Noel Manuel
Never forget to greet people, while on your way up in life, for you never know, whom you have to acknowledge on your way down. Pride has a number of definitions. The positive side could mean a person or thing that gives people a sense of pleasure. Another aspect could be the feeling of respect that we have for ourselves. But the most definite explanation for Pride is Pleasure Released In Definite Equations.
On the other hand, the negative side can best be explained through the adage ‘Pride comes / goes before a fall.’ This means that if we have too high an opinion of our abilities, or ourselves, something will happen to make us look stupid. And so often it does. This because we abbreviate pride as Pleasure Released In Disrespecting Equations
We hear many a story on pride and the eventual downfall of each. To possess pride is not bad. It is a way of displaying the respect that we have for ourselves. But to push or bring pride to the edge of the playing arena, where it eventually falls from grace, is a way of disrespecting who you really are.
There are a number of qualities that come programmed in our genes. And much of our lifetime is spent programming these qualities to our surroundings. After all, it is these qualities that actually visualize the picturesque character that we all endeavour to promote. It is a daunting task but not impossible. It is our ignorance that makes it unworkable.
When we begin neglecting to program our qualities, they generally turn rusty and gradually go defunct. And when our qualities go defunct, they actually perform just the opposite of what they are actually supposed to do. They get destructive to the surroundings and eventually our character is smeared from the outcome caused by these destructive qualities.
Now, when we talk about building our character, what we don’t really know is that we are actually indicating that our qualities need programming. They need to be set into the right condition to enable our character or nature have a trouble-free ride through life.
Imagine a car that has been built without a steering wheel or the radiator. It would practically be impossible for the car to move on its own. Yes, with a little push or effort it would manage to go a few steps, and perhaps a little more, with a little more energy. But ultimately, it will remain static or maybe just be pushed off the road, when the traffic gears up.
Like the car, our character also keeps getting pushed from time to time, with reminders from our surroundings, that there is something amiss in our genes. Our car is pushed off the road and away from the road of life.
Life itself, exemplifies a heavy traffic. Like traffic on a one-way street that move in a particular direction towards a common destination, people too, are sensitive about directions and everyone appears to be moving. We move, when we are able to programme our qualities that are acceptable to the road conditions. When we don’t programme our genes, it is not the road that lets us down. But the other cars that bang you off, because you are an obstruction to the smooth movement towards a good character.
Programming our qualities is akin to checking our car on a regular basis. The more time we spend checking our vehicle, the fewer breakdown problems we have. Though breakdowns cannot be predicted, they can certainly be avoided. Similarly, our pride too can be prevented from going out of order, through regular check-ups.
While some of us actually neglect to program our qualities, there are still others who spend more time than what is actually required for programming. They wish to make their cars stand out from the others on the road of life. And they sure do it well. This is when, you probably may have overheard someone say, “This person is the most humble human-being I have ever met.”
The term humble comes into being when the quality of pride is conditioned on a regular basis. Parallel to how our car gets more admiration with each check, resulting in every ride being a pleasurable trip than a tension-riddled one.
A humble is often admired and adored. He reaches his destination i.e. good character faster than any other car gets there. He is able to move fast on the road of life because each of his qualities, and that too of pride, is in excellent condition and there is no reason for a breakdown.
It is the tireless effort of every person to grow a character that radiates in the shadow of admiration. This because, our character becomes our identity and our identity becomes our reality. And the basic reality of life is to humble ourselves before God and Man. I believe this is necessary because God has created us in his own image and likeness. And in every man I see the reflection of God.
A friend’s house I had stayed in sometime back had about 90 steps that led to his apartment on the second floor. Coincidently, whenever, I returned at about 3 in the afternoon, I observed an elderly man catch the railings and drag himself right upto the flat opposite ours on the second floor. The man actually visited the pharmacy for his injections, from what I was later to learn. What seemed interesting about this daily ritual was the fact that the man always preferred to climb up on his own. And this climb was to become a lesson for me, when I volunteered to offer my services to the man one day. He said, when I climb, I am able to observe each step I take because my head is focused on what lies below me. I take them carefully and with care. I take them at my own pace and I am sure that you admire the way I do it. Your help, he went on to continue, on the other hand, will turn my focus on you, which means I will have to look up and in the process this may cause a misstep and end in tragedy.
Humility does not mean defeat. It means to bow our head down so that we can see the reality below we than the clouds that traverse above. There is one thing that I have learnt to accept from this lesson in life. The more we humble ourselves the faster, safer and quicker we get acquainted to our surroundings. And adaptation or acclimatization to our environs is vital to our existence.
noelmanuel@rediffmail.com
The writer is the Coordinator of the Northeast Region (Poetry Society of India) and Life Member of the Poetry Society of India. Journalist and Correspondent Eastern Panorama (News Magazine of the Northeast) Phonetics Teacher.
