Those who love to watch cricket and those who are forced to watch it just because their boy friends or husbands suddenly seem to become more interested in the other love of their lives, might have noticed a tagline: “one over will change the World“.

Though I can go on talking about the game and the master himself, yet I would not do the same, instead would want to take you to another aspect of the tag line and would want to make little modification in the same: “one incident/decision will change your World“. 

There can be many broad interpretations of the tagline that I have used above. It could be related to the much awaited and much talked about topics in recent times, politics, with slogans ranging from NaMo to RaGa coming to the fore. And yes, one vote does make a difference and one election outcome does make governments topple (so go out there and cast our vote for it is not only your right but also your duty to do so).

It could be related to the economy of the World and in turn India, which due to globalization and other similar forces has become increasingly linked to the decisions being made in the international arena. One decision of the federal bank in US of withdrawing the stimulus that it has been offering for a considerable period of time, just after the financial crisis, is surely going to have a significant impact on the economy of not only India but also all the developing countries.

It could be manifested in international relations among countries fighting over different natural resources present Worldwide. If US and in turn NATO were to carry on with the sanctions on Russia over the issue of Ukraine, it needs no Einstein to declare that we might once again be treading the path to the much talked about event in the history of international politics, the cold war. Sometimes, I wonder whether the end of the cold war was just a hoax to make sure that the cold war (which in itself was not a direct confrontation and in a sense secret) could be carried in a pseudo-secretive manner.

It could be manifested in the society that we all, willingly or unwillingly happen to be a part of. One decision, such as getting married out of your caste or with a person belonging to a different religion, could bring doomsday to the lives of the couples, who dare to go beyond the caste system and the Khap panchayat which seems to function in a different world altogether, and which seems not to be bound by our own Constitution and the laws thereof, which are supposed to provide security to every citizen of this country.

At personal level, it could also be related to the various decisions that you take at various points in your life, ranging from the choice between Biology and Mathematics after high school to what career path you ultimately decide to pursue; from going for a love or arranged marriage to making a choice between living in India or abroad and so on.

If we were to tread deeper into our own nano-World and were to explore at the micro level, one decision made during that night when say you were partying at your friend’s place and decided to go for a drive when you were all drunk and happened to have met an accident could indeed bring about a huge change in your life. I guess that’s why our forefathers were so keen on voicing the precautionary principle. 

Whatever it might be, every decision and every little step that we take in our lives has a consequence, which makes me wonder whether we are just a cog in this machine of the consequential life that we all happen to be living.

Sounds depressive to the core? Yes, but what I intend to convey here is not some silly depressive thought but a possibility that we can all bend this consequential life in our favour by ensuring that whatever decisions we make in our lives are first of all based on rationality and secondly even if the rationality happens to go wrong, then too we must always try to maintain a positive mindset which will help us all in handling those unwanted situations and circumstances that we all happen to find ourselves in at some point of time in our respective lives.

Thus, it is absolutely essential for all of us to take the consequences (both positive and more so negative) in our respective strides and keep evolving and learning from the same, during this journey of life. This reminds me of the famous song:

“किसी  की  मुस्कुराहटों पे हो निसार किसी का दर्द मिल सके तो ले उधार, 
किसी के वास्ते हो तेरे दिल में प्यार, जीना इसी का नाम है. “

Source for Image: http://www.rkdf.ac.in/Result.php, http://blog.theravid.com/physical-therapy-2/physical-therapy-marketing-consumer-decision-making-process/