By RAMita Taneja
HR & POSH Consultant and Life Coach
TEN NEWS NETWORK
NOIDA (05/11/2022): As I got down the car this morning to enter a Delhi market I had not been for 10 years, I suddenly felt a strange FEAR, unknown discomfort. I could not fathom the reason for my uneasiness but it lingered with me for a while. All I could see ahead was a tsunami of people.
The crowd was so immense that it didn’t appear that COVID pandemic had ever hit this country or the pollution in Delhi~NCR had forced shut the primary schools for next few days. Here amidst this crowd everything was as normal as it could be.
normal heavy crowd !
No , normal ,very heavy crowd !!
The entry gate to the market ( though open from various other places ) had a security alarm corridor which beeped at everyone who passed through it building a FEAR for being observed but in reality there was no one to man it or check, leave aside stopping any visitor. It was a free entry.
The only thing that stopped or rather halted the visitors for 2 minutes before entering were the two vendors who stood close to the UN MANNED gate holding huge sacks, selling cloth masks. All the visitors who crossed them were stopped FEARING, “ madam/sir without mask.. 500 Rupee ka challan hai ander “. Those who did not cross them or were lucky to have not heard their purposely loud whispers were made aware by over concerned co-visitors extending the FEAR chain.
The FEAR of shelling out 500 Rs made people buy and pay 10 Rs per mask which probably costs not more than a rupee and that too with a gratitude towards the vendor for being their guiding angel.
Almost everyone bought the masks, happily making a profit of Rs 490 as they assumed. Probably in just next 10 minutes would they have realized, what a pair of crooks did to them or rather exploited the most easy emotion of a human being : FEAR.
It is this FEAR that makes most of us pray to God. Haven’t we heard too often , “Aisa mat karo, bhagwan se daro”, or participate in charitable activities, “ Bhagwan ke naam se daan karo , punya milega”. Some flaura and fauna get to live longer and well taken care of as they are sacred ( Holy Basil is not plucked and thrown). There some animals who are consigliere’s suspicious while it is okay to hit, abuse or kill some.
The FEAR is what makes most of us follow the rituals than actually doing it with faith.
The vendor who sold the mask at good 100 percent profit knew that people will buy the mask out of FEAR, not out of concern for their own health and safety because if that were the case they would have anyways carried one from home.
It’s the FEAR in the parents about being judged that they levy pressure on their children to perform well in academics and the same child FEARS his peers and teachers for being mocked and ridiculed.
The FEAR of society ,The FEAR of being left out makes us adapt certain habits to fit into the crowd, The FEAR of being laughed upon leads to unwanted results.
Unfortunately we as a specie have become so FEAR driven that we fail to enjoy the journey of life in FEAR of the ultimate destination.
It is not wrong to FEAR because it is an emotion which if used constructively makes one work harder but FEAR should not overpower the other emotions like confidence.
FEAR should be expressed to be safe but not over expressed as that could lead to exploitation.
When in situations which induce FEAR,
1. Identify the fear : It helps to think with more clarity
2. Do conscious breathing : Proper breathing helps improve concentration
3. Face your fears : It helps to understand the positive fears
4. Sit with your fears : It helps one Imagine and realize that worst is actually not the worst.
5. Surround your self with overcoming thoughts : No failure is bigger than accepting failure, remind yourself of the next time.
6. Talk about it : Discuss your fears with your close ones or a counsellor
7. Face it : Just face it with all your might, strength and intelligence
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