Take it or mistake it...

I read a book some days back. It was called "3 mistakes of my life". Titles of some books or films like this give you the chance to ponder about your own life. They just catch your fancy of thoughts. They simply make you think. This title proved just one of those. It made me think; obviously about the mistakes I made. You must have made some too, or we'll someday but surely make them....mistakes!

Actually, what is right and what is wrong? Who draws a line between them? Are we compelled to walk along that line or can we get away by being on either side of it from time to time? Can a right for one be wrong for the other? Which mistakes can be forgiven and which not? Again, who decides and with what right to pardon or unpardon the mistakes? Can mistakes be repeated? Does anyone have his/her share or quota of mistakes that he/she can commit? Can a mischief be a mistake? Is a desperation or an momentary inclination a mistake? Are mistakes temporary or permanent? Or is a mistake nothing but a "missed take" of one by the others? Should one try to awaken one's conscience to avoid a mistake or should one confess before God with folded hands to have mercy? Again, does conscience indicate a mistake or is a mistake termed by its consequences? Is mistake a perception or a truth? If we label a mistake as a perception, it changes from person to person. If we take it as a truth, the truth LIES in a mistake.

We are taught many etiquette, principles, ethics, dogmas, rules to live in a society. We are made ascertained to show respect to all elders even if we don't like an uncle's nature or an aunt's pompous attitude. We have to visit many temples from early childhood in order to "get used to" the (spi)rituality. These rules and ethics are taught, demonstrated to us by all the revered elderly people, teachers, family members. These ethics are, hence, enforced upon us. We don't possess the right to choose, let alone invent the rules and etiquette that appeal to us, that we think we should follow. We can't do that, for all those have already been decided. The society has decided them. They aren't authorised, yet they are unpardonable.

Most follow. But some rebel. Hence, when an individual turns atheist in a pious family, he's termed as "a stain". He gets mediocre position in his family and community. For them, God is too acceptable to refuse. Nobody cares to see the other side of the coin. The atheist-turned son gets fed up listening to all the bhajans-keertans in his home from his early childhood. He sticks his favourite rocker's poster on his room's wall in a morning before going to college one day but finds it replaced by the God's portrait when he returns in the evening. His protest isn't even given any heed. He gets frustrated by watching aesthetic channels like astha and sanskar being run continuously on his home television. He gets nightmares of the sleepless nights he has had to suffer by thinking of the jaagrans his parents organise in favour of God in his own home by calling innumerable devotees; with music system playing devotional songs in ear-deafening voice at the peak of the night. He hates to eat God's blessed food such as laddoos and jalebis in his each meal. Eventually a day comes, when he starts hating God for refusing him his mental peace even at his home. He refuses the very concept of God. But, this refusal becomes his "mistake" in the eyes of his family and BANG! There WAS a son for them.....They are better as God's devotees than being their son's Gods.

Same is the case with an employee who refuses to give in to the unrightful demands or dominating nature of his/her employer. He/she does "a mistake" to raise a voice against the wrong behaviour of the employer eventually losing self-appointment. Even nations opposing unwanted influence of some hegemonic superpowers ask for either self-distruction or self-isolation these days. Consequences, indeed, decide a mistake. But then, mistakes await you either ways. Is giving in to the wrong demands of the employer a mistake for that employee or to be expelled for not giving-in? He/she fears of being termed as "an easy catch" for everyone if he/she gives in but he/she would rather go for it as he/she can't afford to lose the current job with moderate salary to feed his/her sizeable family. Ethics lose. Desperation wins. A mistake is committed.

Mistakes, as i define them, are those errors which happen due to imbalance or lapses in our conscience. Our conscience is our own property. Our mistake should be judged by none other than our conscience for, it only can give us the true reflection and interpretation of our mind and inner thoughts. It alone can decide the right and the wrong for us. Mistakes don't happen in a certain age nor do they stop occuring. A mistake may happen during a judgement, a desperation, a rage, a trauma or even in composure. But once a mistake is accepted by our conscience, we should acknowledge it as a fact. There is no need to atone or repent for an already committed mistake as not a single living creature escapes unscratched by these mistakes. Infact, these scratches should be seen in a mirror from time to time, contemplated over but should not be repeated. Avoiding a mistake to happen twice is the only way to correct it!

So, where was I? My mistakes... You should be waiting to read those as others' mistakes always make an interesting read. I may disappoint you at the end then. Was bunking the first lecture in my junior college days my mistake or disobeying my parents in my teens just as an adventure? Or was I wrong in choosing the stream of my education? Are all those cigarette buds and empty beer bottles a proof that I made a mistake? Oh, it seems my conscience had lost its balance for a long time. But it's surely awake now as I can't count anymore mistakes... a MISS has TAKEn over my heart now!!!! Statistically speaking, the frequent lapses in my conscience are gradually showing a decrease in numbers. Guys, believe me, this "misstake" is worth committing! The only disadvantage is that you err to spell the word: misstake. :)