REAL OR FAKE?

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I was in 7^th,I guess, and we friends were discussing on our future plans. That time, my situation was such that every 2 months I would have a new goal for myself-Engineer, doctor, IAS officer, journalist, teacher. Once I with pride said- Politician. The expressions were worth capturing! A heated argument ensued. With nobody to support me, I was discouraged at the first place. “Manali, the kind of girl you are- emotional, honest(ok, I agree, honesty has now faded… tab bachi thi, bache maan ke sache!), soft-hearted, you wont sustain in politics dear.” This discouraged further.

Sometime later, I was chatting with my IITian uncle. I told him about my wish to bring about a change and get into politics. His expression was ALSO worth capturing! He left the room laughing. This deterred me further.

Its been years to these incidents. Today plans have changed. But those words still haunt me! Were my friends correct? Were my uncle’s unspoken words right? A couple of days back a school friend of mine said to me- “Manali, in school, we used to wonder, tera kya hoga?!?! The way you have shaped your nature, you wouldn’t be able to fight the world. This isn’t the Gandhi-era madam!”

All this makes me wonder, is being good bad? And to be frank, my experiences till now say, being good is NEVER bad, but the thing is, it is just not encouraged, not supported.

If I help a “boy”, he thinks mai uspe line maar rahi hun. So I stop helping.

If I talk politely to my mam, friends think dekh dekh maska maar rahi hai.

If I stop an elderly man from throwing wrapper, he scolds me for being mannerless.

Even if a politician does something good for the people, we think he is doing for votes, as election is approaching. Does that mean a politician can never do something good if elections are near?!?!

If Karan Johar takes up the issue of the treatment with Muslims in his film and if a political party makes an issue of it, why do we consider that it is a publicity stunt? Everything that a celebrity does HAS to be for publicity?!?!

If Sunidhi Chauhan cries when an Indian Idol contestant is eliminated, she is acting to increase TRPs! As if she is an emotionless creature on earth!

The situation today is, such that goodwill isn’t appreciated. May be that’s the reason goodwill is withering. Our society, today, consist of so many bad elements, that probably we have strated losing the ability to spot the good! This is something, I truly feel, that this is something that needs to be given a thought… Because even if this situation isn’t affecting you, its for sure gonna affect the next gen… TRUST ME…! :)

(I wrote this article for an e-magazine titled- "21 fools")