FREEDOM IS NOTHING BUT A CHANCE TO DO BETTER

Every year all of us celebrate Independence Day on 15^th August with a sense of pride and nationalism. In a country where youth constitute more than 40% of our population, this day has a special significance as a fresh round of discussion on the correct meaning and relevance of freedom sets in every year. Interestingly however, this topic – freedom remains a point of constant discussion among the youth, especially the students of colleges and universities. Ironically, many students spend lots of their precious time discussing this subject, but fail to understand and appreciate the true meaning of this word. Some of these students get trapped in a vicious cycle of limitless discussion and controversy created by vested interest groups with an ulterior motive. In this way, such students not only waste their prime period of life, but also put their family in some inconveniences. 

The British historian, social reformer and novelist Charles Kingsley says that there are two types of freedom – the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; and the true, where he is free to do what he ought to do. Actually, true freedom signifies responsibility, goodness, courage, integrity, authenticity, empathy, inner strength and sincerity.

Student life provides every student the golden opportunity to know the value of freedom. And to realise the benefits of achieving freedom from injustice, illiteracy, vanity, prejudices, bondages and other negative things and to become capable to effect the positive change in that direction is the certificate of real education and freedom. 

Many great people have said in no uncertain terms that only by securing a few degrees, wearing expensive clothes or delivering good speech, nobody can claim to have real education and freedom. Actually, to be free from all the bad things to live a purposeful life where the good of the self together with the welfare of family, society and the country should be the life’s goal of every responsible citizen. 

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam says that freedom is not just about independence; it is about self-discovery and self-realisation. The message of Dr. Kalam is loud and clear. Isn’t it?

Normally, people take freedom as a blanket license for doing whatever they want. But can illegal and anti-social acts be treated as justified by any definition of freedom? Can violent protests and movements against any issue and destruction of public and private properties be ignored or condoned in the name of freedom? 

Many wise persons including Peter Marshall assert that freedom should be seen, not as the right to do as you like, but as the opportunity to do what is right. They also say that both rights and duties are part of freedom. Talking about our youth, they must have the freedom to engage themselves in studies, sports, travel, conversation and such other activities as clearly mentioned in our constitution for every citizen of this democratic country. 

Anyway, for all the people including youth, it is necessary to acquire knowledge, develop their understanding and increase their physical and mental strength on a priority basis.

It is not out of context to discuss here the condition of common people even after seventy-nine years of our growth journey since our country got freedom. Undeniably, a sizable number of people are still struggling to have the three most basic necessities of life namely food, clothing and housing, notwithstanding the rapid progress registered during the last twelve years. 

The other important necessities like education, health and employment for all are yet to be addressed in a befitting manner by all governments – central as well as state. Lots of public money has been spent with ever growing budgetary allocation, but the desired and commensurate results have not been registered. This has really been disappointing and a cause of serious concern. 

Now it is very essential for all sincere and committed policy makers, bureaucrats, social activists, media persons and such other people from all fields to join hands in order to find suitable and sustainable solutions so that we can make the country really self-reliant and at least free from all major problems, particularly concerning our common people. Ironically, some of these problems are actually man-made and system related, which must be solved urgently. 

As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion.   (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)     

# Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.

# Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते)  

MINDFUL USE OF WATER – ESSENTIAL TO SAVE LIFE ON EARTH

It is well-known that the great civilizations of the world, including ours, blossomed on the banks of rivers. These rivers are so revered in India that people worship them as their mother. Whether it is Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Saryu, Narmada, Krishna, Godavari, Mahanadi, Chenab or Jhelum, Indians, particularly common men, have a feeling that their life moves with the flow of these rivers. 

But due to increasing population; unplanned growth of cities and industries in general; rampant river pollution; excessive sand mining; cutting of trees in the catchment areas and other factors, the sanctity and survival of most of these rivers are at stake. The plight of most of them can be seen to be believed.

It is said that water covers about 70% of the surface of the earth, but only 2.5% water is drinkable. About 18% of the world population reside in India with 4% of the world's water sources. Indian Agriculture uses about 80% of water, Industries 10% and the rest 10% by Indian households and others. 

It’s also notable that man can’t survive more than 3 days without water; a drop of water is worth more than a sack of gold to a thirsty person. Our household work can’t go smoothly for even 3-4 hours without water. But are we really aware of this and are also concerned about this? Don’t many of us use water thoughtlessly? Do we motivate our children to save water in all possible manner? 

It is estimated that due to pipe leakage, faulty plumbing, keeping the water running while bathing, brushing or lathering, leaving taps open casually and other such reasons that can easily be addressed and set right, more than 5000 crore litres of water are wasted daily in our country which is sufficient for daily water consumption needs of about 33 crore people. Can’t we do something to stop this massive wastage?   

Fresh portable water is already a precious commodity in almost every part, particularly in many drier parts of the country. The packaged water industry has been flourishing speedily. It is said that the market size of the packaged drinking water in our country was valued at more than Rs.33000 crores in 2025 and is estimated to cross Rs.58000 crores by 2032. The tanker culture is penetrating an increasing number of cities very fast mostly without pertinent and plausible reason. 

Despite these hard facts, the true value of water is yet to be fully understood even by the educated segments of society. That’s why some environmental activists say that it is imperative to bring back the culture of recognising the real value of water for saving and sustaining life on this planet.                              

You too must have seen blatant abuse and overuse of water even in certain government organisations and at the same time found to spend lots of public money in the name of water supply and its management.

Shouldn’t all government and semi-government organisations including public sector undertakings use water judiciously? 

Yes, it is never too late to take corrective steps to save this life saving liquid. To say, in the agriculture sector efficient irrigation methods like drip and sprinkler systems can be used in far more land area under irrigation from the current level of only 35 percent of irrigated land. Similarly, in high water consuming industries like steel, chemicals, textiles etc., the modern water management systems should replace the outdated ones wherever still in existence. It is heartening that the Central Government has already initiated certain water use efficiency measures in this respect.  

It is rightly said that charity begins at home. So, in household sector also, we can take many easy and effective steps to save water like  using buckets/mugs/watering cans to water the plants; keeping the water tap closed while brushing the teeth and shaving; cleaning the car by using a cloth or sponge and water in the bucket; keeping the shower tap open while soaping in the shower; using good soap during bathing instead of shower gel as it requires more water to rinse off gel soap; using a broom instead of a hose pipe for cleaning driveways, patios, sidewalks and such other places in our compound; adopting the water recycling and reusing system wherever possible. Definitely, there are many other water saving methods which can be put in place in our daily life. 

Undeniably, even by just becoming mindful while using water, a lot of water can be saved easily.

As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion.  (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)

 # Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.                   

# Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते) 

HOW WE CAN RESTORE THE GLORY OF INDIAN FOOTBALL

 

You too must have watched the final match between the defending champion Argentina and European Champion Spain in FIFA World Cup 2026 which Spain won by one-nil. Football commentators and experts are almost unanimous in their observation that Spain played far better than Argentina in this particular match. Interestingly however, Spain could score the solitary goal in extra time only. The scene on the field of the fully occupied stadium in New York was full of joy, sorrow, goodwill and motivation. 

Being a football lover and a player during my school days, I felt the vibration greatly. Yes, during this world cup tournament, we were privileged to watch the great football players like Lionel Messi of Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Rodri of Spain, Kylian Mbappe of France, Neymar Jr. of Brazil, Jude Bellingham of England, Achraf Hakimi of Morocco, Erling Haaland of Norway, Youri Tielemans of Belgium, Gregor Kobel of Switzerland and many other outstanding players playing their matches with great commitment and conviction.

It is notable for all football loving countrymen that as many as 48 countries of the world played in FIFA World Cup 2026, but India – the country of more than 1400 million people couldn’t even qualify to play. It is indeed disappointing. Interestingly, the total population of the countries who reached the quarter final stage is about 281 million – only twenty percent of our population. 

To be very specific about the population of these eight countries, the population of Argentina is 46 million, Switzerland 9 m, Spain 48 m, Belgium 12 m, Norway 5.6 m, England 56 m, France 66 m and Morocco 38 million. Interestingly, the combined population of only three neighbouring states namely West Bengal (100 m), Bihar (133 m) and Odisha (47 m) equal the population of those eight quarter finalists; and there is no dearth of young talents in these states.

Why does our country fail to qualify not only for the FIFA World Cup, but also for the Asian Cup? The reasons may be many. In 1996 we ranked 94, whereas in 2026 we are at 139 in the world ranking table. Even in the 46-Member AFC (Asian Football Confederation), our position is at 24 and our team couldn’t even qualify for the Asian Cup Match of 2027. 

But looking back, everything was not that disappointing. In fact, the Durand Cup Match was the first Indian Football Competition which was first organised in Shimla way back in 1888. It is said to be one of the oldest surviving football competitions in the world. The first football club of the country was Calcutta Football Club which was established in 1872 but the oldest football club which is still very active in our country is none other than the famous Mohun Bagan Athletic Club which came into existence in 1889 in the then Calcutta, now Kolkata city. Other two famous clubs of Calcutta were Mohammedan Sporting (founded in 1891) and East Bengal (founded in 1920). Dempo Sports Club, Goa (founded in 1967) has been another old and famous club. Yes, currently there are a number of well-known football clubs who participate very actively in the Indian Super League (ISL) matches.  

Undeniably, football, which was once the national game of the country, was and still is a very popular and entertaining game both in the villages as well as in cities despite the glamour, money, advertisement, sponsorship, media coverage and management support of BCCI available to Cricket. 

Now the time has come to bring back its glory.  Obviously, the AIFF (All India Football Federation) and Central as well as State Governments must take the necessary time bound initiatives. Special efforts by the State Government of West Bengal, Kerala, Goa, Sikkim, Manipur and Mizoram would go a long way in this direction. 

Yes, the focus of taking solution initiatives must be on structural weakness, shortage of playgrounds, scouting for young talents, professional training, financial support and incentive, calendar for round-the-year matches, upward revision of match fees etc. 

It is heartening that a few corporate houses have been taking active interest in either helping or supporting some football clubs in the country. At least through their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activity, a greater number of corporate entities should also lend their support for promoting this common man’s game in a sustainable manner across the country. 

Hopefully, these initiatives would make our country very deserving to qualify for FIFA and AFC matches in coming years. 

As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion.   (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)     

# Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.

# Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते)  

ALWAYS SAY AN EMPHATIC ‘NO’ TO ADDICTIVE ITEMS

Sometime back our Prime Minister urged the youth of the country to desist from consuming E-Cigarette due to health-related risk factors. It was not without some reasons. The scope of intoxication and addiction has been increasing and so is the availability of multiple kinds of intoxicating and addictive items. It is also a matter of serious concern that students of different educational institutions are falling prey to addiction in one way or the other. 

Various surveys say that vulnerable adolescents and youth in the age group of 16 to 18 years generally get addicted first to Cigarettes, Tobacco, Gutka, Alcohol, Bhang and Ganja. Then they are attracted and tempted to consume Cheras, Cocaine, Heroin and other addictive items. For them these substances are not meant merely for fun and enjoyment, but become their necessity. All statutory warnings become meaningless. This situation is highly dangerous particularly for the future of our youth. It is equally very challenging for the family/ society/country.

Why do people get addicted? It is normally observed that people fall prey to addiction due to advertisement, peer pressure, allurement and instant fun besides trying to find an escape route for their loneliness, stress, depression or other emotional setbacks. 

It is needless to emphasise that due to consumption of addictive items, students, youth or individuals suffer from different diseases and also indulge in illegal and anti-social activities. To say, they harm themselves, their family, society and the country in several ways. First of all, they fail to focus on their studies or work which affects the outcome badly. Secondly, it adversely impacts their health slowly but surely and they start feeling weak and less energetic. Simultaneously, telling lies, borrowing money from friends and stealing money primarily at home start. At that moment, clever and manipulative criminals extend the so-called loving support – emotionally and initially financially as well. This is the normal trap mechanism of criminals to add the vulnerable people. Once that happens successfully, the life of the newly joined persons becomes difficult in multiple ways. Anyone can see this happening to addicted persons in their locality. You can find these stories in some national and international films as well. 

Everybody must think on this issue and ask the question as to why one should move towards this blind tunnel of difficulty and disaster leaving the guaranteed future of living a better and prosperous life by pursuing the studies or a positive activity with all sincerity and hard work.

Actually, during the critical period of adolescence when the boys and girls go through various changes – from hormonal to situational, they are required to manage different changes – physical, mental, emotional, social, educational etc. These are not easy to manage successfully all the time. Remaining mentally stable and balanced is a difficult task. During this particular period, some boys and girls are found to deviate and enter the addiction zone where everything seems to be cosy-rosy-joyful. In fact, this is the time where the role of guardians, teachers and elders becomes very defining. If they can keep a close eye on their activities; can help them manage the changes they are going through and protect them in the best possible manner from the unscrupulous elements, and also stand by their children emotionally and otherwise; it would be very rewarding for the children as well as for the family.

Yes, all-out efforts must be taken by the family and friends to bring back the person out of the addiction trap, if at all someone enters that bad zone. No doubt, this requires will power and courage for all concerned. At that point of time, everyone should look forward, not backward and stop fault finding. Instead of accusing the person for indulging in such activities, the parents, elders and spouse should hold his or her hand and assure him or her of fast recovery and in fact try collectively with all sincerity towards that goal. Constant motivation and emotional support will surely work very well. 

Yes, besides the main focus of DDAC (District De-addiction Centres) of early prevention, education, demand reduction, identification, treatment and rehabilitation services of vulnerable persons or individuals affected by addictive substances, it is also necessary for the concerned Law Enforcement Agencies to take strict punitive action speedily against the peddlers, culprits and associated criminals. 

As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion.  (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)

 # Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.                   

# Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते) 

FOLLOW THE ‘3R SYSTEM’ TO REAP SEVERAL BENEFITS

 

Our life is a long journey from childhood to old age and nobody’s life is either full of roses or full of thorns. It is usually a mixed bag of some roses and some thorns – the exact number may vary in each case depending upon several factors. It is also true that everybody wants to be well-off in different ways and tries to reach the goal and fulfil the dreams as per one’s thought, will power, capacity and matching action. Interestingly however, we observe that people having seemingly similar positive traits and having put in equal efforts do not achieve similar results. Why is it so? The reason lies in 3R – Review, Realise and Rectify, System. Let me elaborate.

Review: This word itself manifests its meaning – re-view or view again what you do. This word is frequently used in the professional world – review meeting, performance review, review system, reviewing authority and so on. It is a proven fact that if you are in the habit of self-review, many of your shortcomings would come before you for suitable course correction even before somebody else points the same out. Yes, review of your engagements by an expert, mentor, good friend and/or parents from time-to-time adds value to this exercise.  Likewise, if any corporate entity or professional body has in place a system of regular review of its entire functioning – at least the quarterly review, the disconnects, loopholes, irregularities etc. would be noticed or observed timely. The internal as well as external audit system by professionals that is in place in various organisations is broadly the part of a review system. The much talked-about recent incident related to alleged stealing, misappropriation and manipulation of cash in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir is the glaring example of not having a proper review system besides other operational issue. Anyway, it is widely observed that good organisations across the world ensure having robust review systems as an integral part of risk management and performance enhancement systems for achieving better growth targets year-after-year. Melissa Steginus rightly says that review is essential to evaluation, which is essential to progress. To say, it is always better to review our engagements and activities regularly.

Realise: It is normally observed that despite knowing the loopholes or weakness or disconnects or faults in our activities or system, many people as well as organisations fail to realise its value, importance and consequences. So, even if you are in the know of your shortcomings, you fail to plan and act right accordingly. And once you are in the habit of doing this, you are not going to improve. Rather you will remain stagnated or start going down on the performance graph. To say, realising your mistakes, whether committed knowingly or unknowingly, is said to be the first step towards your improvement journey. If you go through the life history of great persons of the world, you would appreciate the truth of this assertion. The transformation of infamous Ratnakar to an extremely learned saint Valmiki in Ramayana days was the real-life story of realising the misdeeds and taking suitable positive measures.

Rectify: Once anybody or any organisation reviews its activities, engagements and operations discreetly to find out the negative factors and realise the importance of diminishing those factors at the earliest, the actual action starts from that point to rectify and improve in a tangible manner. Even in our day-to-day life, we do something wrong intentionally or unintentionally and face the consequences to varying degrees. Some of us take a lesson from those mis-happenings and rectify our approach, behaviour, attitude or methods for ensuring damage control and non-repetition of the same mistakes in future. Equally true is a situation where some people do review their activities or engagements and also realise the wrongdoings, but are not ready to rectify or fail to rectify for one reason or the other. Ironically, some of them even resist to rectify. We often witness such moments where a person is committing the same or more serious mistake or crime despite admitting in writing about the mistake and also promising to rectify.   

Precisely speaking, if we as persons or organisations can make the '3R System' an integral part of our thought and action, the refinements and improvements in all our activities and operations would be guaranteed.

As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion.   (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)     

# Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.

# Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते)    

RAIN WATER HARVESTING – A MUST FOR OUR SURVIVAL

We all know, water is life; a priceless gift of nature and we can’t think of our future without water. Water is an extremely vital resource. It is very critical for sustainable socio-economic-environmental development and very essential for the health and well-being of all creatures on this planet. As such, the wise people and experts are unanimous in their opinion that water is the driving force of nature; the water cycle and life cycle are one and clean water is like medicine for all. Absolutely correct.

The Southwest Monsoon has arrived and it is raining, of course not uniformly everywhere as has been the well-known characteristics of Monsoon. Anyway, the farmers are happy and preparing for cultivation of Kharif crops. Children of both cities and villages alike are equally happy and enjoying this season for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, if we examine this season which endows us with so much rain water, from the water management angle, we are sure to be disappointed. Isn’t it?

It’s all knowing that due to global warming and other climatic changes together with erratic and lesser rainfall during Monsoon, there is reduced water availability which is found to intensify not only Inter-State River Disputes but also the general water related inconveniences and conflicts in the societies at large. Naturally, this may threaten the normal public life and may seriously impact our reported economic growth story. Interestingly, some experts say that if we can harvest even 25-30 percent of rain water and conserve it properly, that would be sufficient to meet our normal water requirement. Can’t this be ensured?

Can you believe that there were millions of ponds and tanks besides thousands of lakes and reservoirs in different states even in the nineteenth and some periods of twentieth century in our country? Obviously, these were the main rain water conservation spots. Sadly, these water bodies were not maintained and hence dried up or were illegally captured by powerful groups. This all happened and still happening in some places due to apathy and failure of the then and the present administrative machinery of the states. 

Now the situation in our country has come to this pass that we are facing dual problems at the same time - water shortage and severe drought on the one hand and blatant water wastage and floods on the other. Even two days of torrential rain in places like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata or even in Ranchi, Patna or Jaipur disrupts the normal life beyond imagination besides wastage of billions of litres of water. In some cities even civil life comes to almost stand still during the rainy season due to floods and water logging. Why is it so? 

Actually, the traditionally time-tested methods of conservation and management of water by civil societies were purposefully weakened and destroyed by closely connected vested interest groups to make easy money by even creating artificial shortages of water. Genuinely involved social activists say that until water shortage impacts the planners, policy makers and large sections of creamy layers of society, this life saving liquid will continue to be conserved and managed poorly.

Yes, saving and conserving water should be the primary concern for all. Although primarily the state governments should come up with suitable measures to tackle this problem, but as responsible citizens we cannot sit back and relax till they act right. It is heartening that the efforts being taken at community level in different parts of the country are highly laudable and inspiring. As such, similar initiatives and projects must be undertaken more and more in other places. Residential colonies and societies should come together to discuss how to ensure rainwater harvesting as an essential project. Undoubtedly, we can do a lot collectively for society without looking towards the government as the only option. And the first step would be to create awareness among the masses and motivate them suitably. Yes, state governments must follow the most effective governance model in this regard by always keeping in mind that life depends on water and water conservation depends heavily on them. To say,  all governments must make rainwater harvesting mandatory for all government offices and residential houses, schools, colleges, corporate offices, residential apartments and other such buildings urgently for the benefit of all.

As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion.  (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)

 # Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.                   

# Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते) 

PATIENCE ENSURES PEACE OF MIND & GOOD PERFORMANCE

Recently I was watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup match between the defending champion Argentina and Algeria, where Argentina won the match three - nil and all the three goals were scored by Argentinian forward Lionel Messi. The patience was notable besides his precision and presence of mind. You too must have witnessed how the players in any game show their patience in the most difficult times to score a goal or run or a point. When to play a ball in cricket or tennis and when not to depend on many things including the patience of the player during the game. Contrary to this, we also notice that a brilliant player fails to score a run and is declared out for losing his patience. 

Undeniably, the ever-growing incidence of road rage, emotional immaturity and other such things are the result of patience deficit which is impacting the individuals, families and societies significantly. Some people who are always in a hurry to do everything, term patience as a weakness. In fact, patience is a great virtue that also enables you to oppose any wrongdoing and protect your self-respect. William Shakespeare says, “How poor are they who have no patience.”

If we pluck the fruit from the tree prematurely, it would not give the desired natural taste or it would taste sour or bad or it is simply not worth consuming. But when you show patience to let the fruit mature and become ripe, it would be healthy and pleasant to eat that fruit. So true. John Quincy Adams says that patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

Particularly during our young age, we normally have energy, enthusiasm, time and curiosity in abundance. We have several kinds of dreams, wishes, desires and expectations. We want to achieve more than one thing at a time and that too very fast. We are ready to do and in fact try to do whatever possible to achieve that. Yes, it is another matter that despite wanting something, it is not always possible to perform as per the requirement. Anyway, one point is common in this whole process and that is patience, as many times besides wanting something, having the resolve and doing the best possible, we can’t get the desired result immediately. It is because of the fact that we can only try to control the controllable, but what about the uncontrollable factors? Just take the example of a farmer. He never thinks that by sowing the seeds today, he will be able to harvest the fruits tomorrow or day after. It is true for all people working in different vocations or professions. Yes, in this regard, it is better to know and understand the basic character of mother nature for which we should spend some time at least every six months.

Innumerable great persons have proved the importance of patience by their exemplary achievements in life. Hence, it is essential for all of us not only to understand the value of patience but also to appreciate and adopt it in our day-to-day life. Can anybody deny the importance of patience, not laziness, in doing work enthusiastically and diligently? It is said that by adopting a patient approach, you can show your level of understanding, gravity, maturity and humility. This helps you to make a well thought of decision in life and become eligible for multiple benefits. Such people are found to do better in their work place and also in other fields of activity. Elon Musk says, “Patience is a virtue, and I am learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.” Contrary to this point of view, those who, despite knowing well about the benefits of this trait, do not adopt and use it; become impulsive and impatient now and then, they are normally found to be lacking in discipline, quality, sensitivity and peace of mind. Obviously, they fail to achieve many good things in life.

Just observe keenly the scientists and researchers to appreciate how sincerely and diligently they have been continuing their research work year-after-year to finally achieve the cherished goals. Can that result be possible without maintaining patience? If you go through the history of the inventions, discoveries and research works, you would be amazed to know the level of commitment and patience maintained by those who were engaged in such activities for years together. Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of the electric bulb is one such telling example. To say, the fruits of patience are sweeter and those who make patience their friend or who are masters of patience, they perform exceedingly well in life.

As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion.   (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)     

# Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.

# Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते)