None other can be the greatest hindrance in the progress of a person then to say, “I know myself better than anybody else.” We never had time to judge ourselves critically. We got less time to pause and ponder about shortcomings of the self. We see what pleases us and hear what pleases our ears and we understand only what benefits us. We have not trained all our senses to work the way they must. We enslaved them to our ego and prejudices.
We heap shortcomings of others on one after the other forming an opaque wall around the person. We shun him from our sight and whenever we raise our eyes we see only the heap of shortcomings. This practice we do without fail and disperse our own shortcomings in our own eyes and try to make ourselves visible to others. In true sense we fail to touch own truth and truth of others and hinder our own development badly.
Our whole inner acts in the same direction and happily we accept this inner terrorism to ourselves. It seems that we are doing it with light heart but it is not with a light heart at all. In effort of amputating else’s integrity we dish out at nauseam about own achievements and other’s failures.
We are not accustomed to try and train our concern for others. Our every act is related to our selfish motives like the politics of the countries.
Some people are very ignorant about their inner issues and their inner truths. They have all the traits that distinguish them from animals but they are similar to them when the question of consciousness comes. They have lulled it in an opium sleep so that they can draw uninterrupted animal pleasure from the way they talk about others.
Their wanting comes to the surface when they project their truthfulness in a false manner. Their misery which meets them daily can be removed if those sufferers can think of it and try to eradicate untrue behaviour towards self.
They seek pleasure in their cannibalism and did not understand that it harms their inner self, their spirit and gives pain that they can not realize. They even don’t know they are sick inside suffering from inner intimidation and by denying this fact they linger into uncertainties of being.
The most hazardous thing in the process is this that these sufferers have one eye, one ear, one nostril and one part of the mind that logically thinks for them only.
I was also such an idiot who thought that I know myself. It is very easy to pronounce but it is really a difficult task to practice to be true to oneself. Even today many times I commit mistakes but I am at least true to accept those mistakes and reprimand myself for pretending to be true to the self.
If you want to judge your power of truth try to see the fellows and their good qualities. Recognize them whom you defame at every step. I dare say it will be very difficult for some time but you will be happy after getting the results and will feel at peace for being true to your self.


(Anuradha Sharma is a lecturer in English Literature at Dahod in Gujarat, India. She writes poetry in English and Hindi and her literary writings have appeared in several publications including journals, news papers and anthologies. She has successfully completed a Minor Research Project funded by UGC. She has been selected for associateship by IIAS, Shimla. Recently she is editing a book on Dr. Stephen Gill and also translating his epical poem The Flame into Hindi)