Prashanthatha

ప్రశాంతత!
మనిషి, మనిషి సృష్టిత ప్రపంచం, రెండూ నిద్రిస్తున్నాయి
మనిషిని చేసిన ప్రపంచమే చప్పుడు చేస్తుంది

ఆకులూపుకుంటూ చెట్లు కబుర్లు చెప్పుకుంటున్నాయి
చిన్నపిల్లాడిలా గాలి ఊరంతా తిరుగుతుంది
జంతువులన్నీ మనిషి భయం లేకుండా అరుస్తున్నాయి
పాలవెన్నెల్లో చంద్రుడు స్నానం చేస్తున్నాడు
ఆకాశం చుక్కలదుప్పటిలో భూమిని కప్పేసింది

ఈ రాత్రి ఎంత బాగుంది!
ఎవరైనా ఆ సూర్యునికి చెప్పండి, కాస్త మెల్లగా రమ్మని,
మనిషిని  నిద్రలేపొద్దని!

Why dream

The problem with dreams is that by the time you achieve them, you are not the same age anymore to enjoy them. I wanted a Skoda Octavia back in 2004, I thought I would buy it. But as my salary increased, it's price too. Now if I dream about driving a Porsche, I could be too old by the time I earn enough money to buy a Porsche. But does that mean we should not dream?

When I was a child, I have always wanted to be a civil servant - I made my career choices in line with that. But I finally could not achieve that. I prepared explicitly for that for two and half years, implicitly for 24 years until I lost the romantic inspiration to continue it. I did not find achieving that dream satisfactory anymore. When I joined MoBolt, I could perform my job different if not better than others, because I used to ask myself and others a lot of questions. I questioned processes, conventions, decisions and did not give up until a comprehensive answer was found. This I could only attribute to my preparation for civil services wherein I had to read a wide range of books, present a rational and practical solution to problems with multiple variables and during which I was exposed to handling the possibility of a counter solution as nuanced as mine. Without civil services preparation, I would not have succeeded at MoBolt. Therefore, without dreaming about civil services, I would not have achieved my current relatively happy status. Hence, dreaming is important. The difference is in what to do with your dreams.

Dream, but not make dreams your master

Dream. But do not think about the gains you expect to achieve on realising that dream. Try to scale that down to your current situation and see what you can achieve - even a minute part of those gains - at this moment. For example, if you dream about driving Porsche, one of the possible gains is to enjoy a better driving experience - go faster, lets say. You can possibly do that at this age, not after 20 years if you can improve your current car's engine or tyres or learn tips from a experienced driver. If the gain you expect is to flaunt your wealth, you can possibly come just up with various ideas to earn money and describe them to others - flaunt your wealth of ideas right now! The idea is to grow while realising the dream - in the end, it wouldn't matter when or whether you realise the dream!

Kanubomma kopam

కనుపాపలకేనా కలలు?
కనుబొమ్మ కన్నెర్రజేసింది
మనిషి నిద్ర చెడగొట్టింది

Kanupaapalakena kalalu?
Kanubomma kannerrajesindhi
Manishi nidhra chedagottindhi

The difference

Ask, if you know what you seek,

But read, if you know not what to seek.

Speak, if you want to be heard,

But teach, if you wish to spread your word.

Stand tall, if you want to see far,

But climb up a hill, you will be seen from afar.

Rest, so that you may dream,

But rise, to shine some light on your dream.

On History

History is not years and kings,
Nor is it wars and victors.
History is about the choices made
and the lessons learnt, or not.

Every situation we face today,
someone already faced yesterday
Every thought that comes across
possibly not its first time

Keep on, look far and deep,
you shall find what you need.
History is not past reality,
it is transcendental reality.