A Fruitful Conversation

By Karishmadevi K

One day I was talking to my best friend as usual. She’s my comfort zone. She's a pure soul inside and out. Well, that best friend is me. It's just a random day of my self-talk. We always have deep conversations. I told her that I've always wondered why most people are like a flock of sheep, following what others do. Don't they have a brain of their own? Can't they think for themselves about something, because even though our brains have the same weight, the way we think and the way we see the world is different, right? But I also had a story that influenced me. Years ago, my friends and I were having a conversation at school. Someone said, 'When I see an ambulance, I always close my eyes and pray for a few seconds for that person's recovery.’ Then I thought, surely everyone would do that? We're not going to wish for someone not to get better, are we? Then another girl said, 'No, I won't do that. What if someone who did something wrong was in the ambulance?' After hearing that, my mind was blown. I had never thought about how that could be. Since then, every time I see an ambulance, I think about that only, then I'm confused about whether to wish for that person's recovery or not. And I end up not praying at all. You may think that the girl was right because if someone did something bad, they don't deserve wishes. I can't accept that. Because we don't even know that person, we don't even know the story of how that person got there. We don't know anything at all. Our desire for recovery has nothing to do with that person in the first place.

When we see someone who is hurt, we don't initially ask for the story of how it happened. We automatically ask them ‘Are you alright?’ and help them. We just do that. That's human nature. But since that thought was put in my head, I always think about how the person in the ambulance could be bad. Only then I realized how another person's thoughts can influence you. They can change your thoughts and eventually become your thoughts. That's why most people imitate something that others do. It's as contagious as a virus. Even though you know something is stupid and a lot of people say it's not. You then think, ‘Okay, if it's right for everyone, maybe I'm the one who's wrong.’ That's how much it's infectious. I'm not saying don't listen to others, yes, your counterpart will know something, but don't blindly believe everything they say. Even if hundreds or thousands of people follow something absurd, that doesn't make it right because even if one person follows the right thing, IT'S RIGHT. As a wise man said, "Don't believe in something that doesn't make sense to you". Even if your confidants say something that doesn't make sense to you, don't follow it. Don't take it into your head, because if you do, you'll start to kind of believe it and end up doing it. So, I asked her: Do you want to be someone who lives in a herd or an individual thinker? She replied, ‘The next time I see an ambulance, I'm going to pray for the speedy recovery of the person in it.’

By Karishmadevi K