By Prerna Tyagi:
“Don’t walk like that!”, “Eat properly!”, “Don’t make noise here!”, “Can’t you behave properly?”, “Look at XYZ (the class topper), he/she is so obedient, always comes first, I wish he/she was my child” and what not! Our parents have million ways to make us feel ‘really sorry’ about ourselves, I am not saying all parents fall in this category but if you are not XYZ then such a scenario is quite likely to be faced by you.
Since the day we come to this ‘beautiful planet’, Earth, our parents, the best teachers (not sarcastically), teach us to eat, drink, walk, talk and sometimes even breath (“Don’t make that nasal noise, it irritates, Grow Up!!); along with our school teachers and friends (the most listened-to) we grow up to become well-mannered ‘puppets’ in the hands of others and so dependent that somewhere we start trusting everyone around but us, forget those power-packed sayings “Listen to your inner voice”. But here starts the perfect follow (man-ship) Â “X is doing engineering, I’ll do it too”, Â “Y is going for the movie, I’ll go too”, “Z is smoking, why can’t I?” and in this Copy-Cat Race we leave ‘ME’ way behind us.
We are ‘unique’, Genetics (one of the most credible branch of biology) has proved it, no two people with the same fingerprint can exist, so then why are we bred or groomed to become like this famous person or that successful being? We come to this planet to carve and live our ‘own’ destiny not somebody else’s; forget carving we hardly believe in destiny; all this has become mere ‘philosophical melodrama’ to us because we are living in the so called ‘practical world’ where there is no time
for it and it seems baseless , “Forget it!! Get real” is all we can utter at mere thoughts of these. In this blind race which starts with good marks in 1st class, 2nd class, boards exams, admission in best college, good placement, good marriage, good children…..the list is endless, have we ever stopped for a second and pondered  “Is this really what I wanted or the way I wanted?”
Very few of us have the courage to say to our parents “No! I don’t want to do it!” because if we do, we become the infamous rebel of our house. This problem is most prevalent in middle class or low class families where risk-taking is totally prohibited with straightforward statements like “Do as we say or else Get out!!”
Why don’t WE (youth, teachers and parents) understand that most of the successful men and women were/are brave or I should say stubborn enough to take or make their own decisions and carve out their own destiny, live life according to their own terms and conditions.
The movie 3 Idiots was a super-duper hit because somewhere the cause struck us but have we really broken the chains of slavery and risen above to realize what we want to do with our lives? Or what is right or wrong for me? Very few of us would have thought about it, all this is indeed good to watch but is best when implemented and it needs courage to stand to your own decisions and choices. A line by Aamir Khan in the movie , “Do the work you enjoy and it will become a game”. And life is a game, my friend!! Play it! Live It! Enjoy it! So, when are you celebrating your Independence Day?
Image courtesy: http://www.medimanage.com/my-kids-health/articles/Give-them-some-sunshine.aspx