PREFACE
As my 18th birthday was rapidly approaching on December 27th 1957, I thought reflecting on a few important things that I had learned throughout my childhood life. Of course, I had to call on some of my childhood friends who were with me at Natabua High School and on my farm to help me. I am glad and proud that Sat Narayan my childhood friend agreed to write the Foreword for me.
People may underestimate you because of your age, built and conduct but I learned to shut out the voices of those who doubted my ability so that I could keep my eyes, ears and mind on my goals. During my childhood life I sometimes realized that a lot of things did not move and progress the way I wanted them to That did not mean that I should just give up but instead I must try to assess what is going on in life and then make an effort to fix them as best as if I can.
I found that trying something new in my early life was somewhat scary and looked cumbersome but when I gave it a second look it all became possible and manageable. Resting and relaxing times should not last forever but while enjoying every single season of our life to the fullest we must wake up before we begin to rust, I felt. When our eyes are opened to all aspects of the current complexities, competitions and injustice around us, we must always speak up and be a voice to reckon with. It is criminal to just comply with injustice and many of the status quo in our life.
It did not matter for me as to what happened to or for me the day, week or month or even year before but I made a definite effort to restart each day with a new, determined and brighter outlook on life. Sooner than later I learnt to let go of people in my life that were not really good, honest and helpful for and to me. I found that often this was somewhat painful to do but it turned out to be a worthy action in the end.
My childhood development and growing up never let me feel guilty about just letting myself loose and having fun every now and then. Very early in life I assessed that worrying unnecessarily would never change and improve the situation because if things were in my control to change the situation then I was able to do so by all means remembering well that if I could not change it then I should never sweat over it.
It is a fact of life that acquiring the things we want in life may be hard at first but I knew that the best things in life always came to me with a hard fight and perseverance. My parents and grandparents were always right during my growing up. I found out that disagreeing with them only made them more right and me a lot more wrong, sadly. This became the best learning point of my childhood and I progressed.
I soon realized that owning up to my silly actions and apologizing was hard to do, but it was simply a part of good growing up. I knew often that I could not change what had happened to me in the past, but knew that I could always change my present. I was always willing and sure to tell all those that I loved, just how much they meant to me and how much I depended on their support, love and care.
I knew for sure what was in my inside and that it was by far a lot more important than what was on the outside. I often stopped and appreciated the small things in my life because I came to realize that they might not be there forever.
Wise teachers always told me that a little bit of fun and game was always necessary in life and my elders agreed with this as well. It was a lot better feeling to live the life I loved and live the life I loved.
