Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference."
- Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken)
The best of times and the worst of times are demarcated by a difference of choice. Our choices determine the course of our future. Some big, some small, but unavoidable. Choices rise before us inexorably and unannounced. While many have the right to choose, many more surrender to those of others. We live in a nation where no decision is personal. All decisions have wide-ranging impacts on one's social and personal life. There are students who can't choose a stream of their own will, adults the profession of their choice, people who can't choose to marry whom they want to, and even children on the streets who crumble before their bleak future, having had no choice whatsoever. But even amid all the decisions that pull one back and refrain them from what they actually are and what they strive to do, a choice leads them out. Great choices ask for great sacrifices and require great strength, courage and determination. Correct choices often reveal our deepest desires, those which we hide from the world or are too weak to express. Since they have imbibed such a large part of our soul silently and without complaints, J.K Rowling rightly says, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." While writing this I am reminded of an incident that happened to me in middle school. In my Mathematics exam, I got an A1, 37/40. While I was happy seeing the paper over and over again, I realised that I had been given an extra mark. Nobody had noticed that and I knew nobody would know it, I would remain one of the three A1s in the class. But something pricked my conscience and I decided to get that mark deducted. Loss of that meant the loss of that A1 too, but I had no regrets at the end of the day. When I look back at that choice, I know only one thing: I lost a grade but earned peace of mind. I had nothing to hide from myself and no lies to cook up.
How does one make the correct choice? Everyone knows it but not everyone follows it as it demands retrospection of our strengths. Often, we choose to not do something just because we think it is beyond our capacity when it actually isn’t. More often we choose to do things which are actually beyond our capacity and land up in frustration. Thus, more than the strength, one needs to have the will and patience. At times the result of our choices demand time, and only those with will enough to succeed can sail through such times. While giving up on a goal is an easy choice, correct choices make it imperative to not kneel before times and situations but to fight till the very end. Fight but fight again when fallen, so that when you look back, you can justify that your choices have been backed by your own labour.
Life is never kind to anyone, it is as harsh as we want it to be. So choose who you are with wisdom and care. Forget not your morality. Understand your boundaries but always remember that when you choose to believe, when you choose to grow, when you choose to succeed, there are but no boundaries to how beautiful you can make a life.
"The more decisions you are forced to make alone, the more you are aware of your freedom to choose," says Thornton Wilder.
- Shatakshi Srivastava
B.A Economics (Hons.)
(Edited by Malayka and Pallavi
Art curated by Anshika)
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