Appreciate

Appreciate
You are capable of more than what you think

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Fact of being "Known"

When  you are 'known' and 'Visible'  in the society or the public, its the moment when you get all the attention in the world.. The  very little things you do is noticed, the way you look at people, the way you  walk, talk  or even  the way you smile. If you unintentionally do things against the general principles  you become the source of rumors and mockery even if the deed is not of a big public concern. When the gossip actually reaches back to you it is all in the form of immense distortion.
Conversely, if the same  deed is carried by any other person of no public visibility, the action goes unnoticed even if the intensity of the situation is extreme.
Another complication is the 'Faces' behind the 'smiles.' There may be many people who may double cross or mislead you. Trying to figure out the deceptive smiles may be arduous. One have to be careful anyways. Flattery, you will receive that a lot by people who know you but to distinguish  the intention may be difficult. For few might have the intention to drag and stain you of your hard earned state. 
The most difficult part is differentiating True from False friends, understanding the real appreciation from the bad intended ones.
Now, since you are well known , you can no more live by your values or perception but have to follow what the majority perceives right or wrong. The freedom to live by your values and interest curtails. Your name is tagged by the position you hold and not by  the person who you really are. The self identity gets lost in the world of expectations. 
In such times, there is lose of serenity with yourself and with other people around you. One might even feel to strangle another person who deluded(if you come to know about it) you. But its the time when you must show them how tranquil you are about everything. Otherwise their eyes and ears are too open to create another rumor. This is the way the world functions. You see frowning faces when a misfortune happens to you but you do not see the real face behind it. Outwardly,   they may frown but once you are out of sight that may be the only source of their conversation. This is the world.................the very bitter fact about being known and  recognized....

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

The Power of Collectivity


Collective power
Often in our society we end up pointing fingers at each other or blaming each other when a problem arise instead of working collectively to it. When there is a gang fight, we often think it is the responsibility of police to solve the problem. When a student creates a nuisance at schools, we often blame our teacher of the credibility of their teaching. In fact, we are not ready to be the stakeholders to root out these issues. We are very good at debating and coming up with great ideas to solve these issues. Implementation is difficult because of the lack of cooperation from various stakeholders.
As I came in acquaintance with many people young, adults, and elderly in various discussions, workshops and forums, I realized the power of collective thought and work. Bhutanese must be proud to know that there are enough of CSO’s  and  NGO’s with similar visions and aims. The question is how we bring these diverse groups with shared visions together. There needs to be collaboration to bring change in the society.
To state few examples of varied groups with similar visions: The first is our focus on youth where there are several groups like YDF, Y-VIA, Go Youth Go, DYS, BYF etc.  All these groups focus on well being of youth and related problems. Its basic focus is on how youth energy can drive the society. If these societies can collaborate, things would be more efficient and effective.
Should the youth issues be left to these organizations? In fact, NO, every Bhutanese must take the responsibility to combat drug addictions, gang fights, violence etc. If every citizen hold responsible for these issues, it will mitigate soon.
Even though Bhutan has several women organization for the well-being of women and children, the women and child victims are still high. Women victims of violence and prostitution are high. There are children who are homeless and victims of child labour. Aren’t these organizations doing enough? Of course, these organizations are doing their best for the well-being of the society. However, these organizations suffer from the lack of human resources, expert group, budget and technology. Did anyone think how efficiently these aims and visions would be achieve if they work together.
Domestic violence is a concerned issue for everyone. How many of us report when we see our neighbor’s wife  battered?  We think it is their personal matter and we must not intrude. However, is battering a personal matter?  This issue of violence against women can be solved if the matter is not just left for the women organization to solve it.
Every Bhutanese know that waste is a problem. We see waste everywhere.  Our street is filled with wrappers, plastic, bottles.  ‘Someone has thrown it/I am not responsible for it,’ are the attitudes when we see these wastes. We leave it for someone to take the responsibility.  It’s the attitude of the people that is a problem than waste.
It is high time for potential groups of varied background with similar vision and various stakeholders to come together. Forming various new CSO;s is not a solution to the problems if there is no cooperation  among the stakeholders. We might have extraordinary visions but without collective efforts, visions may remain only  as visions.