“What will people think of me?”

It is a common thought that comes to your mind when you try to do something different from the rest. It is a disease, with which 90% of the people are smitten with. When people criticize us, we take it in the wrong way and out comes, loads of tears, we think that it’s the end of the world. People throw stones at a mango tree but people don’t throw stones at a neem tree. Why? We are criticized because we (you) are important. So why does criticism bother you? Stop caring about the world, you will always be happy.

Navjot Singh Sidhu a former cricketer learnt this lesson the hard way. He saw his father crying and sobbing like a child while reading a newspaper. He gave his father the space he needed and later he read the newspaper. He was flabbergasted; he saw an article with the heading “NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU THE STROKE-LESS WONDER” written by Rajen Bala. It was just a 40-line article which ripped him off his pride. He did not think that it was the end of the world. He cut the article and stuck it in his cupboard, a place he could see it every day, and also in order to not get distracted from his goal. He gave away all his clothes leaving for himself only white colored ones. From the next day he woke up at 4 am and would practice till his hands bled. He would do this religiously without a break except on Sundays. He found his father dead one day and lost his sense of direction. He did not have any clue about what he should do in his life. He decided to continue to play and become a renowned batsman –he wanted to change his father’s dream into reality. He did not pay any heed to the critics that came his way again. He did not care what the world thought of him. He excelled in cricket and one day while on a flight to Sharjah, his teammate asked him to read THE KHALEEJ TIMES a popular newspaper in Dubai. On its front page was a long article written by Rajen Bala with the heading “NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU FROM A STROKELESS WONDER TO A PALM GROOVED HITTER”. A man with a new idea is referred to as a mad person until his idea succeeds. Stop caring about what people or the world will think about you, people will laugh at you. Then they will walk with you and finally they would applaud for you.