F E A R

You’re sh-sh-shaking, feeling cold yet sweating at the same time. Your heart is beating at twice its normal rate. A myriad of horrific thoughts penetrate your mind, not allowing you to think straight. All you know is that somehow, you have to find a way to be safe. You are scared.

Everyone feels fear, albeit not always in the way described. Some fear heights, others fear looking fat! Yet more people fear cockroaches, a low exam score, food poisoning, the boss, terrorists, failure, being cheated, change, an unfulfilled life, and most of all, death.

Fear. That awesome, all-pervading emotion which resides in us, which humbles us, makes us human. It keeps us living on the edge, afraid of what might happen next. The dustbin you throw your garbage into, may explode. Some maniac might fly an airplane into your workplace. The stock market may crash. You may contract swine-flu. Even simpler,  your boss may fire you, your girlfriend/boyfriend may ask for a commitment, you could get bitten by a stray dog, a eunuch may curse you for refusing to part with a tenner!

Afraid? Feel like you’re walking around in the open with a big, round, impossible-to-miss target painted on your back?? Be brave. Don’t take cover. Fight back.

Fear inspires us in an almost perverse manner to do things we never thought we would, or could. A person provoked by fear is capable of anything. Would you kill if you felt your life was in danger? Would you lose a friend for a job which would give greater ‘security’? Would you trample all over somebody weaker to slip out of a dicey situation? Would you sign a pre-nuptial agreement to ensure that if the marriage does go wrong, you’re still ‘safe’?
No?

It is in the face of fear that we get to know what we are really made of. Do we only talk big, or can we step up and act when the situation demands it? Our lives are shaped by how we respond to our fears. We can feel sorry for ourselves, run in the opposite direction with our tails between our legs and ‘secure’ ourselves first when we see potential for trouble. We can believe every terrorist, every politician and every other fear monger and let them rule our lives. Or we can decide to show some mettle and at least face our fears, if not conquer them. Sure, we should be a little afraid. Fear is a part of our way of life, a major motivating factor. But it shouldn’t be a constant distraction. We shouldn’t avoid walking past a dustbin just because it may explode. We shouldn’t sit at home every time there is a bandh in the city. We should take career risks, even though there is a chance of failure. We should visit Afghanist… naah, that would be crossing the line between being fearless and being foolish!