Acknowledgement
This Slice of Life is spread over 404 pages
6
7
The strongest people aren’t always the people
who win, but the people who don’t give up
when they lose. That happens to be me. This
creativity is developed all because I needed to
heal the wounds of my past and express some
of the episodes of my life.
If I did not do this I was going to bleed and
may have needed to bandage the bleeding with
more food, alcohol, drugs, work, smoke or
even sex but eventually it has all oozed
through the stains of my life. The readers
must find the strength to open the wounds,
stick their hands inside, pull out the core of
all the pleasure and pain that I have held in
the past which have become my memories.
By expressing these here I have made peace
with my inner self. Every single expression of
the event in my life- shadows, achievements,
family life, work life as well as the social and
civic life have made me smarter, stronger and
wiser than I was yesterday.
Life is not always fair because some people are
born into better environments, some have
better genetics and some are in the right place
at the right time. I wanted to express it all,
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relevant as well as irrelevant. All that mattered
to me was my acceptance as to where I was
and figure out where I wanted to be and then
do whatever I can today and everyday, to hold
my head high and keep moving forward.
My life has been a pretty interesting story as
you can read and visualize in this collection of
essays titled “A Slice Of Life”. Sometimes you
as the reader can tell that my life itself is such
a story that the story has to come to my life.
Probably I was made an idealist first and then
I
was
surrounded
with
unidealistic
circumstances all round that became my
shadows of life.
The bundle of life situations that I have
expressed and exposed could be classed as
ecstatic as well as weirdness of life. These
together with some contradictions of life often
make great stories.
Enjoy reading.
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There is no doubt at all in my mind that a
collection of many invaluable pieces of wisdom
have been created by Dr Ram Lakhan Prasad
in his Slice of Life. Dr Prasad showed us that
he has a knack for expressing some very
profound and important notions in an
amusing and interesting way.
The pungent and personal writing style has
captured good ideas which are eminently
sensible and beautifully sensitive for the
readers. I enjoyed reading the book and have
come to know Dr Prasad a lot better as a
straight-shooter and firm believer.
There are those who make things happen,
those who watch things happen and those
who wonder what happened but Dr Prasad is
one of those rare people who really has shown
us that he knows how to make things happen.
Some books are interesting, others are
entertaining and a few are terrifically inspiring
but Slice of Life is all three. So anyone who
wants to make more of him/her should read
this remarkable presentation “A Slice Of Life”
by Dr Ram Lakhan Prasad.
An Admirer
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SLICE OF MY LIFE
Someone had told me at school to always
keep my face toward the sunshine and the
shadows will fall behind me but I did not ever
worry or have any fear about my or anyone
else’s shadows. I loved shadows and gradually
I found out that my thoughts have always
been the shadows of my feelings that were
sometimes brighter, darker, simpler or even
complicated. However, I never hesitated to
express them whenever I had the chance to do
so. This is my opportunity to let you visualize
my shadows which are a Slice of My Life.
I have never been one of those people who
wake up in the morning and beg the day to
work for me but I always got up and went to
do something for a change. I took every day as
it unfolded whether bright, cloudy or muggy.
Regular and continuous adjustments to the
day ahead had been my nature and habit. Of
course, my yesterday propelled my today and
all my today led me to my tomorrow. Each of
these vital links of my living preached me a
variety of lessons that I treasured and moved
on.
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Then I loved to keep myself occupied either in
rewarding or leisure activities but my favourite
period of the day was the golden hour in the
evening just as the sun was about to set and
we get those lovely shadows to make
everything look gold and yellow. The love of
the evening shadows was inculcated into me
by my grandparents and parents while we
lived on the mixed farm in the panoramic
village of Fiji known as Botini in Sabeto, Nadi.
I was compelled to believe that there were
infinite passageways of the shadows with a
variety of vehicles to transport everyone into
the light. However, there seemed something
special about the shadows of my life because I
could make my own mind up about whatever
was lurking in them. While most people think
that shadows follow, precede or surround us
or objects but for me the truth was that they
surrounded all my words, ideas, desires,
deeds, impulses and even memories.
Thus, it was by the shadows of my life and the
hoary past and their fantastic silhouettes on
the external screen of every way of life and
philosophy that I could by experience,
visualize, read and hear to check them as I
went along. Comparing them to finally trace
out how the people had intelligently or with
any selfish motives transcribed the scriptures.
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All the shadows of the past have been
fictitious for me and I have tried to build my
life on real solid foundations. Now I say what I
do and I do what I say. I win or I lose but I
have learnt to accept and tolerate them all.
For many of us who think differently from the
traditionalists, the big priority for us is to get
out from the prescribed shadows and make
our own way of life rather than dwelling in the
stories of the past that are no longer credible
but full of obsolete activities to connect with
nature and God. It is crucial as well as vital
that every personality of the new generation
have a revised view of their own ways of life
and have a humanistic stake in the welfare of
humanity.
Like the moral test of any sound government
is to treat everyone equally so is my feelings
for all. Those who are in the dawn of life, the
children; those who are in the twilight of life,
the elderly; and those who are in the shadows
of life, the sick, the needy and the
handicapped. I have developed similar dictates
and conducts for all these members of the
society and the community.
Despite this firm belief, how many people
make
themselves
abstract
to
appear
profound? I feel that the most useful part of
abstract terms are the shadows they keep
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creating to hide a vacuum. I know that in faith
there is enough light for those who want to
believe and enough shadows to blind those
who do not.
When we talk of human, religious, social or
economic rights, they are not the privilege
granted by the few but they remain the liberty
entitlement for all. These rights by definition
include the rights of all humans whether those
in the dawn of life, the dusk of life or the
shadows of life.
In the name of various religions we have tried
to divide this world into fragments that is
hiding in various kinds of shadows. We need
immediate liberation and begin to treat
everyone as human beings.
Now that my introductory remarks have given
me a way forward I shall proceed. Let me place
one disclaimer here. I never counted myself as
a saint or a wealthy being or a celebrity but a
simple person who was happy and had
adequately
contentment
with
the
achievements and successes that came to him
upon appropriate efforts. There is no element
of boasting, bragging or self praise but letting
my readers appreciate that life is worth living
well and enjoying that short period on earth.
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LIFE AS I HAVE KNOWN
The readers should not make any mistake
between my personality and my attitude to life
because my personality is who I am but my
attitude largely depends on who I am
confronting, conversing or interacting with.
Life as many of us have known, is definitely a
series
of
ordinary
but
natural
and
spontaneous changes which should not be
resisted because this resistance will ultimately
create and cause sadness and sorrow.
Therefore, the people who wish to lead a good
and real life let reality be reality by letting
things flaw naturally forward in whatever way
they like; up, down or sideways.
One of my main objectives in life has been to
find happiness and I knew that happiness
would not come to anyone who did not learn
to appreciate whatever they already have.
Often I tried to evaluate things in life and the
best thing I assessed and could do was not to
think too much, not to wonder a lot, not to let
loose my imagination or even not to obsess
but just keep breathing and developing strong
faith that everything would work out for the
best. In fact I have never wanted a perfect life
but I always yearned for a happy life.
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I truly believed that one day or someday in the
future everything would turn good and make
perfect sense. Therefore, presently and for now
I needed to laugh at the confusion, smile
through the tears and keep reminding myself
that everything happens for a reason. I went
out in search for all the possible reasons that
made some sense to me. This proactive stance
made me satisfied and gave me a lot of real
happiness. It was after a long period of time
that I came to realize that happiness only
comes when we firmly believe in what we are
doing, know exactly what we are doing and
above all love all that we are doing.
I then reached a reasonable conclusion for my
self that doing what I liked was my freedom
and liking what I was doing was my
happiness. There is no assumption here that
there was no sadness and no pain in my life
but I quickly gathered that there were two
kinds of pain in my life; one that hurt me and
the other that changed me. As a general rule
to myself I would never allow the feeling of any
negative things to enter my life because I know
full well that it spoils all the good things I
possess. So I always choose to be positive and
happy.
I tried my hard not to let my yesterday use up
a lot of my today. Very soon in life I found out
that my life was too short for any bitterness,
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any hatred, any kind of deceit and
despondency but needed love, inspiration and
enthusiasm. Consequently I too commanded
myself not to be bitter about anything or
anybody.
I never wanted to be alone and lonely but in
company of my family, friends, relatives and
colleagues because I strongly felt that the
worst loneliness was to not to be plainly
comfortable with myself. There were some of
the gravest loneliest moments in my life when
I sadly watched my whole world falling apart
and all I could do was to stare blankly. But I
did not let my loneliness bother me. I got out
and mixed with people, talked, played, had
fun, presented speeches at gatherings and
read a lot. Thus found some worthy solutions
to my loneliness.
I kept reminding me constantly throughout my
life that life was not always perfect because I
knew that I will not always get what I wanted.
Although it did hurt me a lot, I had to accept
the truth that what should have happened
had happened. Who should have left had to
leave but whatever threw me off course would
always bring me to where I needed to be. I
pressed on regardless.
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LIFE EXPERIENCES
I was told early in life that I should never
regret anything in life because if it was good it
would be wonderful but if by any chance it
was bad it would be an experience to consider
later. So from my childhood I was conditioned
to be strong enough to stand alone, of course
smart enough to know when I needed
assistance and brave enough to ask for help.
Consequently, many of my difficult roads often
took me to exciting and great destinations.
Life went on and whenever there were
obstacles or sorrows or frustrations I knew
how to put on a happy face and keep moving
with greater determination. This experience
was somewhat hurting but I learnt to survive.
My life was not easy but I never let it deter me
from moving ahead with additional vigour.
I never learnt to put my life behind me but let
all my memories go back therefore my life was
always ahead of me motivating me, guiding me
and inspiring me. Everyday was a new day
and a challenging experience that I never
failed to seize and make the best use of them.
I got what I wanted most of the time through
my hard work and consistent efforts. These
became my life expereinces.
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It was never easy to fill my life with valuable
expereiences but I was able to manage this
gradually and then material things began to
have very little interest and concern for me. I
then had stories of my experiences to narrate
to family members, friends and colleagues but
I had very little stuff to show and tell. I
gradually became rich in experience but poor
in material things. As a result of these
experiences in my life I have lived, loved, liked,
disliked, found, lost, missed a few things and
at times was hurt as well but I did not deter
from accumulating my experiences. I have
trusted myself and my people and at times
made a few mistakes but most of all I have
learned a lot of valuable lessons in the
process.
I could never disagree with my high school
literary personalty C S Lewis who among other
things wrote that God allows us to experience
the low points of life in order to teach us
lessons that we could learn in no other way. I
never let God move away from my side and
that has been one of the most potent reasons
for recollecting and reminising some of my
good expereinces.
One thing is quite certain about my life
experiences. I became strong because
sometime in the past I was weak. I turned
fearless because I was afraid in the past and I
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think I am now a little wiser because I was
somewhat foolish before. My strength, my
fearlessness and my wisdom have their firm
foundation in my past expereinces.
My experience is that we are all a little broken
somewhere, somehow and somewhat but I am
mindful of the fact that many broken things
still work. During my infant classes whenever
I checked, my broken crayons still were able to
draw the same colours on my drawing paper.
The most important thing for me had been to
decide whether I was going to let my past
destroy me or whether I was going to let it
construct and develop me into the strongest
individual my people had ever met and seen.
Of course, in the process of growing up my
varied life expereines let me open my eyes to
be more cautious with certain people around
me. I either learned from their experiences or
avoided such debilitating and destructible
adventures. Whenever I visited my birth place
I endeavoured to go and meet and
communicate with my childhood friends
because they were the starters of my life
experiences.
I have always treasured their supplementation
in my life. I am proud that they are enjoying
and living a modest village life but are elated
with my progress and on every occasion of my
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visit to them they have given me the best of
their kind hospitality, respect and love. I am
indeed indebted to all my people who
enthused and pushed me to my modest
progress. I think that this institution of early
childhood
interaction
and
consequent
developments are necessary and vital for our
life.
I was told that if I planned everything well in
life then it would mean that I will not
experience anything unexpected but this
assumption turned out to be dubious because
despite some of my strategic planning I had
experienced a few unexpected events in life. I
was always ready for the unexpected to occur
and thus managed my affairs uneventfully.
Thus although planning became a constant
thing of my living, taking care of the
unexpected was always my prime concern.
Everybody around me often said that our
mistakes were the first steps of success but as
I found out through life experience along the
way that the real fact for success was the
ability to correct the mistakes and learn to
succeed. When I recognized that the voice and
the vision on the inside were more profound
and clearer as well as louder than all the
opinions on the outside, I then began to feel
that I was mastering my life and moving
ahead.
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So it is correct to say that life experience is
how life catches up with us and teaches us to
transform our activities and character. Then
what was left of me was to go for it whether it
ended well or went badly wrong. At least it
gave me an experience that I could consider
for future development and stability. Just
because the past did not turn out like I
wanted it to be it never meant that my future
could not be better and more rewarding than I
had ever imagined.
Human life including my own has been a
varied journey with problems to sort out and
solve, multiple lessons to learn but my most
important aspect was the experiences that I
had to enjoy. I know that many good decisions
come from a variety of good life experiences
but a lot of real experiences come to us from
our bad decisions. However, it did not matter
to me how slowly or how fast I moved ahead as
long as I did not stop in the way.
Enterprising people grow and develop their
talents through a variety of ways but the
greatest skill acqusition is from our experience
if we meet life honestly and courageously.
