The three sentence story

I have stood a silent spectator to a mass of people, who generation after generation have bungled through the centuries, bearing witness to all their Ecstasy, despair, riches, poverty even the private battles of those men and women whose great valor and spirit may never again be seen on this earth, always remaining a record defying even that swift tide of time.

But that swift tide moves on, memories are forgotten, friends disappear, 'legends' become 'tales', and one small slip from grace, they forget all loyalties, those whom I had guarded, come back with heavy ammunition and iron monsters with steel teeth.

It's tough being a historical building in India, first it is the graffiti, then it gets more colorful, then obscene and then the bulldozers step in.

I believe...

I believe... one person can change the world, and everyone in it. Fate is a comfortable notion, but it all comes down to my choice, my destiny in my hands. Living for today, inspiring as I go along, I can make a change slowly, with one choice at one time. I just need to reach out, speak up.

Life is not easy, not idealistic in clear cut images, never in black and white. Words are fine and dandy, but reality always comes crashing down. Natural calamities, terrorism, despair and anguish are not one's choice but always crippling. One needs to bend to the world's rules to avoid being broken. It is a move, or get shoved world. After all what are you in this world, 1in 10 billion?

There is no man too evil to be recovered, no person too cruel not to have a heart. It is there, in hiding, but they are all waiting, waiting for someone, to reach out, some one like you, someone like me. If they hit us, we will not hit back, we will respond but with a higher level of justice. We will teach those who have forgotten, we will support those who have lost hope. We will spread the meaning of hope, faith and honor; we together will make a difference.

Are people so easy to judge? Is it easy to differentiate what is right and what is wrong? Where will you put the 14 year old who killed his own father? Where will you put the "leaders" who are willing to murder innocent masses in the name of religion and politics? Where will you put the police officials who collect bribes but still work hard trying to maintain peace? Where will you put the child soldiers of Afghanistan and Africa who are killing so that they do not starve? Are they good or are they evil? There is too much of gray in the world for anyone to judge what is good or what is bad there is just too much of pain...

I believe, we are not here, to mourn the dead, or cry with those who weep. We are here to help, to offer succor to those who can still be helped. I do not say we wage war against evil... I say we try to change the only thing we can... ourselves. Live with higher ideals; believe that there is hope of a better future, knowing that there are still those who care. We may not change the world, but we will make a difference, by offering one ear, one shoulder, making the world a better place, at least for one person.

We may not end terrorism, we may not help all those who suffer, we may not comfort all those who grieve, but we will reach out to some of them, and we will pass on the message, that there is yet hope. Hope for the future that is yet to come. It is not easy, but not impossible either. Perhaps, we will all forget our small petty quarrels and remember that the small things in life are almost always the most important.

This is a call to arms so to speak, a call to all those who believe. If you believe that we can make a better world, then we are one step closer to achieving it. If we all band together and fight for something better, it is nearly impossible for anything to stop us. Love, honor, the future of the world, happiness and human dignity are the only things that matter. And they are totally in our own hands and the choices we make. When it comes down to it, all that really matters is that we are here now, we have life, we live in a beautiful world, and each of us has the power to control ourselves, and improve the world around us. If we believe we can make difference, there is very little we cannot accomplish, and in the process, we may just change the world, one life at a time.

umm.. right.