UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE OF "RESOLUTIONS"

Hello Everybody,

How have you been? Hope all's well with you and your loved ones! Today in the first blog of the New Year I will share my thoughts on what I think of "resolutions" - a word which is "relegated" and "reserved" for the New Year! If you are still trying to figure out what your New Year resolutions should be then probably you should listen to this story...may be you will draw your own inspiration from it....Many a times our New Year resolutions are those in which we set targets to achieve within a given year -it may range from buying a new car, making some good investments or even shedding some kilos!

But I think the whole idea of a New Year resolution should be different....it should be those which we can hold on for life....how lovely would it be if we could bring a smile on the face of that old lady who lives alone in the neighobourhood standing near the window staring at passerbys and hoping that someone would stop by and ask her if all was well. How lovely would it be to stop by and play football with a kid who was waiting for a partner or even be there for a friend who needed someone at a difficult juncture of his/her life....How lovely would it be if our New Year resolution was not centered around ourselves but around others!

So, that is why I insist that you ought to listen to this story...

This is a story set in India back in the 1990's and about two girls in their teens, Aarti and Ranjeeta and their undying friendship. They were thick of friends....but it took one unfortunate earth-shattering incident which changed their lives forever. Both Aarti and Ranjeeta studied in the same school and in the same class. They were neigbourhood pals and were very supportive of each other. Ranjeeta was a budding tennis player and on seeing her potential Mr. Randhera a top police official decided to coach her in the sport. They were nearing the completion of their matriculation when an unfortunate incident changed the life of Ranjeeta forever. Ranjeeta was a victim of sexual abuse and her assaulter was Mr. Randhera, a man whom her parents trusted in good faith and entrusted their only daughter to his protection and care....but he betrayed their faith and ruined her life. The witness to this assault was Aarti who by happenstance witnessed this unfortunate incident!

Life became tough thereafter for Ranjeeta and her family when she reported about the incident to the police; she was thrown out of school, her brother was physically abused and tortured by the police on false charges, her father lost her job, goons were sent to her house to harass them, they were forced to re-locate from their residence and all this sent Ranjeeta into depression. Aarti's childhood was lost the day calamity befell her best friend and her family. In fact even Aarti and her family became a target of the attacks as they continued to support the family during their turbulent times. On seeing the pain and trouble her family was going through....Ranjeeta decided to put an end to it when she committed suicide by consuming insecticide. But that was not the end of it....that was just the beginning of the test of their friendship and a journey of more troubles to the already troubled family.Aarti stood by the family of Ranjeeta by appearing as witness, giving statements wherever it was required of her and extending all possible help as possible to the grieving family. Time passed by,Aarti was a grown up woman now.

As slow as a tortoise is the Indian Judicial system, it took 20 long years for a final hearing of the case....Ranjeeta's family, her best friend Aarti and her family had pinned all hopes on the judiciary of getting justice for Ranjeeta. But their hopes were dashed and quashed when all the culprit got was a meagre punished of 6 months! But Aarti and her family have still not given up....the fight is still on!

I don't know what the end of this story would be...on whether Ranjeeta would get justice or not? Sounds strange and silly to many of you...am sure! You must be wondering....that why is Sonyaa writing this story when she does not know what the end would be.... she better not keep us in suspense and tell us what happened next.... My dear friends....I wish I could tell you what happened next! :-(

Unfortunately...this was not a story....but a real-life incident that occurred in the life of Ruchika Girhotra and her family and Aradhana Prakash with whom her test of friendship stood the tide of time, trials, pain and even death...Aradhana's friendship did not end in Ruchika's death....her real test of friendship began the day she died.

Now you must be wondering that why on earth did I waste your time and the precious space on my blog discussing a story and then telling you that it was a true-life story....My answer to this would be simple.....there are many lessons learnt from this which could also be some of your New Year resolution which if you held firmly would be there with you for life.

If I just told you the story and asked you what inspiration you drew from this story....you'd say...it s just a story....You'd probably have slept over it,got up the next day and forgotten all about it. But now that you know it is a real one where real people like Ruchika, Aradhana, Ruchika's parents, Aradhana's parents constitute the basis of this truth and of the real world....you would be compelled to think it over and introspect your life to see if you have been a good friend, helped out your friend or for that matter anyone in his/her hour(s) of trouble!!!

So, here I come with some New Year resolutions which we could imbibe and preserve for all the New Years we'd celebrate on earth together -

1) Never be cowed down by difficulties....(you'll grumble and say it's all very easy to mention such things....but before you utter that remember Aradhana's case)

2) Always fight for the truth and stick to it like a Rock.....no matter how tough it gets....keep on fighting. The rock may weather in the storm but it will still be called a Rock!!

3) Always be there for others....God can only bless you for all the good you do for others and your reward for the good work you do is definitely on the way.... But if your doing good just for a reward that you're hoping to reap at the end of it...then DON'T do it! 

4) Be a good friend ( I don't know if I have been a good one.....but I can say I'm always trying to be one as much as possible!)

5) Pray daily - for yourself, your family, friends and for everyone around you.

Always look out for the rainbow (not literally!)......and remember that God's promise to you is always kept!

Have a wonderful, blessed and many joyous New Years' ahead!!! If you enjoyed reading this article then do not forget to write in to us or post a comment at the end of this blog! You can even email us at - sonyaa.random.musings@gmail.com

You can also follow us on twitter - http://twitter.com/cool_sonyaa

Take care and ciao until next month.
Love,

Sonyaa