THE WELL OF LIFE

This world is a very, very crowded place! 

Here, everybody looks like me!

Here, everybody does what I do… likes what I like… thinks what I think… dreams what I dream… fears what I fear… 

Here, everybody seeks the same things… the same Gods, fairies and treasures…

The same Kingdom of God, the same Heaven…

The same safety nets for our children and grand children …

The same tomorrow…

The same Happiness.

Every morning, as I rise, I rise with the same hopes and anxieties as everybody else does…

The moment I step out, I find myself tearing through the milling - faceless, fast-paced - crowds. It is the insane peak-hour rush of New York or Manhattan or our own CST! “Where am I in that crowd?” I wonder, “Where am I heading?” “Is there enough for all of us ‘out there’?” I ask, “Will I be able to make it? Find what my heart desires?”

Yes. It is the milling crowds... 

I look like everyone else… 

I am lost…

Faceless!

Then, the peak-hour passes… The crowd fizzles out. I find myself in the open, empty space… I see the lush gardens, hear the birds singing there… the little street children making merry on the slides, the elderly relaxing on the benches…The breeze doing its duty faithfully,  the trees gently swinging, the flowers quietly unfolding their glory, the bees having their fill … even the street dogs theirs, the beggars theirs. Those, like me, who were, just an hour ago, lost in the milling crowds, are now there settled inside their cubicles or holes, whatever you wish to call them. But, every one is there – where he had headed for!

Just a while ago, I was anxious: “Is there is a place for me in this world?” I had asked, “Is there enough?” I could not see the garden and the trees, the flowers and the bees… I could not feel the breeze nor could I see the bright sky… 

 

Were they all not there… perfectly where they are now? Yes, for me?

Every hour is not a peak hour. It can not be. The world can not be a crowded place – everywhere, all the time! No, never.

There are open spaces, enough for each one of us. There are enough benches to sit on, enough swings to swing by, enough streams to drink from. Enough sky to gaze at… enough heartbeats to feel… enough inspiration to draw from… enough tunes to create songs or enough warmth for the poems and enough plots for the stories.

Everyday is a new day… though it comes from the same Sun… and, for eons and eons and eons. The Sun is not tired… The seas are not tired… The breeze is not tired… The clouds are not tired, the Moon and the Stars are not, the angels and fairies are not.

So, there I am, with all others, before the same God who is supposed to provide.  “Take the raindrops, and do out of it what you like” I hear God telling each one of us, “Take the marigold and make what you want … take the Lentil and make what you wish…”

The Lentil has survived…

The marigold has…

The raindrops have…

And, I WILL!

Who says, “World is a crowded place?” Who says, “There is only so much?”

The Lentil tastes ‘special’ because of my touch…

The marigold looks stunning in a garland, because of my touch…

The raindrops become teardrops, in a poem, because of my touch…

When God creates us, 

he breathes in our hearts 

the same spring of Life… 

ever abundant, 

ever flowing, 

ever amazing…

 

So, this world has place for me… no matter how crowded it appears to be…

I can still create a distinct recipe or create a fresh song… and, yes, a special garland or an absolutely new poem…

Yes, drawing from the same old well. The Well of Life!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Roopa Sushil