One of my favourite quotes, also one which has greatly influenced me, is from Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. It is depicted below.

This is very meaningful and has implications in our day to day life from various perspectives. The central message is that whereas the society is big and problems are plenty and an individual is only one and very small in comparison and can’t do anything of significance. At the same time an individual is still ONE and is capable of doing something within physical limitations. A few examples will help clarify.

We do small charities now and then. We give a few rupees to a beggar on the street. Or we pay a few hundred rupees to a poor student to meet the school fees. Or donate a few thousand rupees to an orphanage or an Old Age Home. This we do out of compassion and with a motive of sharing. As per Gurudev’s words we should never ask whether these small acts of generosity have helped in removal of poverty.

We live in a world which is almost totally devoid of honesty. Corruption is rampant. Ethics in public life has disappeared. Ministers are more interested in clinging to power and less in the welfare of people. Definitely such things hurt us. A normal citizen has no option but to resign to the state of affairs as he is not powerful enough do anything. However nothing prevents the common man from raising his voice and pinpoint the mistakes committed by politicians and other administrators. Raising one’s voice and making oneself heard has got to be the primary goal. There are many avenues for this. This web site, BOLOJI, is an example. One has to take such actions being fully aware of the fact that they will most likely have ZERO effect.

People in India, in general, are very callous to the surroundings and environment. People spit on the streets, do not use dustbins and even urinate in public places. More sincere citizens have no option other than to endure. Here again a concerned individual can do his bit by way of requesting the erring persons to refrain from such activities. We know very well that such request will fall on deaf ears and may even trigger dangerous reactions. These should not deter the concerned persons from acting. By the same count, if one sees banana peel on the road, the same can be picked and thrown out of harm’s way.

We are in poor country governed by greedy rulers and administrators and social awareness among general public is disheartening. Odds are not very much in favour of improvement on these fronts. Gurudev’s message to those who are genuinely concerned is “DO THY BIT”.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer. But summer consists of hundreds of swallows which have migrated “one at a time”.