As I watch Kismat Konnection at home this rainy Monday morning, I can’t help but wonder what makes us go the “kismet” route. As a kid I was always encouraged to give my best to whatever I did so that my accomplishments were as real as my hard work. Growing up, my parents and teachers taught me to have faith in myself, nurture my strengths, recognize my weaknesses, and trust my abilities. There wasn’t any talk of a pre-determined set of events that ruled my life … as far as I was concerned there was a direct correlation between action and (an equal and opposite) reaction.
But somewhere along the line, I started hearing “good luck” before exams, began to notice the lucky charms — rings and amulets — that other kids sported, and realized that my grandparents’ reference to someone’s “kismet” was simply an acknowledgment of resignation to one’s fate. If a girl was born in someone’s house, it was their bad luck. If someone incurred losses in business, it was their cruel destiny. Human intervention had nothing to do with it. No matter what one did, the outcome was predetermined. My understanding of it was rather simplistic: whether things went well or went wrong, you could just praise/blame destiny accordingly. Easy, eh? Just like that one can be absolved of all responsibilities.
The way I see it, when we don’t have enough confidence in our abilities, we hope luck will favor us. When we can’t explain a sequence of events in a logical, rational manner, we say it’s destiny. When we want to comfort ourselves, we say it’s fate that things didn’t work out. Perhaps, all of these terms are simply inventions of a creative mind that allow us to take the burden off of our shoulders and make it a little easier to give up. Perhaps, not.
What do you think about kismet? Do you believe in destiny, luck, fate, or whatever you want to call it? Why or why not?
First Impressions 