16.  Wise Living

 

Wastage is wastage, let it be money or grain;

Use your resources to make a gain.

Forget not things wasted are things lost

And the loss may be at a great cost.

 

Lose not your future for the pleasures of the present,

From the present you have to make an ascent.

This may require sacrifices on the way

But don’t be deterred when you are just half-way.

 

There are educated youth on a job-hunt,

There are policemen on a man- hunt,

There are scientists on a discovery –hunt,

And there are negotiators on a peace-hunt.

 

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions”,

But the road to heaven is paved with good actions.

Good intentions may vaporize themselves

Whereas good actions will consolidate themselves.

 

While many are trying to make both ends meet,

A few privileged are making a feat

To amass wealth and enjoy luxury

Leaving the have-nots to live in penury.

 

 

 

 

 

Every religion has many a precept

That all others may not accept.

But to the believer they are sacred;

To pooh-pooh them will cause hatred.

 

“An honest man is the noblest work of God”;

A dishonest man has to answer to God.

Honesty will pay much dividend,

Even otherwise it is in itself an end.

 

Where there is no river, why look for a bridge?

When there is no food to keep, why look for a fridge?

Where there are no pupils, why look for a teacher?

Where there are no animals, why look for a hunter?

 

Sitting on top of a precipice

Will give no man mental peace.

It is better to sit on level ground

And to coolly and calmly look around.

 

For job seekers there is a racket

Which is in the employment market.

What can they offer from their empty pockets

To fill the job-givers’ bottomless pockets!

 

Predominance of men is not desirable,

Nor is predominance of women acceptable.

Equality of both is the threshold

On which mankind has to gain a foot-hold.

 

To find a means to an end is the proper way

And not to look aghast on the way.

There is no smooth going on many a problem;

We must find the best means to solve any problem.

 

 

 

 

 

Do not use a hatchet

Just to remove a wicket.

Easy things must be easily done;

Hard things should be cleverly done.

 

Let us not be mired in worrying,

Let us have advance thinking

And a bit of advance planning

To ensure a future that is shining

 

To tell the plain truth is an easy thing;

To tell a clever lie is a difficult thing

The truth will ever shine amidst the gloom;

The lie will ever lie hidden in the gloom.

 

The end doesn’t justify the means is morally correct;

But this motto is not kept by those who are corrupt.

The end for them is the most important thing;

The means for them count for just a farthing.

Distance doesn’t keep hearts away;

Malice only keeps them away.

Nourish good thoughts and sentiments,

That will bring cheer and contentment.

 

An insult cannot be compensated

Whereas a wrong can be compensated.

An insult causes to the mind an injury

Which can be healed by a soft apology.

 

Some people keep idle their patrimony

And display a lot of parsimony.

If they leave it to their progeny,

It may be wasted by too many.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Action or renunciation of action-which is better?

The answer is that action is by far better.

We cannot dismiss the world as an illusion

And stop every action for our problems’ solution.

 

Try to be as cool as a cucumber

When awkward situations encumber.

That requires immense presence of mind

And intensity of purpose of the rarest kind.

 

Better watch the birds in the house of a pigeon

Than watch the men locked in a dungeon.

The birds are ever free to fly,

But the men are only free to cry.

 

If you watch a small bird making a nest,

You will marvel at God’s zest

For making it have its own shelter

And a home for its little ones thereafter.