Conflict...

Conflict. Dilemma. Quandry. Confusion. Uncertainity. Perplexity. I am sure all of us would relate with those words, or rather, the above state of minds. Why are we confused? Why do we sometimes find ourselves in a conflict? Why do we experience a raging war within us?

The reason is friction. Sounds elementary? Almost all the conflict and dilemmas that we face almost incessantly is due to the friction between individual desire and societal norms. We constantly oscillate between two choices - Individualism versus Collectivism. Does this sound like one of the many plebeian conflicts that afflict us?

I believe that the future is not what happens to us, but what we make happen. When one digs deeper, one is to wonder who is it that shapes our future. Is it really the individual or the society in which he/she belongs to? At this moment, I would like to clarify what 'society' means here. I am going to assume that society points to our close circle of relationships; parents, friends and significant others, because, I believe that these relationships have the power of chiselling one's future to a greater extent. Mind you-when I say these relationships have the power of influencing once's destiny, take it at face value.

Take a look around you, you can draw abundant examples of how one's destiny is not an absolute function of his/her own needs and/or wants. I am reminded of a case where a person applied for his medical studies. This person did amazingly well in all the preliminary rounds and was excellent in the interview board too. However, the interview board was perplexed that there was a gap of four years in his profile which was just not logical. When queried on the same, the applicant replied 'Sir, I did my engineering in that period of four years. My Father wanted me to be an engineer and I satisfied his wish. Now that my Father has passed away, here I am, to pursue my dream'.

Each one of us have dreams. When some of our loved ones do not understand the emotion that we attach to our dreams, how do we feel? Why are we automatically obliged to satisfy our loved ones wish and not pursue what we really wanted to do? Its easy to say resist all external temptations, sometimes yield to trivial things and continue working towards your dream. So many questions cloud my mind now. What am I to do? How will I handle this conflict between my wants and my society's wants?

Sitting thus, I am reminded of what Benjamin Disraeli said about life and everything seems to fall in place like a completed puzzle. This is what Disraeli has to say about success - 'The secret of success is the constancy of purpose'. Yes, once I realised that instead of pursuing my dreams, which is littered with all sorts of friction, I would rather begin my journey to fathom the purpose of my existence. Perhaps, I have made a good start in understanding my purpose! Stay tuned and watch me in my journey of self-discovery...