A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wishing all my valued colleagues and their
spouses and families a very happy new year.
If you by some miracle, visited my own Blog
(called Friendship), you would have read my opening statement:-
“I am dedicated
to humanism and refuse to judge people according to labels they are born with.
Their actions and behaviour shall be my yardsticks, always cognizant of the
challenges they faced in life”.
This brings me
neatly to why I value the blog and commend it to all of you.
There are
several major influencing factors in our lives.
1.
Our
genes. This is probabilistic and not necessarily deterministic. If you have
good genes, consider yourself lucky! Bad genes are not an excuse either!
2.
Your
parents and your family and how they influenced you.
3.
Your
schooling and especially your teachers
4.
The
moral values you were subjected to - role models, religious precepts etc.
5.
Key
Formative years, and in our case, our Medical undergraduate days.
The list is not exhaustive. The final factor I
mentioned is of great significance to me. I changed from a wide eyed innocent
boy to a mature adult. My teachers and my fellow undergraduates are and shall
remain a key part of my life- not necessarily as a daily conscious thought
requiring reminiscence and introspection, but certainly a key part of what make
me what I am.
I am reminded of a few worthy quotes.
- "True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable." David Tyson Gentry
2. "Friendship is the hardest thing in the
world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't
learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." Muhammad Ali
- “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship." Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. "Growing apart doesn't change the fact
that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled.
I'm glad for that." Ally Condie
To all my colleagues I say, “Thank you very
much and let us always be friends, however far apart we are!”
Mahendra “Speedy” Gonsalkorale
In case readers wonder why I included the words-"always cognizant of the challenges they faced in life”, it is a recognition of the fact that in many ways, we don't really have a "free will" because in the same situation, two people can make contrary decisions because of traumatic experiences (challenges) they faced in life which subconsciously affects their judgement. A young man brought up in an inner city ghetto with abusive parents compared to a man brought up in a stable environment with loving parents for example. That is why we must be very careful in passing judgment on actions performed by people. Knowing the background is crucial. This type of thinking also leads to reforming a criminal rather than punishing him. I would be very interested in your feedback.
ReplyDeleteI must make a special plea to all our batch to visit Mahen's Blog most appropriately called "FRIENDSHIP". It is indeed a place with a great variety of topics discussed with respect, understanding and feeling. Some of the topics are deeply cerebral whilst others are humorous and anecdotal. So there is something for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI do like the colour combination, formatting and layout of the blog which makes it easier to read. Do support this blog which has a different ethos by visiting and also contributing articles and comments.
I do appreciate your comment and thank you remarks on my Blog. If anybody is interested, please copy and paste this link in your browser:- https://maxgonx.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that Nihal may say something on the points I made in my post. How about it!
I have made a comment on Evolution on the 2nd of Dec. Some topics need careful thought and will do so.
DeleteThe Blog is not the best medium for Philosophical discourses, it appears to me! So be it.
ReplyDelete