THE ESSENCE OF BEING DIFFERENT

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there is something in the atmosphere of AMU that makes it capable of transforming a dull and unattractive student into a beautiful young woman and a handsome young man. It is not in the least surprising that almost all of us in the university pay a lot of attention to our faces in particular and our appearances in general. The readers of this essay would agree with me that the face on their shoulders today is quite different from what it was when they joined the university. I'm sure that the readers spend a considerable portion of their mornings in dressing up according to the latest fashion of the times. Wouldn't you like to be the smartest boy in the class?--- the best looking, the most handsome? Wouldn't you like to be the star attraction of the faculty?--- envy of all the young boys, and the target of attention of all the pretty young girls? wouldn't you like to dress up like Shah Rukh Khan, or Bobby Deol? Wouldn't you like to comb your hair like Sunil Shetty?--- and why not?

The problem is that we see individuality as a surface phenomenon. We wear garish clothes only to look different from others. We believe that mediocrity shall somehow gain new credentials through exterior cosmetics.

What we fail to understand is that the most important part of our personality lies way beneath all external manifestations of costumes and cosmetics. This part of our personality makes us do things better than others. It is doing something better than others that makes us different from others.

The whole purpose of individuality is excellence. The people who comprehend this simple principle of being different through performance--- who invent, who improvise, who know more about a subject than other people do--- these people are unique and different in the true sense of the word. The boy or girl who does better than the other students in any particular field is the centre of attraction of his or her group, whatever may be his or her external appearance. The essence of being different is excellence. Individualism means working at the top of one's capacity. Smartness is a quality of the intellect; it has nothing to do with one's external appearance. A complete comprehension of this simple secret of being different through performance is very important for us. I wish my friends would understand this, and make a judicious use of the gifts and talents The Almighty has bestowed upon them instead of wasting them in disruptive activities.