The Dandelion in Me

So many times, in life we feel upset and dejected.” I did not get the best of academic credentials I need to rise further “, never gone for a curriculum at the IIMs, what am I doing with life!  How will I learn more! I have not even gone for the corporate training, as suggested in my last appraisal? Let’s hurry and plan something soon… Here comes the training menu like the restaurant menu! Is that the only way to learn?

So many times, we speak about the nature, its beauty, its grandeur, its utility and so on so forth.  But most often we miss one element of nature – its ability to teach you. Nature has the unparalleled ability to teach you lessons, lessons in the life intense and deep, no training on leadership or execution can ever teach you!

How many of us know what a Dandelion is?  A small yellow flower belonging to genus Taraxacum, in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America but present worldwide. You might curse it as a weed when it pops up in your lawn, but the Dandelion is beautiful and full of symbolism nonetheless. This cheerful little flower can grow practically anywhere if there is a pinch of soil or a crack in the sidewalk. Even if you think of the plant as nothing more than a pest, understanding some of it's characteristic could give you a new appreciation for those flowers you keep pulling up as you weed.

What Does the Dandelion Flower Mean?

If you do a little bit of research on the net you would know that the common and humble Dandelion has a surprising amount of different meanings. The Dandelion means: 

• Healing from emotional pain and physical injury alike 
• Intelligence, especially in an emotional and spiritual sense 
• The warmth and power of the rising sun 
• Surviving through all challenges and difficulties 
• Long lasting happiness and youthful joy 
• Getting your wish fulfilled

Since the Dandelion can thrive in difficult conditions, it is no wonder that people say the flower symbolizes the ability to rise above life’s challenges.

What relevance does this weed Dandelion have in our life! As such a common weed it should not even deserve a mention in our life. Not really! Yes really! I call it something to do with the genomic code of Dandelion. Let’s call it the dandelion gene (DG) for now. Apparently, my logic says the Dandelion gene is present in all of us.  And whenever this gene has changed from a dormant to an active stage, life has got transformed. Agree, disagree, maybe!

This is the same dandelion gene which is the inspiration to so many of our film directors both in Hollywood and Bollywood alike.  This is the same dandelion gene that triggers in the life of Chirs Gardener played by Will Smith in Hollywood movie “Pursuit of Happyness” that transform his life. Bollywood too is not far behind in this.  From Laxmikant Chauhan in Akshay Kumar starrer “Padman” to an absolute recent Mauji in Varun Dhawan’s “Sui Dhaga”, the spirit is the same “the dandelion spirit and ability to rise above the life challenges”.

Let’s see how this gene could have or has impacted my life. Though my mother tongue is Bengali, born in Jamshedpur, erstwhile Bihar I bear the legacy of being a Bihari. Apparently, this is now Jharkhand; the land of forest! So technically I am an East Indian. By east I refer for now the quartet states of Bihar, Bengal, Orrisa and Jharkhand. As a student of geography in school we have learnt about so many imaginary lines dividing the earth – the latitudes and longitudes, the equator, the tropics and so on. But in India I strongly feel there is one more imaginary line that divides India is the East west divide. You may take any barometer of economics or sociology, the east and west has a stark difference. Be it wealth creation, infrastructure, sociological development, opportunities, quality of life, in every sphere east is always chasing and working on reducing the gap with the western counterpart. We have never reached the stage to really compete and match. The sun may rise in the east first, but for whatever reason known or unknown I feel eventualities of life strike the east India first. So being an east Indian you need to have ample stock of this dandelion gene to wade through the challenges of life. It is always better to get it early into your head that you will not get anything laid out to you on a platter, you must fight and struggle for every little things in life. But ignoring from where you belong East or West to make a difference in life, you must be like a dandelion

• You must have a very strong vison and belief of what you want to do
• In most of the case the environment will not suit you
• Lot of hurdles to negotiate, even before you reach anywhere close to the platform to perform
• In very few cases you get some sort of a legacy to build upon, mostly you must create on your own
• And above all the baggage of life or to say politely the responsibilities of the past, it  is a monkey that never goes off your shoulder! (not that you want to ignore it) 

This is not just the “Untold story of Dhoni “whose friends had to poll in money to ensure he could travel by a car to reach Kolkata for the Ranji selection or take the job of ticket collector at the Kharagpur Railway station, running to match the timings of the trains between platforms rather than working with the timings of his bat.  This is the story of millions of people like me staying the eastern side of the so called imaginary line.  A large part of this talent has depicted the dandelion spirit in life and moved ahead. The list of successful candidates in the UPSC and other competitive exam is a clear testimony to this.  But unfortunately, there is much bigger mass who lose out to the challenges in life.  They succumb to the situation, fail to fight out and “Quit”.

Here I have a strong message to communicate. I say these are not challenges or problems, they are just “situation”. These challenges or as I say “situations” are no new. They are just permutations and combinations of the same set -financial condition, family back up and support, unfinished responsibilities passed on the next generation, a medical crisis at home, relationship crisis, or some stupid caste creed baggage and complexities.  The writer himself has faced and continue to face many if it still now! So, what is the choice – I quit, or I get the dandelion gene in action. I have always chosen the later and strongly recommend the same to you. When we acknowledge a current crisis or a challenge as a “situation”, there comes a realization that probably or somehow, we will come out of it. Small packets of action or to say some sort of energy starts to emerge, and with a little bit of luck I have been able to sail through many of these challenges. You may argue to counter that your challenges are unique, cannot be resolved and you end up with bad luck every time! Quite possible.  I would say, just count the number of times you have been lucky in life versus the number of times you are unlucky! I can say for sure, for me the number of times I have been lucky is much higher than the number of instances of being unlucky. And I thank everything around me for that. Just check the ratio in your life of number of times being lucky versus not being lucky, I am sure you will fall in love with your life all over again!

The world would not have seen Dhoni if he had not shown the trait of a Dandelion- survival through all challenges and difficulties and ability to rise above the life challenges!  

YOU will not see the “Best of You “if you do not trigger the dandelion gene in you at the right moment. Remember again what a Dandelion stands for,

• Healing from emotional pain and physical injury alike
• Intelligence, especially in an emotional and spiritual sense
• The warmth and power of the rising sun
• Surviving through all challenges and difficulties
• Long lasting happiness and youthful joy 

And above all Getting your wish fulfilled!

Happy Living!

Best Regards 

Robin