bhaskar saikia

We are living in an age where acceleration is mistaken for progress. Faster markets, faster news cycles, faster technologies, faster opinions—everything moves, yet very little seems to arrive anywhere meaningful. In such a world, calm is no longer a personality trait; it is a strategic choice.

Modern societies reward urgency. We are told that to pause is to fall behind, that stillness equals stagnation. But history tells a different story. Civilizations rarely collapse because they moved too slowly. They collapse because they expanded too fast, ignored feedback signals, and mistook momentum for stability.

Calm is not disengagement. It is discernment.

Choosing calm means refusing to outsource one’s sense of security entirely to distant systems—whether financial, political, or technological. It means building redundancy rather than efficiency alone. Highly efficient systems are often fragile; resilient systems, by contrast, appear slower, but they endure shocks better.

This is especially relevant today. Rising geopolitical tensions, mounting public debt, ecological stress, and technological disruption have created a background hum of anxiety. The world feels perpetually “on the brink,” and constant alertness is exhausting. But reacting emotionally to every tremor only amplifies instability at the personal and societal level.

Calm allows for long time horizons. It encourages decisions that are reversible, scalable, and grounded. It favors real assets over abstractions, skills over speculation, community over crowds, and sustainability over short-term optimization.

Importantly, calm is contagious. Societies that value patience, preparation, and proportional responses tend to de-escalate crises rather than accelerate them. Individuals who cultivate calm are better able to navigate uncertainty, adapt to change, and avoid catastrophic errors made under pressure.

In an age obsessed with speed, choosing calm may feel countercultural—even risky. But it is often the calm actor, not the frantic one, who sees clearly when others cannot.

Calm, today, is not retreat. It is foresight.