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also. Many of us believe in destiny or fate because many things that happen to us or others whether
it is success or failure, fortune or misfortune, luck or tragedy cannot be explained. But if we have to
speak about our response to such situations or handling people in our life, personally or professionally,
we have the absolute freedom of choice. So, to be sincere or casual, to smile or to frown, to care or
to ignore, to be friendly or antagonize, to be content or be greedy, to love or hate, to respect or
disrespect, to allow spite or be kind, to empathize or pretend to do so, to act or be silent, to be ethical
or otherwise, to empower or enslave or to lead or follow we have to understand that the composite of
these choices made consciously or unconsciously by us is going to decide the outcome of our life,
though initially life might fool us into thinking we are impacting other people’s lives. I understood we
have the power to make conscious choices, if we want to have a fair say on the outcomes of our life.
I also found in the course of time that habits also have a great impact on our quality of life. Old
habits do die hard. My son loves books and I love encouraging his interest. There are some books
which he has outgrown but wouldn’t part with. One of such books is titled ‘Good Habits of everyday life’
that depicts pictorially and in words the good habits and also the bad habits to enable the child to
understand the contrast and beautifully explaining the values and habits to be inculcated in children in
their various aspects as they grow up. I remember I bought it in the Chennai trade fair when he was
three and now he is twelve and he still reads it.. A few days ago I got a shock of my life. It was late night
and I was on the computer doing some work and my son was reading this particular book.. He was in
all splits of laughter and I asked him why as I knew there was nothing in that book that could make a
person laugh so much; He read a few sentences that are associated with bad habits substituting my
name and believe me it was the day of destiny sent slap for me. I was taken aback not only because
he had observed a lot more than I thought but because there were a few things he told which I myself
didn’t know that I had these undesirable traits in me. I found to my dismay, my habits have become me
and I could not differentiate it, but to others it was so obvious. I understood that very moment, though
books might inspire them, motivating them to think, and even if we spend a fortune on it, the most
interesting book our children are reading is us-‘their parents and loved ones’. I decided on that day
that I would get rid of my negative traits that block my potential to explore the possibilities that are open
to me not only for the sake of myself but also for my child who looks up to me to emulate. The role of
habits in our life and how it can make or break us dawned on me with great force.
On another day, I had to make my student familiar
with the use of metaphors in the English usage. I
explained that the poem of Robert frost ‘The road not
taken’ was also a metaphorical poem and to make her
understand better, I referred to an anecdote called ’IF
THE MAN IS RIGHT, HIS WORLD IS ALSO RIGHT’ and
asked her to read it and explain me.. The story goes
like this… A wife left the responsibility of taking care of
their young son to the husband for a few hours as she
had to go out on an important errand. The busy father
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