Change and the World Changes for You

By Shruti Ramachandran II SEBA A

Wandering around in a beautiful garden, you chance upon a caterpillar neatly wrapped in a cocoon. You are struck by the splendor of its simplicity. Days pass and you revisit the garden, however the cocoon is not there. Instead, the diminutive caterpillar fixed in its cocoon broke out and transformed into an astounding butterfly. The caterpillar had changed to advanced in its life. Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth and the egg of the phoenix. It is an amazingly powerful and often times emotionally charged word. Gandhi rightfully said, Be the change that you wish to see in the world. Change has been omnipresent since the times of the ancient civilization up until now. In todays era, we are constantly struck by change whether it is in the economy or the political system of a country. Events like wars, freedom fights, passing of legislation bills, transforming job market have revolutionized the world we live in today. Astoundingly, these events do not occur by a mere chance occurrence. It has been brought upon the society by a change in the minds and actions of people. A variation in the outlook of people can change the world around us For instance, take the uprising stirring the Arab world into consideration. For many years, countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria etc. have been ruled and suppressed under the authoritarian and corrupt rule of leaders such as President Hosni Mubarak, Col. Muammar el-Quadaffi, Bashar Assad etc. It all started in a small Tunisian town where a fruit seller set himself on fire after a dispute with a government official who was confiscating his wares. His act became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution, which eventually led to similar acts in other Arab countries leading to a change in their respective governments. A change in the reactions of the people towards their government has led to a huge uproar accompanied with protests and civil wars bringing about a revolution. It has been proven nothing is constant in todays world. Change has become ubiquitous in every aspect of our life, persistently altering it. The only thing that remains constant in our life is change. We cannot let a situation remain permanent nor prevent it from changing. For example, the United States of America has been the superpower ever since the end of world war. America has been the economic superpower, dominating the world market. Who could have foreshadowed that America would lose its AAA credit rating and suffer under the burden of colossal debt? Change is in the need of hour. It is a societal transformation, which cannot occur without the change of individuals of the society. Taking the fight against corruption initiated by Anna Hazare, a change in the beliefs of one man can lead to a change in the viewpoint of the society in a greater magnitude. Every action ripples out into the world. Like how Robert F Kennedy stated, Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.