My maid in Mumbai posed a serious question to me one day.
This is what she had to narrate. Her neighbour had a lady guest in her house some time back. This guest had come from a village to undergo treatment for her cancer. As luck would have it, this lady got cured totally and went back to her village. She is a lady who works on fields—“Kheti” as they call it. While working so, one day she got bitten by a snake and died on the spot.
This is what she had to narrate. Her neighbour had a lady guest in her house some time back. This guest had come from a village to undergo treatment for her cancer. As luck would have it, this lady got cured totally and went back to her village. She is a lady who works on fields—“Kheti” as they call it. While working so, one day she got bitten by a snake and died on the spot.
My maid’s question was, “Is this why God saved her from cancer? If she was fated to die soon anyways why did God save her from cancer? Why did HE make her go through this? Was it her fate? Was it her destiny?”
Life taught me a subtle lesson here. Now I could convincingly conclude that it was “Destiny” which brought victory for the Japanese team while it was “Fate” which made the enemies lose. Do you agree?
Well, at that moment I had no convincing answer. It set me thinking though. I had a doubt myself. Was it fate? Was it destiny? Aren’t both fate and destiny same? Or have they donned the different avatars with the same meaning?
I had to glance through the dictionary for an answer.
Lets take Destiny in the first place. Destiny is described in the dictionary as , “A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control: "Marriage and hanging go by destiny"(Robert Burton); The power or agency thought to predetermine events: Destiny brought them together. Some thing that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.
Fate is described as , “a calamitous or unfavourable outcome or result; death, destruction, or downfall to predetermine; doom—“he was fated to lose the game"; a destiny or doom, eg death—“A terrible fate awaited her”; controlled or intended by fate—“He seemed fated to arrive late wherever he went.”
After analyzing the vivid meanings of Fate and Destiny as given in the dictionary, though they had the same overlapping synonyms, the subtle difference glared at me...... Fate is always associated with the negative factor where as Destiny need NOT be negative.
In fact one of the meanings for Fate was --Unfavorable destiny; doom. That’s what convinced me the existence of difference between both.
Destiny is something that drives us towards our chosen destination. It nurtures hopes and takes us to a place where we are “destined” to find happiness. Destiny allows us to choose the path. While Fate takes away our choices. Its something that happens to us whether we desire it or not. For some, its cruel, though it is meant for strengthening one’s inner power to achieve great things.
I had to glance through the dictionary for an answer.
Lets take Destiny in the first place. Destiny is described in the dictionary as , “A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control: "Marriage and hanging go by destiny"(Robert Burton); The power or agency thought to predetermine events: Destiny brought them together. Some thing that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.
Fate is described as , “a calamitous or unfavourable outcome or result; death, destruction, or downfall to predetermine; doom—“he was fated to lose the game"; a destiny or doom, eg death—“A terrible fate awaited her”; controlled or intended by fate—“He seemed fated to arrive late wherever he went.”
After analyzing the vivid meanings of Fate and Destiny as given in the dictionary, though they had the same overlapping synonyms, the subtle difference glared at me...... Fate is always associated with the negative factor where as Destiny need NOT be negative.
In fact one of the meanings for Fate was --Unfavorable destiny; doom. That’s what convinced me the existence of difference between both.
Destiny is something that drives us towards our chosen destination. It nurtures hopes and takes us to a place where we are “destined” to find happiness. Destiny allows us to choose the path. While Fate takes away our choices. Its something that happens to us whether we desire it or not. For some, its cruel, though it is meant for strengthening one’s inner power to achieve great things.
The responsibility for finding our Destiny is ours alone.
But Fate finds us.
Going by this theory I thought I got the answer for my maid’s question. It was destiny which brought the woman from the village to be cured of her cancer. And it was Fate that made her embrace death from a snake bite.
It was "Destiny" which saved some people during "9/11"-- people who missed to be present in the place of tragedy for some reasons beyond their control. Some silliest reasons. And it was "Fate" which consumed the lives of many.
Sometime back I had published a story on “destiny” in my FB page. Despite being repetitive, I would like to narrate it here for it describes the word “Destiny” very aptly.
Going by this theory I thought I got the answer for my maid’s question. It was destiny which brought the woman from the village to be cured of her cancer. And it was Fate that made her embrace death from a snake bite.
It was "Destiny" which saved some people during "9/11"-- people who missed to be present in the place of tragedy for some reasons beyond their control. Some silliest reasons. And it was "Fate" which consumed the lives of many.
Sometime back I had published a story on “destiny” in my FB page. Despite being repetitive, I would like to narrate it here for it describes the word “Destiny” very aptly.
During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt.
On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, "I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If it is tails we shall lose."
"Destiny will now reveal itself."
He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious.
After the battle. a lieutenant remarked to the general, "No one can change destiny."
"Quite right," the general replied as he showed the lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.
On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, "I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If it is tails we shall lose."
"Destiny will now reveal itself."
He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious.
After the battle. a lieutenant remarked to the general, "No one can change destiny."
"Quite right," the general replied as he showed the lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.
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