‘A Long Way Gone’ – Ishmael Beah

A stunning, unflinching story which leaves the reader haunted…’A long way gone’ by Ishmael Beah is an extraordinary memoir, a firsthand report of the hardships and horrendous concepts such as massacre, that a child soldier faces.

Joyous, rap music-lover, Ishmael Beah with movies as the only exposure to war, at the tender age of 12, along with his country Sierra Leone, is suddenly thrown into a long, bloody civil war, and is transformed from a gentle, loving boy to a ruthless, cold-hearted killer.

The book vividly describes the impact on the young minds, on being witnesses of families being torn apart and also sufferings of the sick, helpless, and those left behind.

Descriptions on the state of refugees, who are ill-treated, bribed by their own nation, and in sequence are forced by circumstances and fate to join the army and commit cruel crimes and atrocities, leaves the reader haunted.

The book, thankfully, takes a turn and Beah is handed over to UNICEF for rehabilitation. He slowly and painfully overcomes his drug addiction and is reinstated with his uncle in Freetown, where again he finds himself heading to war. He tries to escape being a rebel or worse even a recruit, and is successful in his endeavour.

 The book is a must-read and one which kindles the feeling of gratitude that we, who live in a part of the world which is so safe and sheltered, have escaped such pain and brutal cost of losing one’s immediate family at such a young age. The book leaves a lasting impression of a long way gone by a determined mind which comes back, overcoming such trauma, with both humanity and sanity intact.

To Give is to Live

In today’s world, everyone wants to be famous, everyone wants their name to be known world over, their name to be recalled and recalled with respect, but none realize what once Martin Luther King quoted – “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve”.

We don’t realize that people whom we consider to be great and famous personalities, have, in their own way, given and served the society.

We have long forgotten the art of giving, the art of spreading wealth, happiness and most importantly, the thing the world needs most – love. Giving can hardly be described – but if I were to do it in a single word, the word which first comes to my mind is Joyous. Yes, I believe that, Giving is Joyous.

Unfortunately, today, we can count on our fingertips, the number of people who give – give from the bottom of their heart, and not give to show to the world, that they are being extremely generous and great, not give to gain something in return, not even respect. They are many people who give but very few who give truly.

I am deeply saddened at this state of affairs, even in India – a country which has produced several people who have not only always strived but have succeeded to serve truly and give back what they have acquired from the society. Our own Father of the Nation – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, has struggled, endured so much, to give freedom, free his beloved country from the clutches of the British. Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose are again examples – they have sacrificed their lives for India, for Indians.

Today Indians can sleep peacefully, because the freedom strugglers have had sleepless nights. We can speak without restraint, walk wherever we want, do almost anything and everything at our own time, own pace, all because of them, their determination, their perseverance and their sacrifice.

When our forefathers and other people all around the world like scientists, philosophers, educationists, leaders, and so many other people have given so much to the world, just so that we lead a comfortable or rather a luxurious life, can’t we give a little in order to make someone else’s life who is not as privileged as us, better?

Give, Give my dear friends and notice the satisfaction you get. Test the power of giving for yourself.

Is Attitude that important?

Is attitude all that important? This question may have occurred to many people around the globe. And most, infact all, elders and people around must have said – Yes, attitude is the key to success and one cannot reach anywhere without a positive attitude and good conduct.

So, this time in my blog post, I would like to present you with a story (which is said to be true). This story will serve as an example that attitude and perception matters the most.

 This is a story that happened between the customer of General Motors and its Customer-Care Executive. Please read on…

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

‘This is the second time I have written to you, and I don’t blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we’ve eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It’s also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem…

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won’t start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I’m serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds “What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?” The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway.

The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn’t start.

The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man’s car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn’t start when it took less time. Eureka – Time was now the problem – not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: “vapor lock”.

It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

Moral of the story or Inference drawn:

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking. What really matters is your attitude and your perception.

So, now friends, if you ever had a doubt about the fact ‘Attitude is the key to success’, I hope it has been cleared now.

What is life? A Monopoly?

This question might seem strange to many, but this has so much meaning and depth to it, I realized on playing a game of monopoly. During the game, all of us tried to win the game by hook or crook. We fought for add-on cards, for rent, for money. We tried to interrupt and stop other people trading cards which we wanted for our own benefit. Only a few saw the bigger picture and tried to enjoy the game and have fun as we played the game turn by turn. If not for these few, who brought in life to the game with their thoughts, their ideologies, their perceptions & their mere presence the game would have been monotonous & staid . But, in real life, one may not be as lucky as that. We may not find or realize those few near us, who live life fully.

We can experience this, in our daily lives. We see people in a hurry to get to work, frantically honking on the way back home too, so that they don’t miss their favourite television shows, not realizing the fact that most, if not all, are repeated several times a day. But no, I will do what I feel like, when I feel like, and how I feel like. This is the attitude of the people today. No one has the time to spare even to drop in and say a hello to the neighbours. We don’t see our neighbours’ faces for weeks together, sometimes even months. Is this life all about, running to the grocery shop, running in order to not miss the daily bus, running to school/office, running to the doctor for a slight cold? Did the Almighty create this whole wide world and us, human beings just to run around? Is life just all about running around, trying to fulfill our never-ending list of wishes and trying to get that so-called happiness? Does this world just consist of forever-agitated masses, breathing, eating and sleeping? Is life just all about this?

I leave this question unanswered in this blog post, as it is for you to decide whether your life is all about this. If not, think my dear friends, how you can just add a few wonderful moments with the important people in your life, and make life interesting, and you will find your life, worth living. Before ending this post, I would just like to give my definition of life – “A collection of moments, made special by you and maybe a few others”. This is life all about in my perspective. So, my dear friends, forget the past and live the present fully, as these presents make up your life. Aaj jeele, kisko pata kal ho na ho! (English translation – Live life fully today, you never know, there may not be a tomorrow)