That was the title of the sermon at my church this past Sunday. An apt motto for those who really want to live rather than just survive. A motto I have aspired to for a long time. It is not a one step or multi step process but a way of life. The irony of the situation is that it does not matter if one wants to impact or not, ones actions always have an impact on the surrounding environment for better or for worse.

The assumption of the title is to make a positive impact. The simplest way would be to reduce your negative impact, which is easier said than done. A few days ago I was driving with some friends and was (as is usual) boasting about my Indian driving skills i.e. jumping red lights, driving on the opposite side of the road, etc etc, when I realised that it was not something to be proud about. I know that sounds corny but the truth of the matter is that if you want to ‘live to impact’ (for good) you have to make conscious decisions on such simple things.

A lot of people, of which yours truly is foremost, provide a lot of lip service to such a life but their actions betray most of what they say. But people like Gandhi, Mandela, Mother Teresa did not just impact the world with their words but their actions. The fruits of their actions are testament to the impact that they have had in the lives of others.

There is no denying the fact that our life has an impact, the question remains weather it is for better or for worse?

I was at the world war II memorial in London the other day and came across these words “… gave their lives for the freedom of the world …”. The irony of the statement wouldn’t strike everybody, but being that I am from a former colony of the British Empire, it was an eye opener. This statement was made when numerous countries including mine was under the oppressive English hands.

Does freedom only belong to a select few individuals? Or does it only belong to the people that the media says it belongs too? In this day and age when everything gets a sense of legitimacy by using the word freedom, it is imperative on us to consider the broader picture and not confine our self to our narrow world view.

The Indians and the Nigerians and the Ugandans and the countless others British colonies deserved their freedom as much as the British or the french deserved from the Germans. Maybe the days of “Dogs and Indians not allowed” are like water under the bridge but it is still trying to repeat it in different fashions! And history be damned there are always enough snoots around to spoil the broth for us.

So people might think that I am just joining the rhetoric of bashing the British of yesteryear but then you are not in my shoes. Sometimes my blood just boils over when I hear of the hypocrisies of “freedom loving” “democratic” countries which try to take the glory for all the world’s good and nothing of the blame for it’s evil.

The English bashing probably is because of my first trip there and the sight of the Kohinoor diamond on the queen’s crown, instead of being in the hands of an Indian. That being said no freedom is ‘freedom’ until it belongs to everybody. There is no clause to withhold it from a few or from the dis-advantaged.

On a personal note the pictures are available on my diary