Water or Coke?

Water has no taste, but it is nourishing for the body, you drink it daily, many times a day. Coke is a mix of many things: sugar, caramel color, caffeine, phosphoric acid, coca and kola nut extract, vanilla, and glycerin etc. It is tasty, better than water, but you cannot drink it more than a few sips. Very soon you become satiated and suddenly the good taste turns it into an impossible drink.

Similarly when we are born, we are innocent, without any knowledge, without ego, without prejudice, without divisions. We are pure at heart, we have no taste, we have no attitude, we are like water, we are simple, modest without any pretentious, and that’s why everyone loved us. Babies are loved all around the world; the love easily crosses boundaries of nations, differences of color and class. Young kids get unconditional love; the younger you are, the more barriers you will be breaking. What a paradox!

Slowly, we start our journey of learning. Our journey to become Coke. We are spoon-fed about our class, our family, our country, our cast, our place in society etc. Religion is rammed in to our throats by delusional, fearful parents in the name of God. God, whose hell can shoot a chill in any person’s spine. Our young, impressionable minds are molded with force by our preachers and parents. We are taught how we are the Chosen One, how only we will be going to heaven, how our religion is better than others. Our journey from water to coke starts very early; our parents eagerly wait to change us in to coke. As soon as we understand their talk, we are constantly bombarded with messages, pushed and prodded to become smart, savvy, interesting, and articulate and a winner. Everyone is in hurry to turn water into Coke.

Once our pure soul is tainted with religion, we are taught about other differences of color, nations, race, and gender. Very soon we go to school, then go to college, get a rolled up paper degree’s which proclaims, you are better than others, because you chewed the cud which others have spit out.

Life throws many lessons at us, we get cheated, snubbed, dumped and defeated.

From every failure, we don’t only learn a lesson but lose our innocence a little.

This is the most important part, to absorb the lesson and keep the innocence too. It can be argued that it is very difficult, but I think it is not so. If you can start with the premise that everyone is good, and they did some wrong because of their formidable circumstances or they did not know better. If you keep this believe in your heart that people are fundamentally good and do wrong out of their ignorance, then I believe you may have a chance to save your innocence, and keep yourself pure and kind.

To save your trust, love and kindness, you have to continuously forgive people.

But if you are not kind and forgiving, then life will lure you in keep adding other spicy ingredients to your pure and loving soul. Your pristine and clear water consciousness will start becoming muddy. We add spoons of attitude, sprinkle pride over it, a slight hint of ego, an extract of brashness, some seed of conceit, and pour lots of knowledge from many outdated, obsolete old books. The sum of all this makes us a polished savvy, articulate, smart person. We complete our journey from water to Coke. In any party, in any gathering, people get attracted towards you, because you look so good, you have perfect body, perfect clothes, expensive perfumes, and your first few sips make people dizzy. Your sweetness, the zing in you is pure thrilling. Everyone hangs on every word of yours, everyone’s gaze is fixed on your diamonds studded-watch; watch so expensive that they really can solve drinking water problem of a village. But you are not interested in water anymore; you are Coke, which everyone loves.

But as the time goes by, people start seeing inside you. The way people get quickly bored with coke, same way they also get tired of you. They see your façade; they see beyond your smoothness, they spot a glimpse of your ravaged self. Your plastic smile does not conceal of your empty and disinterested heart. Sooner or later, you show people the differences you are harboring inside, the walls you have built; the dark soot of your knowledge which you are so proud of has given you the muddy, brown color of Coke. Your religious ideologies are so rotten that no expensive perfume on your body can cover them. People start stepping back from you.

You keep wondering why so many people are attracted to you, you mesmerize them, they love you, but after two sips they all step away. You don’t have any real friend. You keep wondering why people don’t forge long-term friendship with you, why people come and go. You blame others. But alas! you never see that you have become Coke from water. And for long-term friendship and relationship you need to be water.

When in the world you go and acquire all the knowledge, be very careful to not taint your inner clear consciousness. Knowledge comes laced with pride; be very careful to take it out before you consume the knowledge or else it will turn you into coke. A big house and big car comes with lot of conceit, college degrees are not a passport for arrogance. Separate the wheat from the chaff. Even if one person is unkind towards you, don’t believe that all humans are bad.
Protect your innocence, protect your trust, protect your believe in the fundamental goodness in humanity. If someone steals from you, think he must be hungry to do so.

One deceit should not break all bridges of trust.

Don’t throw the cart out for one bad apple. Don’t sit in front of TV watching all the gloomy, depressing and worst possible news. TV can be a funnel for the evil deeds in world, don’t keep pouring negative thoughts inside you in the name of awareness. Forgive and forget; don’t harbor revenge, it will hurt only you. Always give the benefit of doubt, you will never regret. Don’t be afraid of being simple. Remain water. You will see people will come back to you. Don’t try to be Coke, you may lose some of your friends to coke for short time, but if you will give them enough time, they will come back to water. Only water can be consumed for long-term, not Coke. Resist the temptation of short-term sweetness. Artificial sweetener will not take you anywhere.