Let me take you to a boxing match! An actual fight. You will notice something strange. The boxer who is losing quite often does something that looks brave but is actually foolish. He swings wildly, goes all in for a knockout, leaves his face wide open, and for a brief second the crowd cheers.
Then comes the counterpunch. Clean. Precise. Final. And he’s on that mat.
Those wild swings, were acts of recklessness. It looks exciting until it ends.
As a writer I confess I have encouraged such behaviour. I make my characters jump off cliffs, speak without thinking, challenge villains twice their size, and of course my readers love it. After all, recklessness sells. It fills cinema halls, drives streaming platforms, and keeps audiences glued to their seats.
And somewhere along the way, we began expecting the same script in real life.
Today, when leaders act without thought, without restraint, and without consequence, there is an audience ready to applaud. We have been trained to cheer the wild swing, not question the open guard. We mistake noise for courage and destruction for strength.
But there is a small problem.
In films, nobody really dies. In reality, they do.
Recklessness in a cricket match might send a ball flying into the stands and give us a moment of thrill. But imagine that same shot, not as a ball, but a missile. Something that does not stop at the boundary rope. That enters homes, shatters lives, and leaves houses broken, and children maimed and orphaned.
Suddenly this is no longer entertainment. This is madness dressed as bravery.
And if we continue to sit in the stands, clapping, sharing, forwarding, and celebrating every reckless move made in the name of power or pride, then one day we will realise that we are no longer spectators. We are in the ring. Unprotected.
But here is the irony.
The only way to counter such recklessness is with another kind of recklessness.
Not the foolish kind. Not the loud, angry, destructive kind. But a quiet, stubborn, deeply inconvenient kind. The recklessness of standing up.
The recklessness of saying, this is wrong, when everyone else is busy saying nothing.
The recklessness of refusing to clap when the crowd demands applause.
It may happen in your office, where silence is safer than truth. It may happen in your religious community, where going along is easier than standing apart. It may even happen within your own friend’s circle, where speaking up might cost you comfort.
Do it anyway.
Because this kind of recklessness is not born out of ego, but out of conviction. It is not driven by impulse, but anchored in truth. And it carries with it a strength far greater than noise or numbers; the backing of the Almighty.
The reckless leader may win a round. But the one who stands reckless for what is right, saves the world…!
The Author conducts an online, eight session Writers and Speakers Course. If you’d like to join, do send a thumbs-up to WhatsApp number 9892572883 or send a message to bobsbanter@gmail.com
