It was a cool afternoon in Belgaum, my hometown when five of us friends had been discussing on weird things and landed up into a heated argument. We all held different points of view about what the world ought to be and what not. Is India heading in the right direction? Is society doing the right thing by putting restrictions? Is the elected government responsible enough to pursue its developmental goals and if not how to get it going? Are we sensitive enough to the needs of the society and doing enough? And then there were also perspectives on space, time, and relativity. Einstein, Heisenberg, Schrödinger and Hawking all gushing out into the stream of arguments on concepts that could be quite abstruse. One of us argued it out with all the might. So involved was he in the debate that a remark that ridiculed him ended up in shrugged faces with another one who vehemently said that he didn’t bother about what happens of the system and the nation or the world or the universe as long as he kept doing well. And then there were two others who chipped in now and then and tried to keep the tempo down. The discussion that started as just a couple of opinions ended up in a heated argument that went on and on for a good 6 hours. At that time, in my 12th standard, I was quite a novice and pretty immature too. My arguments invariably were for argument’s sake. But this discussion was a different one and it had a lasting impact. At a much later date, upon reflection, I realized some things about people rather than what we argued about.
People in this world can be clssified using two parameters – speech and action. There are those who do not speak and do not act, those who speak and do not act, those who do not speak and act and those who speak and act. The first class of people – those who neither speak nor act could be of two types. They can be either totally ignorant, completely overwhelmed by the happenings around them rendering them indifferent or they can be men of complete realization. They might have realized every bit of the universe and might be silent enjoying every single event they watch as though it’s part of a great play. On the other extreme are the people who speak and act. These are people who display the highest levels of energies in making things happen the way they want them to happen. These are the ones who emerge as great leaders of the world. They articulate their thoughts; have a vast extent of influence on their surroundings and drive people to act as directed. But then, a little extreme can land them up in trouble because such people could end up being indifferent to the feelings of others. They might end up being task oriented at the cost of hurting others. They might in extreme cases fail to realize that task orientation and sensitivity to others’ feelings are not mutually exclusive. There is then the third class of people who do not speak but believe in action alone. Such people too can end up being great leaders. However, their influence is slow, but sure. Such people believe that actions speak louder than words. Such people can also become great teachers because they not only influence but also inspire. They radiate sincerity and they transform people into becoming good. And then there are the speakers who do not act. Well, such people, because of their lack of action despite an action required, end up being pessimistic and end up complaining. The only thing they can do is give sermons and end up in endless arguments with no outcome at all. But then, in the bargain they too contribute in passing on some influence, which, if positively picked up might end up being beneficial.
Action, inaction, speech and silence in various combinations and degrees produce different kinds of people. And then these are just two aspects of nature. There could be so many different influencers that make people what they are. Just as how it takes flowers of different hues to make a garden beautiful, people of all kinds are required to make this world beautiful. During the course of our lives, we come across several people who might fall into one these categories in different stages of their lives and each one of them might have something to teach us. It’s for us to keep our eyes and ears wide open to see, hear, think, learn, speak if necessary and definitely do something to reach a stage of complete knowledge wherein we might not feel the need to speak or do anything. It’s learning all the way – work in progress J
