My profession facilitates me to meet people of different ages, profession and culture. There is always something that is special, unique, striking about most people. Some of them leave a very strong and positive impression in my mind. I recently met one such person, whom I will always remember with admiration. After meeting him I wondered if age, education and upbringing really mattered as much as we highlight its importance.

Mohit* is 30 years old and comes from modest background. When I met him, his haircut, heavy and loud voice, mannerisms and language reminded me of Sanjay Dutt’s character “Munnabhai” in the film Munnabhai MBBS. He had come to meet me for anger management issues. Although a little uncomfortable responding in English at first, as soon as I started speaking to him in Hindi, Mohit was happy and started relaxing and opening as we continued our conversation.

Born in a small village in Maharashtra, Mohit and his sibling had been shifted to Mumbai after their father passed away. They had to live with their uncle and his family in a poor income locality, considered a rough neighbourhood. Mohit was yet to complete high school when he shifted to Mumbai but had to discontinue studies since their uncle didn’t earn enough to support two extra members in the family. He worked as a helper at a small grocery store in the beginning and gave all his earnings to his uncle. In return, he and his sibling got free food and shelter.

While narrating his initial fear filled days in Mumbai, Mohit gave vivid descriptions of the fights he would have witnessed, the bullying he had to undergo, etc. He grew up in an environment of “survival of the fittest”, in literal sense. As a young teenager, watching people beat up others and get what they want, intrigued him. He felt that life is easier if one is powerful and so he must soon acquire “Power”. He learnt to be pushy, rough, manipulative, selfish and much more to look strong and scary. As he started enjoying a fearless life, the limits of freedom got extended. Influenced by his environment, Mohit started consuming alcohol, drugs, visited prostitutes. He would be in his own world for days under the influence of substances and not know what was happening around him. Fortunately, the period of substance abuse didn’t last longer than a year in his life. He had realized that there was no future for him if he continued with the same habits. With a resolve to stop and by following through his resolution, he stopped substance abuse. Just like that!

After a couple of years, life offered a special friend to Mohit. Ragini*, who was in her teens and a couple of years younger than him, entered his life through a mutual friend. She was smart, persistent, caring, sensitive and intelligent. Mohit’s narration of his life’s anecdotes got her fascinated to understand a kind of life that was very new and different from hers. Their friendship started with him talking and she listening to him for hours. This friendship soon started developing into a romantic relationship and they started liking each other. By the time they started getting serious about each other, Ragini, who was not even 20, realized that if this relationship continues, she would not be able to accept Mohit as a life partner, just the way he was. She started persuading him to restart education. Although initially hesitant, reluctant, and unsure, he finally gave into Ragini’s nagging (as he puts it) and joined Marathi medium night school. Since his girlfriend didn’t approve of him being drunk all the time, his alcohol consumption started reducing too. He said there was not much time for alcohol anymore. He had to be at work during the day, at school late in the evening and chatting or talking to Ragini at night. Ragini gradually started pushing him to leave the company of friends, she didn’t approve of. Everything started to change for him slowly but steadily. He felt loved and needed for the first time in his life and could see life through Ragini’s eyes. To him, Ragini is the only person besides his mother, who cares and wishes well for him. He would give up anything to preserve this relationship.

When I asked him if it was only Ragini’s efforts that brought about changes in his life? He said Ragini for sure inspired, motivated, pushed and at times irritated him because of her nagging, but it was his will power and efforts that brought about the changes in him. He went on to explain that once he saw one of his friends being beaten up very badly by police. Although, on that day his friend was not at fault but because of the impression police carried about him, he fell prey to their beating. That was the day Mohit decided to change the path of his life. He didn’t want to get unnecessarily beaten up or be ill-treated by anyone in life. He wanted to be a person everyone respects. Mohit feels that day was the turning point in his life.

Tobacco, drugs, women are all in his past now. He is still not completely off alcohol. However, Mohit can abstain from alcohol on certain religious or auspicious days, including for a full month during Shravan. He is aware that he needs to be firm on his resolve to stop alcohol. What seems to have been left as a residue of his earlier life though, is his anger. There is a belief formed within him that anger is a tool to project Power. In our conversation, I tried to help him understand how anger is a sign of weakness and not power. Mohit seemed very determined to learn to manage his emotions because he doesn’t like the way he behaves when angry. He loses control and tends to use foul language and turns abusive towards his dear ones too. He says that one of the things he has learnt about interacting with people is to not take things personally. That helps in preventing anger from building up. He tries to walk away or ignore people who do not understand him or who taunt him at times. That, I thought, was a huge step towards anger management, which he had learnt on his own. During the session, he took keen interest in understanding what makes him angry and how it could be managed. He said he will surely try to follow my suggestions and is aware that actual work needs to be done by him. I told him that he needs to apply the same will power to have control over anger, the way he controlled the addictions. He smiled and said that he needed to hear this from someone like me, senior in age and education. I told him that I was confident that he would be able to work on himself without my help further.

Today, Mohit continues to study in night college, pursuing undergraduate studies. He is currently preparing for his exams and unemployed but is confident of finding a job soon after exams. He is aware of his strengths, which he listed out for me as strong willpower, persistence, sense of responsibility towards self and others, ability to not take things personally when it doesn’t matter, ability to learn from experiences in life. Lastly, he said there are two positive influences in his life, which are also his strengths, his mother and Ragini. He sees Ragini as his future partner and feels it is important for him to listen to her. He added, “they say behind every successful man, there is a woman. And hence if I listen to her, I am the one to benefit.”

People like Mohit help us realize that one may not be blessed with quality education, wealth, privileged living conditions and the like, but it is clear that one can be a good citizen, a good human being, by making the right choices in life.

*Disclaimer : To protect the identity of the subject, personal details, including the name have been changed.



26 Comments

  1. Geet December 17, 2021 at 5:05 pm

    Thank you Prernaji… truly said-
    *Anger is a sign of weakness and not power.*

    • Adiraj Nigam December 18, 2021 at 2:32 pm

      Prerna ma’am, people look up to you because you teach them the hard way, that is, to accept responsibility for their own situation and work upon parts of their own behaviour which needs tuning. This teaches that one can create his own Order despite the surrounding chaos.

  2. Ankita Thite December 17, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    Well written and well explained.

  3. Nitika December 17, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    A very inspiring story explained in a beautiful way.
    “People like Mohit help us realise that one may not be blessed with quality education, wealth, privileged living conditions and the like, but it is clear that one can be a good citizen, a good human being, by making the right choices in life” and there is no age to start afresh. Anger is indeed a sign of weakness and not Power. Prerna Ma’am you are truly divinely blessed. Keep guiding many more like Mohit always????????

  4. Suwarna D Satokar December 17, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    Thanks mam…

    *Anger is a sign of weakness and not power.* Well said will keep in mind forever

  5. Ambrish Shah December 17, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    Truly said that loving care and affection can change any person no matter how bad might be his/ her background and upbringings. ????

  6. Harsha shah December 17, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    If a person gets love, care, attention their anger always melt. Their anger is replaced by creativity.. Ragini’s role is very important…

  7. Saurabh Shah December 17, 2021 at 10:05 pm

    Thank you for sharing another insighful story with many rich take-aways!

  8. Nawaz Vijayakumar December 17, 2021 at 10:18 pm

    Truly inspiring. May he be able to overcome his addiction and control his anger and be successful.

  9. DOLLY CHIMANLAL SHAH December 17, 2021 at 11:33 pm

    Thank you for sharing story of Mohit, very inspiring, n it proves that love n proper guidance can change a person if he has strong will power n willingness to improve????

  10. Rushabh Shah December 18, 2021 at 1:10 am

    Very inspiring story and beautifully written !! Thanks for sharing

  11. Madhukar Shah December 18, 2021 at 1:56 am

    Strong will power and persuasion by true friend can change the life of a person, including anger bouts. Well explained, Prerna! Keep enlightning…

  12. Pallavi lodaya December 18, 2021 at 9:14 am

    Very well written as always!! A good wise responsible friend in life makes lot of difference And Mohit has 2 such people in his life… Ragini and you. So his life has to change in positive way!

  13. Sheetal Tyagi December 18, 2021 at 1:30 pm

    Thankyou for sharing dear Prerna. Its an example that will help us deal with our loved ones, facing similar challenges. Hope giving.

  14. Kalpana December 18, 2021 at 2:48 pm

    Very nicely explained. Words said in anger cannot be taken back. So very important to control anger and take a step back when feeling angry. Love and support can change lives. Thanks for sharing Mohit’s story.

  15. Vijayakumar Kotteri December 18, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    “Anger is a sign of weakness and not power.” It follows that when you learn to manage your anger, you learn to release the power within all of us. Thank you for this story. Thank you for the work you do to help others help themselves.

  16. Hima December 18, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    Inspiring blog, thanks for sharing .

  17. jyoti pota December 19, 2021 at 7:13 am

    Too good really inspiring

  18. Neha December 20, 2021 at 12:58 pm

    This is such a beautiful blog. I really enjoyed reading it.
    It was simple, to the point, gave out the message in an interesting way, and I wanted to read it fully at this moment only.
    I did not procrastinate or get distracted.
    I mean it was very interesting!

  19. Charul December 20, 2021 at 4:04 pm

    Very inspiring story. Thank you for sharing. With right guidance, will power and love one can change the way they lead life. Wonderfully written.

  20. Mansi Patil December 21, 2021 at 5:24 pm

    This is so wonderful Ma’am, very insightful, “anger is a sign of weakness and not power” is something that struck a cord with me and I’m always going to try to remind myself of this line whenever I get angry, thank you so much for sharing this blog.

  21. Becci Olander December 21, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    This is a beautiful story of courage, determination and tenacity. He is searching for “power” in order to survive, but his real “power” is his determination to work his way out of his situation that would have ultimately destroyed him. This is definitely a man of “power and strength” and an inspiration to us all worldwide!!
    Thank you for sharing!

  22. Arzoo Meshram December 21, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    I am thankful that I came across this blog. It was truly an inspirational story.

  23. Meeta Shah December 25, 2021 at 12:00 am

    Amazing experience shared. Very inspiring. Well said, ‘ Anger is a sign of weakness and not power’
    May this experience story touches hundreds of life, and helps in changing peoples life who are suffering from Anger emotion .
    Thank you.

  24. Sonal December 29, 2021 at 5:58 am

    This is a very powerful story and lesson. Thanks for sharing.

  25. Rupa shah January 11, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    Beautifully narrated.
    Very gripping and was scared that you might say he slipped!
    You are truly doing a lovely service to the society.

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