Life is Right Here…!

I remember 

lot of stories which my Daadi used to tell us (My sister, Ratnakka and me) in the nights of twinkling stars and milky moon, while lying on the terrace, when we used to visit her during the summer vacations. Those are the unforgettable leisure I ever had in my Life. Electricity-less houses, counting stars, dining in moonlight, antakshari followed by fight, treasuring broken toys, living in imagination, breathing in dreams, visiting cousins, oh no..., too many things. Will I ever get back all that?

Sometimes I feel that this entire journey of my Life started from that day in pursuit of happiness, dreams, goals and seeking the hidden treasure of Life. While searching the happiness and peace, some times there are chances that we lose even what we have or miss the road or by the time we reach it, we would have completed a round/circle and reached the same place. The total achievement is a circle; or rather we can call it a big zero. To put it in positive words, the  Circle/Zero of experiences, which tells us the real truth of happiness. The possessions/products hardly matter for ever lasting happiness.

I remember many stories my Granny used to tell. Though I never understood the moral behind those stories during my childhood, but I always had fun listening them again and again. Last weekend I went home with heavy head, filled with lot of stress. After having dinner, went to bed. While lying on the bed, I remembered two of those stories. I really wondered to know the moral of those stories for the first time after all these years. I would like to share them with you all dear ones. Hope they touch you as well and you like them.

Story 1

The story starts like... Long, long ago there was an old washer-man used to live on the banks of the river Ganga. Everyday he used to collect the cloths from the houses of rich men (sahukars) in the village and take them to the Dhobi Ghat, located on the banks of river Ganga and get them washed. He had one donkey, quite young but very lazy and mischievous. It used to run away from the road and start eating the grass on the both sides of road. But, he had to circus every day to carry the bundles of cloths by loading them on its back. One day, to his luck, he got an idea to pull the donkey without much of hardship. He took a long stick and tied a bundle of grass at one corner of the stick and holding the other end, sat on its back. He held the stick in such a way that the grass used to look exactly in front of its eyes. By looking at this bundle, the donkey started picking the speed, in the hope that it will reach the grass soon and can eat aram se. As you know, this being a trick, it is ever going to get that grass. After reaching the banks, he used to tie the donkey to a nearby tree and while returning back again he used to apply the same trick. This very idea worked out for that washer-man. He was very happy. 


At the same time, what is that the donkey missed is the green grass all along the way to banks. But, it never thought of it. It was always concentrating on the bundle of grass hanging right in front of its eyes. Many times the grass from the bundle used to fall even then it never tried to taste it. Do you admire the concentration of the donkey or pity for losing all the taste of its Life just waiting for one final bonanza?

Now, just take out washer-man and replace with your parents, relatives, so called well-wishers, teachers and society and replace the goals like, bungalow, car and all other needs (small or big) we have in bundle of our dreams with the bundle of grass and substitute the load with the grudges, happiness, unhappiness, fights, disappointments, egoism, feeling of “I am always right”, replace the donkey with ourselves and read the above story once again. "Oh...! Shit...!".

Don't say getting the clothes washed is our goal. No, no, no, nnnnnnooooo, its washer-man’s objective. So, for whose dreams we are working at the end of the day? :(

Did you observe that we didn’t resemble anyone to our friends in this story, yet? Look around, they are on the same path to Dhobi Ghat, marching to catch the bundle of grass!

Okay, okay, fine. :) Come out of the hangover of the story. Yes, of course, it is necessary to have goals, dreams and wishes in Life and undisturbed determination to achieve them. But, in the race to reach dreams, we forget to see the greener side of life which God has bestowed on us to enjoy, to be happy and to seek peace. The fallen grass is nothing but the dream we have achieved on the way, but, we did not have time to enjoy them. Say, we wished to own a home theatre and we got it after sometime on the way to achieve bigger goal. But, we hardly have any time to enjoy it. By the time we realize the greenery around, it will be autumn. Life and happiness neither exist in the past impressions, past success or past pain nor even in the future bag of goodies. It is around us every single movement. Let us just fill it with positive emotions. Let us adopt ‘forget or forgive’ policy for happy Life!

Let us first enjoy what we have rather than crib for what we do not have. Say, if we have aspired for something in Life and we got it. Enjoy it to the extent we starved for it. In fact, we achieved it after so much of hardship and toil. Let us be happy and content for few moments, few days at least. Let us not just hop on new desire/goal. Let us not ever expect that what we dream, we will get it very next day. No, most of the times we get it when, we have moved forward from there, but, there is guarantee that we will get it. Let us not say, “Who needs it now?” It is nature’s law. It is always good to accept nature’s law than argue.

Life is not a bundle of goodies (grass, in the story), which we will get on retirement. It is even not a Life Insurance Policy, which the policy holder never enjoys. It is the stock of unlimited joys. Only thing is we have to make right decision that when to sell the shares, how many shares to sell. Otherwise, even the prices of those shares will drop day by day if not sold on time (when young). Even the company might close in between. :)

Gone is gone, let us not mourn for it. Life is Still Here! Let us do justice to it! In turn it is doing justice to our selves and God.

Story 2

The story two, starts like, Long, long ago (It is the phrase used to drop us in the world of imagination) there lived a father and a son. They had a horse. Being drought, they could not feed the horse properly, because of which it was looking very lean and energy less. They decided to sell it. Next day, they were taking it to a nearby town to sell it. On the way, both of them were walking along with horse holding its Lagam. The people walking on the other side of the road said that "Hello Bhaiya, what is this? You have a horse but still you both are walking. One of you could have sat on its back and then traveled". They felt it is a good suggestion. The son sat on the horse and father continued walking. They traveled like this for about 1 kilometer. Then the people on the other side of the road said, "What is this? Young man sitting on the horse and the old man is walking. No respect for elders in today's generation". Then both of them changed their respective position and traveled a mile. Now, they met with their villagers. They said, "What is this? Any how you are going to sell this horse, then why don't you both sit on it and travel comfortably? Immediately, the scenario changed and both sat on the back of horse.  Mean time they heard the gossip of the people of the town. "What is this? The horse is already so lean, looking like going to collapse any time, above that both these nonsense guys are sitting on it. How cruel they are?" After this they both got down and tied all the four legs of the horse to a bamboo and starte carrying it on their shoulders. They are about to reach the town, after crossing a pool where they planned to sell it. While crossing the pool the the rope tied to horse horse loosed and the horse fell into the river beneath the pool and died. The duo went home empty hand. 

Let us discuss, “Who was happy in this entire story?”, "None!?!" “Whom did the horse belong to? Who should be happy at least?” "The father and Son, right?" "Were they happy?", "No", "Why?”, “because they were not looking at their comfort and their happiness. They were more bothered about what people would think". So, let us not think about others and their opinion (What they would think and all). World is big and we cannot act to everyone's wish. As in the story, many times we won't get to enjoy even what we posses, if we go by others feelings and sayings. Let us make ourselves happy first (being in ethical limits), world is always laughing at others anyhow.

Let us forget running behind materialistic joy, Life is right here and Happiness is within. Don't bother much about anybody and anything than necessary.

It is our Life, we cannot afford to spoil it!

Thank you Granny for inspiring me with your meaningful stories even after you physically left us years ago!

-- K. Kalyan