“Do as I say” – I heard this dialogue from a teacher. It didn’t seem too significant to me because we do what they say. I mean, how many people have told teachers, right in the face, that they can’t do what they say? I certainly haven’t. I had had the urge to retort at teachers, especially when I don’t want to do what they say, but never had I the nerve to directly say it. Of course, I have faced numerous incidents in which I go to school with incomplete homework, but never have I told a teacher, in prior that I wouldn’t do it.

It takes a huge amount of courage to say NO. What a simple word it is, but how difficult it is to utter, especially in school.

“Do as I say” – they tell us and we unquestioningly do as they say. It begins in school. When we can’t boldly refuse or disagree at a young age, then how can we do it later in life?

Such persons become unquestioning labours, who the corporate world would love to have. They don’t protest. They are blinded by money.

So, it comes back to ‘school’. If a student is trained to question (not only regarding subjects), then these students will grow up to be the youth who would stand for what they should, and not for what they are told to stand for; know when to say “No”, and wouldn’t hesitate to say “No” when it has to be said.

I was wonderingly wandering when it dawned upon me that too many times in my life, I’ve been trying to please others. That doesn’t mean that I’ve always done what others wanted me to do. No. There were many instances where I’ve done only what I wanted, completely deaf to the comments of those unworthy. Having said this, I can’t deny that I have, under some circumstances, gone out of my way, just to satisfy others. By doing that, I wasn’t too worried but I wasn’t satisfied either, and life is all about being satisfied with ourselves, right?

What’s the point of living our lives without being satisfied with ourselves? My answer is, none. I know a few people, who believe that the sole purpose of living is to make others happy. I think these people need to get a life. We can sacrifice a lot of things, but our own lives? Definitely not. I don’t believe in after lives and I don’t care about them, all I know is that I’ve been gifted with one life and I don’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of having lived mine. I’ve decided to live my life on my own terms. I might face drawbacks, but then, what is the thrill without any risks. I’d rather face the consequences of my actions than others’.

There are a fair few people out there who like to have a commanding grip over others’ lives. As far as I’m concerned, these people are best avoided. One who always wants to tell others what to do and how to live, can never be a good companion, and I will not (hereafter) feel guilty of disappointing such persons. #NoteToSelf

Robin Hood, Zorro, Superman, Spiderman, Ben, X-Men… the list goes on. There are numerous heroes. What are their motives? They fight for ‘The Greater Good’. They are the people’s heroes. They do good deeds, with the best interest of the public at heart, and we love them for that. They are our heroes, our leaders.

Sometimes, I feel life would be good with a bunch of superheroes, just round the corner, waiting to save us, from the evils of society. How wonderful it would be to know that our ‘Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman’ will web-swing across cities, just to protect us from harm. How comforting it must be, to feel safe, because Superman and the rest of the ‘Justice League’ are watching over us and resisting any force that may endanger our lives.

What a sense a security, it must be to know that the ‘King of Thieves’, Robin Hood, is out there, along with his ‘Merry Yeomen’, fighting against evil and feeding those in need.

How nice it would be if Ben and the X-Men and all other unknown superheroes, were out there, fighting for the innocent and helpless, helping them and protecting them.

We all would have felt, at one point, that life was much better in movies. After all who doesn’t wish for a life of ‘Happily-Ever-After’? But life isn’t a movie or a cartoon. Dumbledore said, that “it does not do to dwell in dreams”. I say, it does not do to dwell in fantasies too. All they do is divert our minds from reality, making us wish for a life that doesn’t exist. That’s the bitter truth.

Silence – her new mantra. Eyes tightly shut, she remains, pretending to be oblivious. People look at her, wonder at her silence, enquire about her health. They display concern, not knowing the reason for her muteness. They prescribe remedies and proscribe isolation. All as a measure of uselessness. None could find out the reason, none could bring her back to her former self. All efforts were spent in vain. One fine day, a little girl came by and repeated the same questions. They told her. She thought for a while. She smiled. She opened the latch of the cage and out flew the silent parrot, never to be silenced or caged again.

Whilst reading Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Books, something struck me as quite odd: none of the animals in the jungle could maintain eye contact with Mowgli, (man’s cub) for long. This was something I had never heard of before, so I decided to try it out for myself. I stared directly into a dog’s eyes and he broke contact shortly afterwards.

I wondered, maintaining eye contact was something that mankind had had trouble with for a long time. In a lot of poems (especially love poetry) we have witnessed the presence of this difficulty. Do animals share the same feeling?

Naturally, I was curious, so I sought the help of Google Search. I don’t know about wild animals but I discovered that it is dangerous to maintain eye contact with unknown dogs. (Thankfully, I experimented with my neighbour’s dog) Eye contact tends to trigger dogs into biting, which is why (researchers have proved) children get bitten by dogs.

While dogs consider it as provocation, mankind seems to think otherwise. From what I could find out, Japanese schools teach their students not to look at the teacher’s eyes. They are directed to look at the teacher’s Adam’s apple or tie knot during direct conversations. They consider looking directly into the eyes of a superior as a sign of disrespect. People of East Asia and Nigeria also consider it as a gesture of disrespect to look into the eyes of a superior.

The Western Culture, as always has a different view. There, a person who does not meet another’s eye is badly judged. Maintaining eye contact is more than we realize. People who have difficulty in meeting one’s eyes are likely to be affected by autistic disorders or social anxiety.

Apparently, studies aren’t confined to Engineering and Medicine, for the study of eye contact is referred to as ‘oculesics’. Research on eye contact reveals stunning results. It was definitely more than I anticipated.