And Yet Another One Follows..: How Practical Are You?

Some days back, I coincidentally had a discussion with an old friend. An incident at that time made me wonder about an important aspect that we often mention. It is about being practical in the sense we want. How often have we found people saying ‘so and so person is an emotional fool’ or ‘I am a practical person’. How often do we wonder the real sense of being practical or do we even think how practical such people are?

People who call themselves ‘strong’ or ‘practical’ forget that they are humans. On an average, human beings spend 95% of their lifetime in experiencing happiness, love, ecstasy, pain, joy, sorrow and 50% in expressing such emotions. Expression of these emotions can vary in many ways. Some might just express it calmly and others may not bother about hiding their expressions. However, it cannot be denied that every human being, once in a week, has this feeling of expressing something, with an enthusiasm or pain.

It is a common presumption that those who easily show their emotions or can’t hide them are not practical. Some may even believe that they are weak, pessimistic and will find it difficult to survive in the world. However, I believe that these so-called emotional fools are the ones who are in fact very strong, stand apart from the crowd positively and even survive in the world leaving their mark. The only reason why it happens is because they have the courage to accept and express their joys, anxieties, fears. They do not see expression of emotions as a sign of weakness. They have experienced more such instances than others. Hence, they know the value and insight of these aspects better, and have a better understanding of many situations in life. In fact, their past has made them stronger than many others. They have moved over many situations, yet they know what makes them genuine. Moreover, these people will never step back from their expressions and will take the pains to judge and will bravely sort out the solutions in life without giving up. These people can be called the real heroes.

If we talk about those who call themselves practical, they actually call themselves thus to hide their reluctance to accept things naturally under a cover called ‘practical attitude’. They never talk about emotions or the beauty or sorrows in life naturally. They hate talking about such aspects. In fact. They even mock at people who do so. The question that arises is ‘Are they really practical?’ The answer that I put forward is a strong ‘No’. I justify my answer, in case it seems like a clueless but over smart reply. Every so-called ‘practical’ person in life has something or the other that they find very close to them. It is the key factor that arises their emotions out. There is no such person in the world who has not expressed joy, sorrow, fear, love or distress in life ever. It is only the variation of instances. With some people, it is natural expression. Whereas with others, it is just the modified artificial version that makes them seem practical.

The fact forgotten over here is that it takes great courage to be like a child- bold, fearless, genuine, strong. A child does not fear to say the truth. A child never wonders about what others may think. A child is never biased in judgement and has no resentments for his expressions. However, a child is never weak actually. We often forget that in everybody’s life, there are everyday instances of ‘intermingled probabilities’. The other day somebody asked me, what does that term coined by me, actually mean. It is relevant to every being existing in this universe. We all have some goals, dreams, desires, wishes in life. This is applicable even to the so-called practical people. It often happens that failures, heartbreaks, pain disturb us everyday, and the accomplishment of one dream, desire, wish depends on the accomplishment of others. They are intermingled with each other. Moreover, they are all probable. After all, mathematics and physics are applicable to the real world. In such intermingled probabilities, it is our own perception how to behave. Our judgement and actions decide our future, but I am sure nobody has ever felt emotionless at critical points of life. It is impossible to hide the intensity of that child-like innocent anticipation, enthusiasm and fear. How, I wonder, people call themselves practical then. To me, it is a great pride and freedom to express what I want to say, genuinely.

I think, if you have read till here, you’ll definitely think twice before calling yourself ‘very practical’ again.

What I say here is:

‘I see a part of myself free in that glimpse,

I see that I live with realities,

yet my hopes and dreams always exist,

I see that I fear to take a step,

yet I dream to reach there,

I see that pain comes everyday,

yet I want to be happy and express it in every way,

I see that people are opportunists,

Yet I create bonds with those I meet,

I see it is foolish to keep walking at times,