Very interesting and thought provoking point Raafat. I am very glad to hear from you. We are very attuned to primal behaviour I think – specially in the face of fear. The knee jerk reaction is to freeze like you said. Most times, this fear manifests in such a way that no action seems to be the easiest thing to do. I know I have been in that place more number of times than I would like to admit. Of the many rationalisations I gave myself, a constant one was – things will always work out for the better. And I found reasons to show how my inaction worked in my benefit. With time, I got so good with this rationalisation that Freezing during fear became a natural response. And as with everything, fear, inaction grows stronger with time. The only way to beat them out is to face them and keeping our head down. The more times we face fear, the better we get at it and the confidence improves too.

I could not agree more with your point – It is a learned skill. The faster we get into the habit of working on things and trying to respond and taking actions, we get better at it and stronger too. It is indeed a very good skill to develop and maintain regularly.

The latter is a learned skill and of prime importance in today’s world. The problems are advanced and mere running away gives time for the devil to grow stronger and ready to annihilate us. The quote you put up from John Moliere sums it all up. Totally agree…

That’s so true Preethi, end of the day we are all responsible for our actions or inaction and we are the ones who have to live with them. I guess as long as we are satisfied about it, it is the way ahead. If not, maybe it is time to do some rework on it!

Like you said, I am sure we will keep finding a lot of those people who do nothing about it and keep trying to pass on the responsibility. I fail to understand the gratification in it though. It all seems so murky to me!

I sure agree Anita, the Bhagawadgita certainly is one of the finest treatises ever and the Best book on any management! There certainly are a lot of people who are more than willing to pass the buck and there are the poor scapegoats as well. But I guess the beauty lies in the balance! The part where he says being a part of something and yet dissociating oneself from it – the true definition of karmayoga. That for me sums it all up as a beautiful definition of LIFE in itself :)

Isn’t it? I have often wondered how much I have missed out on for not doing so many things. Have tried to shed responsibility so many times so that I could feel better. But I guess the only real time I have felt better is when I actually took it up and did it. Maybe responsibility is not such a bad thing after all :)

Thank you Abhijit! That’s a very nice way to put it! An equal share of guilt – a very valid one indeed. Sometimes I even wonder if the person who tolerates it is a little more culpable! Well I guess that’s up for debate.

I wish I could understand Bengali though, reading Tagore would have been an extraordinary delight! :)

Thank you Yamini :).. He he I guess it does suck most times but every time looking back at it is certainly a pleasant experience. A good nostalgia if I may say :)