CAN AN IDEA CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
THESE DAYS AN ADVERTISEMENT RUNNING ON TELEVISION HAS BECOME THE CENTRE OF PEOPLE’S FANCY. BEFORE THE AD CULMINATES WE SEE THE PROTAGONIST OF THE AD STANDING UNDER THE ALTAR IN A CHURCH AND LOOKING UP TO THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST SAYS “WHAT AN IDEA?” THE PUNCHLINE OF THIS PARTICULAR AD IS EVEN MORE INTERESTING. IT SAYS “AN IDEA CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE “. NOW THE QUESTION THAT NEEDS TO BE ASKED IS CAN AN IDEA REALLY CHANGE THE LIFE OF AN INDIVIDUAL?
IDEAS AND CIVILIZATIONS GO HAND IN HAND. EVERY CIVILIZATION HAS CROPPED UP AN IDEA OR TWO. INDIVIDUALS HAVE LIVED AND DIED FOR IDEAS. THE INDIAN FREEDOM MOVEMENT WAS THE IDEA OF A GROUP OF LIKE MINDED INDIVIDUALS WHO AIMED AT SEEING THEIR MOTHERLAND FREE FROM THE BONDAGE OF SLAVERY. THE RESULT WAS THAT THE WORLD GOT ITS LARGEST DEMOCRACY “AT THE STROKE OF THE MIDNIGHT HOUR” ON 15TH AUGUST 1947. SIMILARLY ‘AHIMSA AND NON VIOLENCE’ WERE THE IDEAS OF A “HALF-NAKED FAKIR” WHO TAUGHT THE WORLD THAT THINGS CAN BE ACHIEVED EVEN BY ENDURING A BLOW INSTEAD OF INFLICTING ONE. ON THE SAME LINES COMMUNISM WAS AN IDEA THAT CAUGHT THE IMAGINATION OF HALF THE GLOBE AND TURNED HALF THE WORLD RED. OF COURSE CAPITALISM IS THE IDEA THAT SERVES AS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE DEVELOPED WORLD. NOW I’M NOT TRYING TO TEACH YOU WORLD HISTORY. BUT RATHER MY ENDEAVOURS ARE CHANNELIZED TOWARDS MAKING AN ATTEMPT AT ANSWERING THE QUESTION THAT STILL REMAINS LARGELY UNANSWERED ‘WHAT IS AN IDEA? HOW CAN IT CHANGE ONE’S LIFE?’
AN IDEA IS THE OFFSPRING OF A PERSON’S IMAGINATION. IT TAKES SHAPE BY THE IMAGINATIVE POWERS OF A PERSON. WHEN SOMEONE HAS CHANNELIZED HIS THOUGHT PROCESS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, THEN HE COMES UP WITH AN IDEA. AND THIS IDEA HAS THE POTENTIALITY TO CHANGE HIS LIFE FOREVER. LET’S SEE SOME REAL LIFE INSTANCES TO CORROBORATE MY OPINION. A YOUNG LADY WAS ONCE TRAVELLING FROM LONDON BY A SUBWAY. SHE HAD JUST SEPARATED FROM HER HUSBAND AND WAS PONDERING ON WHAT SHE SHOULD BE DOING SO AS TO MEET HER ENDS. AT SUCH A MOMENT SHE WAS STRUCK BY AN IDEA TO WRITE A BOOK. SHE CONCEPTUALIZED THE PROTAGONIST OF HER BOOK AS A YOUNG, ORPHANED WIZARD AND NAMED HIM ‘HARRY POTTER’. THE REST AS THEY SAY IS HISTORY. AN IDEA THAT OCCURRED TO A POOR DIVORCEE ON A TRAIN SOON MADE HER ONE OF THE WORLD’S RICHEST WOMEN. THE CASE OF THIS YOUNG LADY IS NOT ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND. PAGES OF HISTORY ARE BRIMMING WITH INSTANCES OF PEOPLE WHO’S LIFE GOT CHANGED BY AN IDEA.
IDEAS SERVE AS A BLUEPRINT FOR A SOCIETY’S DEVELOPMENT. IT IS THE BEGINNING FROM WHICH ACTION STEMS. HOWEVER IDEAS CANNOT REMAIN STATIC. THEY NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE. THEY MUST EVOLVE AND CHANGE AS PER CIRCUMSTANCES. IN FACT INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETIES FOR THAT SAKE HAVE FAILED FOR CLINGING ONTO THE SAME IDEA. HENCE WE SEE A SCHOOL DROPOUT BY THE NAME OF BILL GATES TURNING HIS FORTUNE AROUND BY FLOATING A COMPANY CALLED MICROSOFT. AT THE SAME TIME A YOUNG GRADUATE BY THE NAME OF STEVE JOBS IS ABLE TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE COMPUTERS AND PUT THEM IN YOUR BEDROOMS. IDEAS HAVE NEVER REMAINED STATIC, AND THEY SHOULDN'T EITHER, BECAUSE CHANGE IS THE FACTOR THAT HAS SAVED THE WORLD FROM MONOTONY.
ONCE JULIUS CAESAR HAD FAMOUSLY SAID “VENI, VIDI, VICI” (“I CAME, I SAW, I CONQUERED”), BY THE STRENGTH OF YOUR IDEA YOU CAN ALSO PUT YOURSELF IN A POSITION TO SAY SO. THAT IS BECAUSE IT TAKES JUST ONE SMALL IDEA TO MAKE A WINNER OUT OF SOMEONE. SO THE BOTTOM LINE IS DON’T LET YOUR THOUGHTS COAGULATE USELESSLY. CHANNELIZE THEM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND WIDEN YOUR VISTA. BUT MORE NECESSARILY KEEP ‘IDEATING’ BECAUSE WHO KNOWS ON A DAY WHICH MIGHT BE YOURS, AN IDEA MIGHT STRIKE YOU AND YOUR LIFE CHANGES FOREVER FROM THEN ON. AFTER ALL “AN IDEA CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE”…..
