The quiet grace that shapes our lives

We often speak of the wisdom contained in our scriptures and epics, and the importance of introducing our children to them so that they may navigate life’s complexities with greater clarity. I inherited these values through stories passed down by my parents, teachers, elders, and countless conversations over the years. Among them, the Mahabharata has perhaps influenced me the most.

One idea stayed with me from an early age. We are taught to perform our duty to the best of our ability without becoming attached to the outcome. The results, we are told, are not entirely within our control. Somewhere beyond our limited understanding exists a larger order that ultimately looks after us.

As the years passed, I began to see traces of that wisdom in ordinary human relationships. Throughout my life, there have always been people who quietly appeared when I most needed guidance or reassurance-my parents, my wife, my children, my friends, my teachers, my seniors, and even strangers whose advice altered the course of my decisions. I remember one such incident from my first posting in the Railways. I wrote an official letter to the Headquarters and was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal reply from a senior officer. He welcomed my first official communication and gently suggested better wording for future correspondence. That small gesture inspired me to give a little more than what duty alone demanded. Only later did I realise that such mentoring was part of the organisational culture and was extended to officers throughout their careers. Looking back, I realise it was only the first of many such moments that shaped my understanding of these values. I have often found myself carrying that tradition into both my professional and personal life.

However, when I look at the world around me now, I sometimes wonder whether younger generations receive the same reassurance. We live in an age that measures almost everything instantly. Success is counted in followers, likes, promotions, visibility and constant comparison. Many of us spend so much of our energy keeping pace with an increasingly demanding world that we naturally become more occupied with our own journeys than with quietly encouraging someone else’s. Outcomes often appear to matter far more than effort, and appearance often seems to matter more than substance. Patience has become unfashionable, while uncertainty is increasingly viewed as failure rather than as an inevitable part of life.

So, are the values with which I grew up still relevant? I believe they are. Modern life may make them less visible, but it has not made them less meaningful. The people who quietly embody those values have not disappeared. They continue to guide, encourage and reassure, often without realising the difference they make. Perhaps what has changed is not the values themselves, but our ability to notice them amid the speed and noise of contemporary life.

Whether there is a Supreme Being watching over us is something I still do not know. But I have come to believe that grace often reaches us through such people. Perhaps the divine does not always reveal itself through extraordinary events. Sometimes it is found in a thoughtful word, an unexpected act of kindness, or in someone who appears at just the right moment. And perhaps that is reason enough to continue believing that the values we inherited still have a place in the world we live in today.

The writer is a founder of Kala - Krazy About Literature And Arts, is an author, speaker, coach, arbitrator, and strategy consultant; Views presented are personal.