Be the Change!
Nobody
is perfect, knows Naveen. Yet he wanted to see a perfect world with right
people at the right time, in right place, doing the right things. Naveen is a
poor boy from a remote village near Villupuram about 150 Km from Chennai. He
was 19 years old and he was studying B.sc, Zoology in a college in Chennai.
Being a first generation learner he was the first person to come to the college
from his village. May be because of this he had a high respect among his
villagers and even the elders respected him for what he was and they approached
him whenever they were in need of any intellectual help.
Naveen was an
intelligent boy but he belonged to a poor family. Money and intelligence often
do not go together. And he felt himself very inferior compared to the other
students in his college. He is a person who has experienced a lot of struggles
and sufferings in his life. He always remembered the words of his loving
father, Murugan, which was the propelling dynamism within. “Naveen, never give
up; feel confident always”.
It
is because of the confidence and encouragement given by his father that he was
able to come out of his inferiority complex and face the challenges in his
small world. However, a strong desire to see a perfect world has been burning
within. “Is a perfect world possible?” was his inner urge. And he believed that
he can see a perfect world in the near future. He told his friends in the
college about his desire and his friends fooled him telling “Come on perfect
man, of course,you can see a perfect world!” They wrote on the black board in
big letters “PERFECT WORLD” and asked him “Are you able to see a perfect world?
See there!” While most of his friends in the class teased him, there was a girl
who came to him and said, “Don’t worry, dear Naveen. You can see a perfect
world – Keep looking for it”. And she told about a sage who lived in a small
village and advised him to meet the sage.
Naveen
marched towards that small village. He never expected such a beautiful village
near Chennai, a metropolitan city, wherein there are many scientific and
technological industries and national and international corporate companies and
where of course so much of pollution takes place. It was a nice experience for
Naveen to walk on the banks of the riverbed on the way to the village looking
for the sage. In spite of his troubled heart, his mind was bit smoothened by
the silent breeze that caressed him in that place of natural beauty. But his
mind was busy thinking! Was he really troubled? What was the reason for all his
worries and for his longing desire to see a perfect world? Is it because that
he lived in an imperfect world? What imperfection did he find in the society at
large?
As
Naveen walked along the river bank, he saw an old man grazing the sheep and
asked him “Where can I meet the sage?” Observing the desperate condition of
Naveen, the old man said, “My boy, you can just cross over to the other side of
the river and that old temple you see there is the place where he lives in”.With
much joy in his face even if there was trouble within, Naveen approached the
temple. It was an ancient temple with some huge idols placed outside. On seeing
the giant idols, Naveen in his own humble way bent down and worshipped as he
used to do in his village especially during the time of festivals. “Lord, help
me to see a perfect world” were the words going on within Naveen as he bent
down in worship.
Hoping to get some positive result from the
sage, he looked around to see where the sage was. For his surprise, the sage
was inside the temple, sitting in a comfortable posture and Naveen heard some
mantra being recited by the sage. Naveen was in a dilemma whether to disturb
the sage or to wait for him. After some time he decided to stay there on the temple
verandah until the sage comes out from his meditation. Having come from a long
distance he was very thirsty and he searched for some water pot nearby and he
didn’t find one there. So he just moved to the river and quenched his thirst.
As
he came back to the temple verandah he found himself very tired and noticed
that the time was past midday and he hoped that the sage might soon come out
for his lunch. As he was rehearsing within the points that he wanted to share
with the sage he just laid down on the verandah. Within a few seconds he fell
asleep.As he was sleeping, his mind just went back to all his sorrowful life
experiences in the past. It was a fine morning. And the sun was just spreading
its rays from the sky. But Naveen was filled with a lot of anxieties. He was
hopeless and being a small boy of just ten, he didn’t know what to do at the
time while his mother fell seriously ill due to a heart problem. His father
took his mother and admitted her in a government hospital.
Naveen was literally begging door to door
asking for some financial help from his neighbours and no one was willing to
help him. “Akka (Sister)” he cried to a woman in the nearby house, “please give
me some money. My mother is seriously ill and we need money to give her
treatment in the hospital.” “Sorry, I can never give you any money” she said
like a heartless devil, “you don’t have any property and how the hell can you
return the money to me? Go and ask for the help from some others”. Having asked
for help from almost all in the village, without getting any help from his so
called neighbours, he hurried towards the hospital to see his loving mother.
When he reached the hospital, he fell down at the feet of his father who sat
near his dead mother in a stretcher. Tears trickled down from his eyes and his
father didn’t have tears in his eyes and he looked as if he is also dead.
“Appa, what happened to amma?” Naveen cried holding his father’s
hands.
There
was a long silence. Even the air didn’t have a kind heart to console the
suffering souls. They were both soul stricken and seemed to be left alone
without any one coming to their aid. After a long silence, his father said to
Naveen in a melancholic tone, “My dear Naveen, we are poor and your mother died
because we didn’t have enough money. These bloody doctors are asking for a huge
amount which we can’t pay. Your mother is dead and gone my son.” Naveen thought
within himself that only with money people can survive in this world. “Why do
people in this world consider money more important than morals? when can I see
a perfect world in my life?” these were the questions that arose in his mind
when he was just ten years old. Having lost his loving mother, who was very
dear to him, Naveen felt as if he had lost his own life.
At this time of
great sorrow, it was his father who said “My dear son you must become great.
You must fulfill the wish of your mother. She always longed to see you as a
doctor. Your mother was not able to be cured because of the fact that we were poor.
That desperate condition must never occur to anyone in this world. When you
become a doctor, never deny help to anyone especially to the desperate and the
poor”, his father told him holding him gently to his heart. Immediately Naveen
said to his father with a lot of zeal and earnestness, “Appa (Daddy), I will
become a doctor and give free medical treatment to all those who are in need”.
Seeing the enthusiasm of his son at that very early age, his father replied,
“My dear son, you will become great”. With that spirit of eager and enthusiasm,
Naveen studied very well and scored excellent grades in the school. After some
years, when he completed his plus two, to his joy and happiness he got the
first mark in his school in the public examination.
Having come up in his life from a
poor background and having achieved this, he hoped that he would surely fulfill
the deep desire of his loving mother. When the admission was going on for the
medical college, he hoped that he would be given the seat on merit. With this
hope, he went to a famous medical college in Chennai and when he met the
admission officer there, he felt that the admission officer would praise him
for his hard work and achievement and give a seat. But it happened on the other
way about. He looked up and scanned Naveen and his father from top to bottom
and asked them, “Where are you from?” Naveen said, “Sir, We are from a poor
village near Villupuram. And I am from a poor Dalit family. Please help me sir.
I have a strong desire to study hard and become a doctor in order to serve the
poor people freely”.
“Do
you have money to give for the admission?” was the immediate question from the
officer and Naveen and his father were standing silently without having words
to speak. After some time he opened his mouth and said, “Sir, I am a poor boy.
But I have scored the first place in the public examination. Please help me
sir. I will be...” before Naveen could complete his words the officer called
the security and asked him to send them out of the office. with much sadness
and sorrow, feeling depressed he asked his father, “ Appa, why is it that I am
not given an admission in the medical college even though I have high marks” “
My dear son”, his father said, “You longed to study in an English medium school
but I put you in the government school. Do you know why? Everywhere they asked
for money. And as you know your mother died because we didn’t have enough
money. In this world of ours, marks or morals don’t matter, much money
matters”. Telling these words to Naveen his father took him home.
Days passed on and
after strenuous efforts he got a seat in a private college in Chennai. In the
beginning of the academic year, there was a students’ union election held in
that college and he noticed how money was used as a tool to manipulate the
students and get the votes. He was
fully disturbed, when he noticed that the man who spent a lot of money won the
election. He got wild and decided to do something for the society, which
respects money rather than morals. “Why can’t I contest in the election next
year?” as he was thinking, somebody tapped on his
shoulder and asked him, “Thambi (little brother), what do you want?” Naveen got
up from his sleep and surprised to see the Sage standing near him and told him
his quest for seeing the perfect world. After listening to the sad story of
Naveen, the sage in his humble way said, “My dear boy, I was also like you and
wanted to see a perfect world and at the end decided that I could never change
the world, rather I decided to change myself and that has made me sacrifice
everything and lead such a simple life based not on money but on morals. You
must become the change that you want to see in this world”. As Naveen saw the
sage, he fell at his feet and said within, “Why can’t I be the change that I
want to see”.
For a moment he
struggled whether to accept the reality or to change the reality. Then it
became very clear to him that he should realize his dream of becoming a doctor.
But how? He remembered the man grazing the cattle on the way – He should work,
work and work more. He came back to his college, started working part time.
With the money he earned he could study and earn not only a little money but
also academic laurels. His mindset was to change the face of the world and to
be a counter culture. He worked for a couple of years, he did win a scholarship
and went on to medical school and became a doctor. All through the ordeal of
his poverty and his being rejected by the moneyed people, his mindset that he
could become great kept vibrating and that made the difference. He realized the
world may not become perfect but you could become perfect and change your
environment perfect. He shone as a beacon of perfect person in the world of
darkness. He realized that when you want to achieve something you could harness
the entire world power, which is within oneself, to achieve the dream. He is a
great doctor, an internationally cardiologist today. For him money matters
little but each people matters a lot. He is the sage in action.
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