Crossword and Life

Deccan Herald, Date: 02-Feb-07

Each one of us enters this world with a blank crossword grid. The higher being or the Almighty is the creator of the crossword and each one of us has a unique grid to fill. It is presumed that whenever any of us leave this world his grid is completely and correctly filled. Clues in crosswords are guiding posts which direct our thinking and eventually help us solve the complete grid. In life too we encounter such clues – we usually refer to them as omens – which play a crucial role in driving our decisions; thereby shaping our lives.

Essentially, the two factors which differentiate one crossword grid from the other are the number of clues and their level of difficulty. It is at the discretion of the crosswords creator to decide on both these crucial parameters. The fewer the number of clues, the more difficult it is to solve the grid. Similarly, the higher the level of difficulty of the clues, the bigger is the challenge. Since each of us has a unique grid to complete and the number of clues and the level of difficulty vary for all of us, one must realise that comparing our grid with that of others is a futile exercise.

In a typical crossword, there are very few fixed rules for framing a clue but no one can, beforehand, know the answer to each and every clue. Thus, the only way to perform better is to keep learning from the answers for incomplete clues. Similarly, in life, we cannot correctly read all the signs, thus, the outcome of all our decisions cannot be favourable. We need to regularly retrospect, especially on instances which have brought us pain in order to improve our understanding of signs – a skill we usually refer to as experience. Very often, a grid may have a clue which has multiple answers and the appropriate answer is known when the answers to the other clues are keyed in. The same happens in life. We face situations which present multiple opportunities and we know of the effectiveness of our decision only later. In such situations of limited certainty, we need to learn to take decisions and face the consequences – a virtue we usually refer to as self-belief.

This helps us realise that everything is not in our control .The most important aspect of solving life’s crossword is that each small clue plays an integral part in completing a bigger clue and, eventually, the whole grid. We must keep an eye on the bigger picture in life.