23.  Realities of Life

 

“Much ado about nothing” is very true

Of the fuss that a man makes, giving no clue

As to what silly things trouble his mind

The reason for which it is hard for others to find.

 

People in authority hold power;

It is not always blessings that they shower.

Poor people have to suffer in silence;

They are unable to resist violence.

 

It is less painful to lead a life of melancholy

Than to lead a life of agony.

The former is only depressing;

The latter is really excruciating.

 

Life has its own vicissitudes;

For long-term prosperity there is no certitude.

One has to face the ups and downs of fortune

From which nobody in the world is immune.

 

Many people are afflicted by poverty;

Some others are earners of property.

For the former the condition is bitter;

For the latter it does not matter.

 

What do the media zealously convey

But all the things we want to keep away-

Sex scandals, suicides and all the rest

That infest our minds like a pest?

 

What with cancer ,AIDS and SARS

Bright are not mankind’s stars.

Who can ever make them bright,

If man is blind to see the Light?

 

To be in sack cloth and ashes is a token of penitence;

To be in silk cloth and jewellery is a token of affluence.

Dress is the token of many a thing,

But nakedness is a shameful thing.

 

It is far better to be an optimist

Than to be a down-right pessimist.

Optimism helps us to go forward;

Pessimism makes us only to go backward.

 

On earth there is no security;

There is only opportunity

Which is for overcoming insecurity

That may come in all its severity.

 

In a dispute one party may show ebullience

And the other party may show reticence.

The former is due to daringness

And the latter is due to wariness.

 

We would always like to hear a symphony

And turn our ears away from cacophony.

Sometimes we will have something dreadful to hear,

But it is no use closing our ears out of fear.

 

 

 

 

 

Nero went on harping

While Rome went on burning.

This kind of approach from a ruler

Can never in the world be crueler.

 

Carrot and stick are good tools

To make the unwary fools.

The former serves to attract

And the latter serves to distract.

 

Accidents often come out of negligence

These can be kept out by vigilance.

There is no use mourning after the accident

Which to the unaffected is a mere incident.

 

Misfortunes sometimes come like an avalanche

Against which a strike you cannot launch

Your plans and dreams come hurtling down

And you cannot in any way trace them down.

 

Corruption is in a way worse than prostitution.

The latter endangers an individual’s morals;

The former endangers a nation’s morals.

To root out corruption can we start an institution?

 

Our responsibility ends not with what we say

But it extends to what we do not say

Certain unpleasant truths have to be told

When such information we cannot withhold.

 

India had a green revolution

And now it has a white revolution.

The former was to avert poverty and starvation;

The latter is to increase vitality and nutrition.

 

 

 

 

 

Survival of the fittest is natural law,

But let it not be practised as a common law.

The less fit should be given a chance

By which they may their fitness enhance.

 

A scandal is always embarrassing;

Sometimes it may be job-threatening.

If it is a sex scandal, it is all the more humiliating;

Who knows whether it will not be life-wrecking?

 

Friendship is not a one way street;

If you are truly discreet,

You will extend cooperation to the other party

And receive cooperation from the same party.

 

How many orphans suffer in this world!

How many bereaved live in a void!

Who will come to their relief?

Whom will they approach in full belief?