CLIQUE V/S SOLTITUDE

"There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall."

The Human beings are social creatures. Since the time of evolution, they have moved in groups, relying on each other to fulfill their needs.

Solitude may provide peace of mind, and time to organize one’s own goals, yet it leaves the mind restricted. Being a part of a group, a club or among peers gives a person a chance to look into various perspectives on innumerable topics. Such perspectives may or may not appeal to us, yet they do bring to light the pros and cons of the subject that we might have overlooked. Thus it provides a deeper insight and better judgment.

Being a part of a clique encourages group discussions which is a major factor in developing a person’s personality, and their ability to put forward their views more confidently and boldly. A person who might b good in studies and prefers a solitary life is bereft of such a privilege and is thus left as a nerd. These people may do well academically, but they are way behind when it comes to overall development.

Forming peer groups also encourages individuals to participate in extracurricular activities. For instance, I wasn’t so much into basketball initially, but as a result of peer pressure, I ended up giving it a try and made it to the school team. Therefore, per groups also form a platform for new opportunities.

In some cases having a club can help dividing the pressure and responsibilities. For example, our IIT-JEE  coaching professor told us that some students in IIT employ a strategy to perform well in their exams whereby the students of a group of, say, five students would equally divide and assign the chapters among each other once they are proficient in their topics, they would sit together and discuss them in detail. In this form of group discussion people end up making the most of their time and excelling too.

Thus solitude is not the best way for a person to function. Keeping ourselves vigilant and open minded is a key to success and which can be attained best by being a part of a larger entity. And well, if you are searching for a needle in the haystack alone, it might take forever, but if you have more people to help you through with it, the probability of finding the needle sure increases. And they say,

"When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion."

Traditions And Customs are NOT a Waste of Time

“Once a tradition always a tradition” that is what people say for even a slight practice they begin. But what about the age old customs and rituals that have been handed down?? Shouldn’t they be kept as an undeniable part of our life or should westernization take its toll?

Today the world is progressing with the vision of the west in mind, but in this process the morals that are at stake are the very identity of a nation. A nation is formed through years of history and believes. Yes, some might not be appropriate today since science has outdone us all, but stating such traditions to be outdated just on the basis of the fact that the western world doesn’t follow them is really unwise. In India, people have the custom of greeting a guest with a Namaste but nowadays the youth finds hi and hello the cool way of greeting someone. What’s wrong with saying Namaste? It sounds old, granny-type or too Indian? Well, that’s my point. Namaste is a signature word of India as Ciao or Merci is to Italy or France… but people there aren’t afraid to say it… why?? Oh yes, I forget that’s the wise and wild WEST!!

Here in India, we have this tradition of calling our relatives based on how they are actually related to us… like the mother’s brother is the MAMA and the sister is MAUSI. But in American culture everyone is referred to as uncle and aunty, be it the mother’s sister or brother or a friend. So, ultimately what happens here is that the words that well define your relationship are replaced by words that totally abstains the connection between the members of the family. I don’t mean to imply that the culture of America or the western countries is not as well defined as ours; I just want to imply that when we have our own culture which is so rich, why change it. Yes, some customs need to be banned like child marriage, female infanticide etc but if there are things that pose no harm to the society and are just defining the methods of people, then what’s the harm in practicing them? Touching the feet of elderly people or reading namaz five times a day… such practices don’t demean us, or waste our time… they are just there to bring some meaning into our life, to show our respect towards little things.

Hence, tradition is a guide and not a jailer. As Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd, and without innovation it is like a corpse”. The same applies to the human soul and thus we should accept traditions as a guide and if they pose a difficulty, modifications are welcome but completely amputating them from our lives is not a wise decision!!

As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot produce without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit!!