The Wanderer

The wanderer keeps wandering,
unwinding, unlearning and unleashing
Exploring the beauty of the earth
In the colourful flowers that rise in the dirt

The wanderer walks to overcome fear
across rivers of tears and gardens of cheer
The path leads to someone waiting
Is it the dreams that set the heart beating?

Every glance from these paths’ maze
find colours melting in the gaze
the soothing winds, the soothing shade
Offer the vision of a destination glade.

The wanderer sees a new horizon, a new dimension
Dreams are realised by backing desire with dedication
Turn every moment into a precious one
following the call of your heart is real fun

The load on your mind will disappear
As the child in you reappears
Life will feel fresh and new
Love and bonding make a fine brew

Victory is when wanderers leave a trail
As an inspiration for others to set sail
A trail across waters and earth, high and low,
That beckon others with an invitation to glow.

~ Pravin K Sabnis

Unsolicited

A husband came into the kitchen and started badgering his wife, ‘hey! Be careful with the potato peeler… you may peel your skin! Please, watch what you are doing with the knife… you may cut a finger along with the ladyfinger! Don’t look this way… keep your eyes on the boiling pot! Hey, slow down… be careful… heed what I say!’ 

The stunned wife reacts, ‘what’s wrong with you? Why are you interfering unnecessarily… why are you giving unsolicited advice? For so many years I have been cooking without any mishaps…’

‘Exactly the point that I want to make, the husband asserted, ‘For so many years, I have been driving my car… without unsolicited advice!’

The story was shared over a long drive by Dr Vinaykumar Pai Raikar, a witty conversationalist and keen observer of human behaviour. He was making a pertinent point about the tendency to dump unsought, superfluous assistance onto others… and the disruptive distractions triggered by such unneeded interference.

So often, so many of us find it easy to direct actions of others that we may or may not be able to execute ourselves. The actor is focussed on the destination as well as the journey as well as the moving steps. But unsought directors unsettle this focus and disturb the mind by needless instructions.

Back seat driving is a role that we can easily slip into. It is a sign of disproportionate estimation of our own ability or underestimation of the capabilities of the other person. It may mean that we do not trust others or that we are not ready to let go. Even when intervention is necessary, it should not be unsolicited!

Unsolicited interference is not just upsetting
It disturbs the player and triggers unsettling!

~ Pravin K Sabnis

Forced Feed

In an engaging session at the Goa Environmental Festival, Venkat Charloo (of Coastal Impact) was educating school students about marine diversity. He mentioned the tendency of human beings to feed fish (and other animals too) the food that human beings eat. This forced feed harms (and even kills) the creature.

So often, so many of us force feed not just animals but also human beings. I have seen a child that was allergic to nuts being forced to eat a chocolate with nuts in it. The child was refusing the sweet but the adult persisted saying that it is was surprising to see a child refuse chocolates.

In our country, there is a popular tradition to dump more food in the plate of the guest even if he does not want it. Besides food, we force our beliefs, prejudices and rituals on others. The intensity of such force feeding is worse when the other person is perceived as being weaker to the one doing the forced feeding.

In school, we learnt a line that said, ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.’ Interestingly, this line is derived from an earlier proverb: ‘What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’. Obviously the sauce is to be used on a cooked goose or gander that is dead.

Force feeding kills. Force feeding suppresses. Force feeding denies the right to receive the right thing. Different beings have different needs and different capacities. When we force feed we presume that what is good for me is good for the other. But it is pertinent to note that it need not be. We must refrain from careless force feeding!

The forced feed can kill and bleed
Diversity needs appropriate deed!

~ Pravin K Sabnis

Bit

One day a raging fire engulfed a forest. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. From the distance, they watched the fire feeling powerless. Every one of them thought there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for a little sparrow.

It swooped into a stream, picked up a few drops of water, went into the forest and put them on the fire. It kept going back, again and again. All the other animals watched in disbelief; some tried to discouraging and disparaging the sparrow with comments like, ‘your little efforts will have no impact.’ The little bird said, ‘I am doing what I can’

The story was told by Makarand Anaspure during his interaction with the audience at the Goa Environmental Festival. Makarand along with Nana Patekar started the NAAM foundation in September 2015. NAAM is a manifestation of human spirit in response to the devastating conditions of drought affected farmers in Maharashtra.

Makarand was speaking as a rejoinder to a question whether small efforts could cope with the gigantic problem of drought. He insisted that the history would remember the little bird as one who fought the fire. He insisted that we must choose to be part of the solution rather than be motionless onlookers. We must do our bit!

It is the little drops that turn a dry patch into a wet one. It is the little drops that eventually make a sea. We must not be overawed into inaction by the magnitude of the challenge. We must focus on sincerely doing everything we can, even if it seems too tad. For the choice is only between doing something and doing nothing!

It is the sincere bit
… that will solve it!

~ Pravin K Sabnis