a small 10-year-old girl. She is so pure, kind-hearted, and probably doesn’t even know the difference between right and wrong. This girl was brutally raped several times and then murdered in New Delhi. Will you still say it’s because she did something horrible in her past life? 

Source - Google

          I have searched weeks if not months on this topic, to go into the depth of this matter, to find the real answer to this problem and I finally think I’ve come to a solution. Let me explain by asking you a question. Whatever you are today is it because of the result of your own actions? If the answer is yes, then you’re wrong. Don’t you think where you are today is also because of your parents, your school, your mentors, your society, your environment where you grew up. Don’t these factors affect your life directly or indirectly? I agree most of the decisions are made by you. You’re in the driver’s seat of your life. Ultimately it’s you who choose who you want to be. But you cannot eliminate the external factors, because human beings have never survived independently. We live in a co-dependence society, whether we like it or not. 

          Coming back to the topic, why bad things happen to good people? Is it just because of the evildoer? I agree he is to be blamed majorly but he is not the sole responsible for the crime. Don’t you think if the law was extremely strict then will that man have the guts to even think about doing such a horrible thing? Our education system is also at fault. If our education system properly taught about sex education to the youth, then the possibility of rape will be at a minimum. Why our education system is so awful? You can say because of the politicians and their selfish reasons. As you can see this blaming game can go on and on. This won’t ever stop.

           Basically what I’m trying to say is ‘Jo Ek karta hai uska asar Sab pe hota hai aur jo Sab karte hai uska asar Ek pe hota hai.’ This means ‘whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.' So if we say the innocent person who is suffering because they did something wrong in his past life, neither the police will do anything nor will the education system change. Whatever is happening is because of his/her past doings. What can we even do here? This doesn’t make any sense. I think this has a major role in why our country is in a terrible situation. We cannot have a narrow-minded approach we need to think of the broader aspect.

           But can you change this cruel world alone? No. Can we together change the world? Yes! A world where there is actual peace and everyone works in harmony. What I’m talking about is a Utopia world. It seems impossible to achieve this, but 500 years ago it seemed impossible to reach the moon. Yet we did the unthinkable. Human history has taught me one thing; if we put our mind to it we can achieve even the impossible. We need to change ourselves first, others will see you and get inspired and then change will come gradually. All I ask of you, Help others in whatever way you can. Be kind to other's feelings, emotions. If you can’t help anyone at the moment, that’s okay. Just do one thing, don’t hurt anyone. And the world will become a better place to live in…

The Pandemic: COVID-19

The virus that shook the surface of the Earth, Lakhs of people infected and suffering from Covid-19, thousands dead and still counting, Millions of people all over the world locked down to their homes. All because of a tiny virus which is the size of 1/100th of a cell in your body. But don’t underestimate it for its size for once inside your body; it has the power to kill you.

          The most deadly thing of the coronavirus is the ability to mutate and multiply itself when it’s in contact with a living being. Though with necessary precautions, all this can be avoided. But I don’t want to bore you with all the safety measures nor do I want to talk about the negative effects of Covid-19.

          In this time of global crisis, it would help us all to look at the bright side of things. For instance, being updated about the pandemic is a good thing, but constantly talking about it on WhatsApp won’t do any good. (I do that at times, then I realized, it’s not worth spending my time on it) It will just create more amounts of stress which certainly we don’t want.

Source - Google

          Earlier we always complain, we have no time for ourselves in this busy world. Now we have all the ME TIME in the world during this period of self-quarantine. Let’s not waste this precious moment and use it well to do something productive. Do what you love, sketch, paint, write, read, etc. I, as a matter of fact, believe in balance and equilibrium in life. There should be a balance in fun time and hard work in whatever you do. We always push extremes and forget to enjoy life, which also becomes a problem at times. So balance in productivity is a good way to go to not face constant frustrations and work overload.

           There is ample time to plan for your future and think about what you actually want to do and become in life. But now you will ask what if the world comes to an end? All my planning for nothing!? Don’t worry, the world will not end because of this pandemic, I can assure you that. I cannot say with certainty when this disease will be contained, but Covid-19 will end if we take necessary precautions and fight it together as a family (Now don’t gather in crowds, 'together' was just a figure of speech. As our Prime minister said “Is waqt Social Distancing bohot mahatvapurn hai)

           If you take a look towards nature, due to millions locked down over the globe the pollution level has drastically gone down in all major cities. In Venice, the water is crystal clear because the canals are empty of tourists. Let’s take this opportunity to start on a bright and eco-friendly note and protect our mother earth. If we do not take care and protect our Earth, nature finds ways to protect itself which will have a devastating effect on humanity.

           Lastly, I would like to mention, there is no need to create unnecessary panic, stay calm and composed, as far as possible listen to your government instructions and stay at home. We will defeat this Covid-19, whatever it takes because it’s our only shot left at SURVIVAL!

You Grow, I Grow

Every person has a different perception, a different point of view of how they see you. In some stories you might be a Hero but there might be some where you are seen as a villain. You don’t have much of a say in this matter because all people think differently. No two persons have the same mindset. How much ever you try, you can’t please everyone.

          We often say “I don’t care about what the world thinks about me, I’ll do what I want to do.” But be true to yourself, deep down you still heed at what people think about you. Everyone wants to have a good image of oneself. For instance, if you do something good in the day the next thing you’ll do is post an Insta-story to share it with everyone. Almost everything you do, you do it for others or share it with them. If they like it they might get inspired and motivated. Sharing experiences with loved ones doubles the happiness

Source - Google

          In life if your goal is to learn from experiences then that’s great, you’re on the right path. But whats the use if you don't practically use the things that you learn. We should try to improve ourself each day and strive for excellence. There are no shortcuts in this matter. Everyone has to go the narrow path which seems very difficult. But true hard work pays off. All you need to have is a bit of patience and your time will eventually come and when it comes make sure to seize every opportunity life throws at you. 

         If you look closely in life we work only to help one another, heck we even earn money from that. If you want to travel somewhere you book an Uber and he takes you to your place and in return you pay him. You can say it’s his job, but if you look in a different way he helped you to get to your destination. This is how the world works. Yet we have a mentality of I, Me and Myself. Kindness is free (Offer valid till stock lasts). True happiness in life is experienced when you help someone. Try it and then let me know if you think otherwise.

Stress

In this post, I would like to talk about stress and pressure and what it does to the youth if not taken it in a right way. Everyone faces some sort of stress or pressure in life. Now stress can be work overload, stress related to studies, stress related to financial problems and the list goes on and on…

           But, what I feel the biggest stress in our life is due to comparison. “That guy Manav has achieved so many things, and look at me wasting my time on Netflix.” Most of the time we feel that we are lacking behind and all the others are moving forward. This sense of competing with each other creates stress. There is no reason for such competition. I’m not saying there is comparison only in studies. We have created comparison in everything, Literally EVERYTHING.

Source - Google

           Do you really believe that who so ever comes first only that person can be successful in life? Then only god can help you! Coming first, second or third doesn’t matter. In the end what matters is, you getting better than your own self. Comparison from your own old self is way better than comparing yourself with others. I guarantee once you stop comparing with anyone then you will be able to deal with stress.

           Stress is something that will remain always, but it’s for your own good. If you deal with stress in a right way then it will help you to achieve your goal. It will even boost your self esteem and confidence.

           Don’t run away from stress. You’ll be running away from your own self. You have to face your difficulties, if you want to be stress free. My advice is stop comparing with others or find fault in others. You be the change you want to see. And start working towards what you really want to do in life, what brings you happiness. Then slowly you will learn how to deal with stress. You just have to BEGIN!

Traveling

Everyone, I mean literally everyone has had the need to travel. It’s become a part and parcel of life. To travel is such a wonderful thing. Every day is a new experience.

        I personally hated traveling from the beginning. But fate wanted me to travel. So now I have to travel in a day for almost 3 hours. Out of 24 hours of my day, I spend 3 hours for traveling…

        I live in Mumbai suburbs and I travel all the way to the southern tip of Mumbai. Obviously, I have to travel by train, and each day I get to see various incidents, that it just makes my day… or sometimes ruin it!

        In Mumbai, a city of overcrowded people, a city where you can get everything and anything, nobody knows nobody and everybody is a stranger. Let me phrase it rightly nobody cares about anybody! They all live their own small world… and there is little that you can do to change that fact.

Source - Google

       I would like to share one of my bad experience of traveling. It was the day of my examinations; First of all I was late, second of all the train was late and above all I didn’t study at all! I was really tensed, it was 9:45 and the train was expected to reach at 9:35 at Andheri station. Apart from this it was a week day and so there were like million people standing on the platform to catch a Churchgate fast. I had the feeling that someone would get knocked off from the platform if. Thankfully it didn’t happen. I saw from a distance that the train arrived, but to my shock the train was already crowded. I said to myself I have to get into this train by hook or crook even if I have to climb on top of the train too (Certainly I couldn't do that). The train didn’t even stop and there were people jumping out. It came to a halt and few people came out. I took the chance and I swooped right inside the compartment. In a minute, One by one the train got so full that, I thought ill get thrown off right from the other side. I held on to the handle for dear life, praying that I may reach on time for my test. The train was so crowded that there wasn’t even space left to stand properly. My one leg was not even touching the ground; I kept that leg on top of my other leg. Half the people didn’t even get in. And the train started moving; I said to myself it’ll be over soon enough, no big deal. It was a fast train. So at least I’ll reach there a bit sooner. The local trains in Mumbai shudder a lot. I mean they rapidly rock side by side. When the train reached it's top speed the train literally started swinging left and right. I was literally bounced back and forth like a ping pong ball. At that moment I felt this is the end. I won't survive this. I literally started singing the hymn ‘I surrender’ in my mind. And right after, I reached Dadar and oh my, what relief. The whole crowd got down and the train got almost empty. I just collapsed in one of the seats. I was like alas it is over. But then it struck to me like a lightning bolt, EXAMS! It’s not over yet. It was 10:25 when I reached the station. It is like a 15 minutes walk to college and my exam starts at 10:30. At that moment I didn’t think of anything else. I just ran like my life depended on it. I reached the college and heard the bell ringing. “I can make it. I can make it!” I kept saying to myself. I reached my examination hall. The supervisor gave a sharp look at me and said, “Why are you late?” I replied, “I just had a rough day!”