“SuneeN Hiqaayat-e-Hasti to DarmiyaaN Se SuneeN;
NaaN Ibtidaa ki Khabar Hai, NaaN Inteha Maaloom.”
(Shaad Azimabadi)
Meaning: “What we’ve heard of the story of life is only its middle; we know not of its beginning, we know not its end.”
The above, I feel, is immensely true... And in this context, all the turmoil and tumult we feel within and go through each day in search of "success", "happiness" and the like appear so irrelevant and futile... Why can we not just enjoy and savour each moment and the extremely short period during which we are part of the story of life, for we know not of anything before or beyond these few years that are but a blink of an eye for the world and the universe... Do give this some thought.
Let's try to break free from the shackles of never-ending competition, tension, anxiety, sorrow and disappointments we fling upon ourselves in search of (often wrongly defined), success and happiness.
True happiness lies within, irrespective of the circumstances and surroundings. This fact hit home very strongly one hot, torrid day in Delhi, amidst smoke and dust at a traffic intersection. My gaze fell upon an obviously malnourished woman and her even more malnourished, ill-clad (close to nude) baby. While my mind went through the hot Delhi sun, the dust, grime and pollution the poor infant had to bear, the imminent risk of death/ disease given the malnutrition and exposure to the heat and grime, I saw in the eyes of the child nothing but unadulterated satisfaction and comfort as he nestled in his mother's arms...
I look forth to the views of others who come across this article.
Cheers!
Pranav
5 comments:
nice job!
You have popped up something which is a slap on the face of the fundamentalists in us who croon for more as if it is the psalm of life. Sometimes we feel where are we heading to by making us mere puppets of this slothful world, we get tipsy for want of wealth while some who have nothing are more richer and content than us.
Kahaan se shuru hua, khatam hoga kahaan jakar; Poochonga Dariya se mein apni pyaas bujhakar.
"Where did it originate and where will it end; I will ask the river after I quench my thirst"
Hapiness is relative and your threshold of happiness may not be substantial to another person. I know small joys of life are precious but the world revolves around the acheivers. The ones who made it big and made us all long for the same success.
I dont want to live and die unnoticed and for that I will have to succeed and achieve and threfore compete for the materialistic objective. The malnourished child you saw at the red light will be happy for some more days till he realise that he will have to struggle to survive and then you wont find the happiness on his face.
Its all about whether you want to enjoy your small hapiness, in small world of yours or fight for bigger happiness in the big world.
The only thing here is that small happiness is assured but the big one are acheived only by a few.
Dear Meandering Mind,
Your views and comments are indeed extremely interesting.
Yes, it is true that the world apparently seems to revolve around those termed as "the achievers", "the high-flyers", the "successful ones" and the "greats".
And while even I would not like to live and die unknown and unnoticed with nobody remembering me once I am gone, here's a thought I'd like to share:
I personally do not believe any of the achievers whom we know of - and around whom the world seems to revolve, loud with adulation, praise and reverence - ever worked towards becoming "Achievers" nor with the sole objective of being amongst the elite to whom the world shall bow.
They were all simply pursuing their respective passions - from the stone age man who discovered fire down the way throuh Socrates, Aristotle, Gallileo, Edison, Newton, Fleming, Einstein, the Wright Brothers, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Freud, Churchill, Roosevelt, Gandhi, C V Raman, JC Bose to the more recent ones like Dr Abdul Kalam, Bill Gates, Sabeer Bhatia, Dr Harivansh Rai Bacchan, Amitabh Bacchan,Aamir Khan, SRK, Hritik Roshan, Steve & Mark Waugh, Brett Lee, Ponting, Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Tendulkar, Richard Feynman, Amartya Sen, Richard Branson or Vijay Mallya, none ever worked towards fame, popularity or media attention.
Each of the people mentioned above (and the many others not covered in this list) were just pursuing the passion they enjoyed, loved and found satisfaction out of with a zeal greater than that of their colleagues and the others.
The success, glory and fame were merely incidental to their lives I feel - a by-product rather than the goal of their lives.
So, in order not to die unknown and unsung, I would like to take my work to the highest level possible for me. The rest shall come by itself, if my work deserves it.
I look forth to your thoughts on the above.
Another nice one from you Pranav!!
You have pointed out something which everybody sees and knows but nobody feels..and if by any chance we feel, nobody tries to do anything for such people..and even if someone tries, its not sure whether the efforts would be counted in the right direction or not..
All of us are so very busy with our own life that we hardly get a chance to realize that their are people for whom life is an ever-lasting journey of struggle..struggle to keep themselves alive rather than to exist..far away from the words like competition, success, glory, fame etc, they know a very few words like hunger, powerty, shelter etc which they continuously struggle for..
Many times we complain about what we asked for and what we have actually got..we are never satisfied with what we have..always looking for more or so..But if we look towards such people who have nothing to say of their own and still, they are happy in their world..just like that infant who inspite of the Delhi heat, dust and pollution, was still happy and content in its mum's arms..just becoz for a child mum's the world..then why the meaning of our world changes drastically, as soon as we take a step further towards growing up..
In any case, I would say that you are an amazing thinker with a nice cliche of scripting and writing..I would like to read more such articles on your blog and then to give my feedback as a reader or visitor..Would end it up by saying, "We should always be content and satisfied with 'what we have' and never with 'what we are'..."
Looking for more such thoughts from you in future,
Bhagya
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