They are ‘Complimentary’; yes, absolutely Free!!!
Monday, November 4, 2019
Riddle: What is it that if they lie within you, they make your heart heavier but if you spend them on others, you become happy?
Clue 1: You need spend no money while spending them!
Clue 2: On whatsapp, they are free; in person, they are free; and on telephone calls, they are free.
Yes, you do not have to spend a paisa or a penny and your bank accounts do not certainly get depleted.
Guess, some of you got it!
Answer: Words.
Words are for Free!!! And if they are the beautiful and nicer ones, you do not pay any price even after using them repeatedly and all your life.
Take a pen and paper and make a list of all those moments which were happy; when you felt proud, grateful or humble; when you were overjoyed and emotional; even moments when there were tears in your eyes but you were smiling. The chances are that in all those moments, there was someone; some person around who brought it all or was there simply to share it all. Isn’t it so? Now, write down all those names of the faces which you can see in those moments. And then, ponder over those names and tick mark against those who know and are fully aware that they blissfully stay in your memory; that you remember them fondly; that you are grateful and proud for their presence in your life. Is there a positive tick mark against all the names? If yes, then you may just chill. If no, why not?
Words are for Free! Use them liberally and tell the folks who have been around either once or even all the time, that they ‘mean’ a lot; that you are happy that they were or are there.
It is sad, isn’t it, that some force inside us stops us from spending words generously. We hesitate; we fear that the recipient may not take it well or that they might play with our emotions or in case, they are our kids—then telling them all of that could spoil them! No, it is not so. Nice and good words hardly ever yield negative outcomes. The key lies in not over-indulging all the time so much so that the words lose their significance. It is not your Fixed Deposit that you are handing over to folks; it is the cleansing of your own heart that you are doing, so that you feel lighter and brighter in your days ahead. Words left unsaid tend to become heavier over the years and then bring nothing but pain and remorse to us.
Am sure, that there lie at least 2-3 memories in our hearts which bring tears to our eyes because words were left unsaid; because we could not tell them that they mattered a lot or we could not express our admiration enough or we could not say a proper ‘thank-you’ or a sincere ‘sorry’ and now it is too late…
We know all of these facts. We know that words are free; we know that people matter and we also know that if we do not spend words generously, the heap of pain shall be ours to live with, and yet, we do nothing about it. We do not wish people for their good generously; we do not praise others generously; we do not say too many words of gratitude or of apology; we do not use words to admit our mistakes and we are the stingiest in telling a precious few that life won’t be the same without them!!!
Don’t know if we are afraid of appearing vulnerable before others or if we think that using a lot of good words shall expose our weaknesses to others??? Bizarre and useless are such thoughts. It is not our vulnerability we should be worried of or the fact that our wives and husbands and kids could emotionally blackmail us knowing how much they mean to us—that we ought to be worried about… Rather, it is the pain and weight in our own hearts which we may have to live with—that ought to be our concern.
Hence, if you wish to feel at ease and light inside, take a bountiful of words in your palms every day and spend them. Spend fearlessly. Remind people that they are precious; ask people if they are alright; tell people that their worries worry you; thank people for even that one act they did years ago but it mattered to you for ages thereafter; without a qualm whatsoever, tell people which quality of theirs you find endearing; generously wish (using words) a large number of folks all around good and lo behold… you shall feel light as a feather.
Be selfish for a change! Grab all the good words that are out there and sprinkle them on others so that YOU live happier!
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Echoing similar sentiments and many more, Dr Navniit Gandhi has penned and published her 9th Book: Shabd Nishulk Hain (Words are Complimentary). It is the second collection of her poems in Hindi, and is published by Lokayat Prakashan, Varanasi. It was released on the occasion of Hindi Utsav organised by Maurya Kala Parisar in association with indiansinkuwait.com on November 1, 2019 at Gurukul Auditorium, Salmiya.
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Navniit Gandhi is an academic since 25+ years; a feature writer (300+ articles), and has authored 10 books.
Her 10th and most recently authored, published and launched book is titled: NOT MUCH IS AS IT SEEMS
Her write-ups can be read at
navniitspeaks.wordpress.com
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