WHEREVER YOU GO...

In my last post, I had used a very old statement:

“Wherever you go, you carry yourself.”

“What did you mean by that?” A friend of mine asked me, last night. 

For the last two weeks, this friend of mine, along with his wife, has been busy planning for the summer holidays. Just another week, the family will be off on a ten-day trip to Kashmir. A lot of preparation has been going on… right from surfing on the Net, calling tour agents, cross checking with friends and strangers who have already been to Kashmir... to arranging for funds, haggling on the package, the hotels and the food. Along the process, a lot of heat is generated at home – there are disagreements between husband and wife, the young daughter has different perspective altogether… there are loud arguments and sulking. 

The holiday is just about to take off. My friend is going to Kashmir… with his family… 

Last night, I asked him, “Why?”

He had asked me

what I meant by those words,

 “Wherever you go, you carry yourself!”

Like my friend, presently, every second person might be busy planning for his grand holiday somewhere in the serene hills of Kodaikanal or the exotic beaches of Thailand. Like my friend’s family, all these families might also be involved in heated arguments, anger and sulking. What is common and interesting in all these cases is: every one of them is expecting to be relaxed and happy when he reachs – ‘out there’… in Kashmir, in Kodaikanal, in Munnar, in Darjeeling, in Thailand, in Honolulu… or in the Andaman islands! They are all waiting to relax… waiting to be happy. They are all hoping to find that illusive something out there – when they land there… on their ‘Promised Land’!

In my last post, that 28-year-old young-man, who had come to me for counseling, was employed in a reputed blue-chip company. The pay was good, the timings were good, and colleagues and bosses were good… Still, he was unfulfilled, still anxious and unhappy. He was feeling that he had not done enough in his life… he wanted to be more successful! In the course of our discussion, I had driven home the point, that unless we find joy, happiness and feeling of being successful here in our present station, in is unlikely that we would find them in our next. “Wherever you go, you carry yourself, my friend!” I had told him. 

Now, this friend of mine wanted to know what did I mean by those words. Yes, on the eve of his long-awaited holidays in that Heaven-on-Earth… Kashmir!

Will my friend and his family be relaxed when they land on this Heaven?

Will they find there - their happiness?

Or, will they carry themselves, also, to their Heaven?

I do not know. Though I know, most of us, always, do!

After explaining what I had meant by those words, I had also given a big hug to my friend and wished:

“Have a good time… Enjoy!”

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Anand Pais