There is a well-known story about the poet Kalidasa: he sat on a branch and went on cutting the very branch he was sitting on. Whether or not the story is historically true, it remains a deep metaphor for human behaviour.

Because many of us are doing exactly this today, knowingly or unknowingly.

We hold anger against the person who will stand beside us in our hardest hour. Husbands and wives refuse to forgive each other for years — even though, in the end, each will be the other's greatest support.

We distance ourselves from the same brother who extended a hand when we needed it.

We neglect our own parents, who gave the best years of their lives to us.

We endlessly curse the country that gives us education, roads, safety, opportunity and a place to live — forgetting that a country is not only its government; it is the shared home of crores of human beings.

And we do the same to our own body

We ignore the body for as long as it keeps working quietly for us.

The heart beats without taking a single day off.
The lungs breathe without complaint.
The brain works for us every moment.
The kidneys keep cleaning the blood.
The liver simply does its job.
The muscles lift us, move us, carry our work.

And what do we do? We deprive that same body of sleep, feed it the wrong food, keep it inactive, fill it with stress — and then ask:

“Why has my body stopped supporting me?”

We are doing the same to nature

The air without which we cannot survive even a few minutes — we are polluting it.

The water without which we cannot live even a few days — we are poisoning it.

The soil our food comes from — we are destroying it with chemicals and waste.

We cut down trees, then add more air conditioners to escape the heat. We dirty our rivers, then buy bottled water. We destroy nature, then live in fear of natural disasters.

We are cutting the very branch we are sitting on.

Our relationship with knowledge is no different

Human beings were given discernment so that we would not become slaves of our own impulses. But we listen to wisdom and never apply it to our lives.

We know anger harms us — and we still nurse it.
We know envy eats us from the inside — and we still compare.
We know addiction damages the body — and we still indulge.
We know endless screens and an inactive life are weakening us — and we still spend hours there.
We know harsh words break relationships — and we still wound the person we claim to love most.

The knowledge is already with us. The problem is not a shortage of knowledge — it is our irresponsibility towards it.

And we are doing it to our own future

We spend tomorrow's resources for today's convenience. We take tomorrow's debt to buy today's comfort.

For today's popularity we say things whose damage society may carry for years. For today's politics we divide people, and then expect unity from the generations that follow.

Instead of handing our children a world, we are handing them an inheritance of conflict.

We are cutting the branch of the future too.

So what is the solution?

The solution is not simply to say, “people should change.” Change can begin with four words.

AWARE — see what you are doing

First, look clearly. Whom are you fighting? Whom are you hurting? What are you doing to your body? To nature? To your time?

What is never seen can never be changed.

ACCEPT — own your share

Stop blaming someone else for every mistake. Yes, circumstances can be hard. Yes, other people can be wrong. Yes, the system has its problems.

But you must still accept your own share of the responsibility. The question “Where did I go wrong?” is where change begins.

RESPONSIBLE — carry the weight

Hold responsibility towards whatever has given you life: your body, your family, your society, your country, nature, and the generations to come.

Demanding rights is easy. Accepting responsibility is what it means to be human.

COMMIT — decide, and keep going

Being aware is not enough. Accepting is not enough. Even understanding your responsibility is not enough. Something has to be done.

From today, change one thing for your body.
From today, make one less complaint in a relationship.
From today, drop one habit that harms nature.
From today, pause before speaking in anger.
From today, put your knowledge into practice.

The step can be small. But it must be continuous.

Because this is the great contradiction of life

We want security, but we weaken the very system that protects us. We want love, but we hurt the one who loves us. We want health, but we neglect the body. We want clean air, but we pollute. We want peace, but we spread anger and division. We want a future, but we destroy the future's resources today.

And then we ask: “Why has the world become so bad?”

Perhaps the beginning is not with the world. Perhaps it is with us. We have to stop cutting the branch we are sitting on.

Wake up. Look. Accept. Take responsibility. And then change, with resolve.

Because in the end — we are not separate from nature. We are not separate from our family. We are not separate from society. We are not separate from our body. And we have no second life apart from this one.

What we are destroying may well be the very thing that has been holding us up.

And the day we truly understand this, we will stop cutting the branch.

Which Branch Are We Cutting?