I AM IN THE SPOTLIGHT – Kalpana

Avinash’s Questionnaire

1. What does life mean to you?

I don’t want to sound too preachy by quoting lines like “life is a book, read it”; “life is a journey, finish it” blah blah blah ( a secret: I used these lines while learning MS Office for practising fonts 😁).  To put it straightforward life can never be defined by a set of words, at least by me. It is only meant to live and register your experiences at every step.

2. What matters the most in life for you?

Happiness, as it makes life worthy of living.  I strongly believe in the concept of “sarvejana sukhino bhavantu” which means “everyone should be happy“.  Everyone includes my immediate family, my neighbours, fellow countrymen and so on. For we are social animals and can’t lead a peaceful life in solitude when others around us are unhappy, period!

3. How to discover the destiny of our life?

Let life take its own course! The only way to discover the destiny of your life is to make the next move and see how it unfolds.  One should constantly do his / her duty (Karma).  See, at this point I don’t know where I would be standing 5-10 years down the lane though I might be having few plans running but uncertainty hovers all along.  So shall I hold back myself from doing my part as I am oblivious about the future/ destiny/ the outcome? NO. Destiny is for a journey and no journey can be finished if you are stationary.

4. How do you shape your life to reach the goals of your life?

You should have asked this question to an achiever 😁 but nevertheless, I have a simple theory for this:

• Identifying your weakness (mine is lethargy of higher order 😉) and acceptance is the key.
• Be ready to accept/assimilate knowledge from everywhere. Learning should be a never-ending process.

5. How do you retreat your regret?

I ask a simple question “can I change anything?” If the answer is yes then I must do it instead of sulking in a corner and if no then I should better go to bed to avoid dark circles thinking over spilt milk. 😁

6. Why do I need God when I have everything?

Let “Everything” you have, formulate air and water for you to survive, then you surely won’t need God.  Do get back to me with your answer.

“God is the way of life”.

7. Is pleasure the ultimate meaning of life for you? 

Definition of pleasure differs from person to person.  For me, pleasure (Ananda) is a state of mind where materialistic gain or loss doesn’t impact you.  It’s a point of indifference towards worldly matters and a constant pursuit of the light guiding us. If you ask me then I won’t hesitate to say “Yes”, Yes pleasure is the ultimate meaning of life.

8. Is Godliness possible to maintain in earthly life or it is illusionary?

It’s important to define what’s my understanding of Godliness – wish good for others, do good in your capacity, so I believe it’s definitely possible on this earth in this abode.

9. Can integrity be compromised?

Absolutely Not. Let me give you a simple example… My father used to say that he came across people in his life who proposed to give money to him to know the status of their case files or to give a push to the same (though a handful) but he refused as politely as he could.  He believed money earned in scrupulous ways could buy you fortunes but the serenity of soul and peace of mind goes in smoke.  You can’t sleep without the fear of being caught, guilt makes its way for sure into your heart which is unhealthy.  Then why trend that way?

Hope you got the answer! Integrity is a MUST.  Had integrity not been an integral part of our life then there would be no difference between how we see Dr. Abdul Kalaam and Vijay Malya, the scam master, isn’t it?

10. What can I carry after my death?

I surely can’t carry anything but only leave. A name to be remembered – with love or hatred depends upon the course of my journey. I surely want to leave many parables to be talked about.

Avinash! I can bet my life that this is the most difficult questionnaire I have ever answered.  It reflects your zest for life. Kudos to you.