Best among the best

A bagful of diamonds! Their radiance is amazing. You don’t know which one to choose, as each is no less bright and beautiful. The right choice is tough. It gets tougher when it’s about choosing best among the best. Of course, not often do we encounter such a situation but when we do, we would be lost. Similarly, it’s a rarity to have our mind full of great thoughts. When it happens, how do we select best among the best?

Sometimes, yes only sometimes, everything around appears nice. It is indeed a tough ask to choose nicer among the nicest or prioritise. What do you do? Perhaps, random and blind pick-and-choose helps. Don’t think; just pick up any diamond from the bag. When the mind is overflowing with meaningful thoughts, close your eyes, go blank and hold on to any of them. Trust it and rest assured. There may be many roads leading to the same destination yet we have to choose one. That done, move full throttle backing your instincts and you won’t lose direction. You will reach your destination after a smooth journey.

That’s the key, being instinctive when it comes to choosing best among the very best. Consciously, perhaps for the first time it happened to me. Writing as a reporter, I had to think of subjects, topics and subtopics. Writing never consumed as much time as thinking and analysing did. Today, it isn’t a newspaper write-up. I am keying in my thoughts to post them as my maiden blog. To my surprise, thoughts are aplenty, meaningful. Oh! I’ve to choose one to write on. Here I am closing my eyes and backing my instincts. I am sure whatever now flows will be best of the moment, of the day.

It doesn’t end with selection. The real task starts now. After choosing the best, you have to give your best to do something worthwhile with it. Diamonds are all fine but not all of them would go into a necklace or an earring. Likewise, all thoughts seem meaningful but what’s the point in clinging to all? Let’s grab one and find its real meaning. Believe in your abilities to do it. This fierce belief is the thread that binds successful people.

Today, I saw the thread running through two. I was at work and here was someone, too younger to me but more mature and sensible when I was her age. Having finished her education in three different countries, she seemed a nice professional. The experience she has had during her stay in India, Egypt and now USA has enriched her. Her world is broader and so is her horizon. I am reminded of another person I know. He has been to many countries but well, he doesn’t seem to have picked up much. As a professional he may have soared, but as a person he is the same old entity that he was a few of years ago.

I think exploring the world within matters more. Sensibility and maturity must be somewhere deep within. Experiences we collect in the outer world help give them expression. What a wonderful thought!

Even as I am writing a colleague is playing a CD wherein eminent caricaturist and cartoonist R K Laxman is narrating an irony in his life. The celebrated artist was denied admission in the famous J J School of Arts. A couple of years ago, he was invited to guide students there on ‘lines’. The person who cannot accept rejections cannot progress in life. Other valuable lesson for me.

Two different persons, different ages and different lessons. Conviction is the same.

KanChan