Preaching is anyone's business....

The other day I was chatting with a friend on Gtalk, she just had a break up with her boyfriend of three years. I knew I wanted to help but I did not know how, so all I furnished were well constructed grammatically correct feel good sentences, and I was an angel in disguise that day. The reason why this so called help, in my words, invites sarcasm is because anyone can preach, be on the other side and furnish a “things you should do list”, and no matter how much mess you are in yourself, furnish the advice to the needy(?) one. I often get from my friends that “you should be a consultant”, well to the learned one in my life who said that consultant is a badly abused word, I agree with you my friend

Funny being an MBA I have an aversion for all books that preach, 7 effective habits, how to be a good manager, blah and blah and some more blah adorning the best sellers list. No offense to all those who have truly felt that these books have enriched their lives. Maybe you needed to hear the obvious at that time, for your belief faltered. All of us do at one point in time or the other, wanting to hear the obvious, but what is it that makes these books sell and not our friends who state the obvious all the time…”dude you suck!” , “I love you so much”, “this class is so boring”, “get a life!”…get a life…this sentence is the best consultant’s advice to everyone wanting to find answers from everyone but themselves.

It appalls me to see people worshiping other people. You can respect other people but not worship them. At the risk of inviting some pissed off comments on my blog (I know some people personally who would hurl the abuses) how can people worship Puttaparti Sai Baba (I don’t know if I am getting the name right) or all the ammas and babas in town who look at you smiling from a torn down sticker in a bus so crowded that makes you feel “God why can’t I get a chauffeur driven car?”. Just because they show you magic tricks or say “Aum” in a meditative manner and tell you to lead a virtues life? Well hello!!!??...worship all the magicians, the yoga instructor and read the religious books for the best preachings till date. I guess the thought of having our prayers answered the simpler way will even make us worship an ant! Hold religious gatherings, spend millions and be virtuoso by mind and not in deeds.

Does it take a super human to realize that preaching is anyone’s business? Each of us preach the things we hear from the other person and we believe because we agree. My friend did believe she deserved a better guy, the ardent follower of Amma in town believes that he should lead a good life and yes sound business communication skills makes you a good manager. The preacher, the one taking the supposed higher road, wants to believe the things he rendered through the pious incantation. “Everyone deserves to be truly loved and will find love in time”, I wanted to believe that when I preached that. I want to hear all that is obvious sometimes because sometimes stating it makes all the difference. Lines like “You are the best”, “I am so glad you are here” make all the difference and they don’t invite a prayer in their honor, just my smile. It doesn’t make them a consultant or another amma, just human…and human we shall be. So all you ardent followers of Stephen Covey and Baba Kishorilal....Please don't get offended, I was only exercising my right to preach and in turn believe.