Hello all,
I will be quite busy for the next couple of months, due to exams. I’m approaching the turning point of my academic life. At this point, tensions are high, expectations are high, hoping and praying is high… People expect so much of us(my friends, and myself), we ourselves expect so much, and we have to attain those expectations…

 

At this time, we ourselves are in a confusion… A dilemma… What next?
Or an even better dilemma… Why next?

At these times of extreme frustrations(yes, I’ve experienced a few in the past) I have a few mantras which keep me going… A couple of them are poems… A few are just one liners… A few are posters which I made… I’ll share them with you as time turns, but for the time being, my Mantra No. 1.

This poem has helped me out of many a tight spot… Quick mental recitation of a few select lines have helped me to conquer my feelings and emotions many a time! This is my anti-tension, anti-frustration mantra No.1.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together, for…..

If - by Ruyard Kipling

 

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!

This poem, written by Ruyard Kipling, to his son in college, is one of my most favourite poems, and ofcourse, my Mantra No.1. In this poem, Kipling talks about life, people, and philosophy. He advices his son, on how to be a man. It talks about gains and loses. It talks about honesty, and lies. It talks about pride and vanity. It tells us the truth about truimph and disaster. It ephasises on the way of the world. It warns us about the big bad world. It portrays the words luck and fruits of labour…

Extremely self explanatory, and extremely inspiring, this poem is a must read for any one who considers himself moderately literate.

Ladies and gentlemen, with this mantra, I’m logging off, for heaven knows how long, but do not worry, ‘coz if all goes well, I’ll be back on track within a couple of days… The big bang is yet to come… Au revoir…

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