GETTING BACK OUR HAPPINESS

When I am sad and unhappy, if you give me two options: either to consult a Philosopher or our Mullah Nasrudin, I would, any time, prefer the Mullah.

I know, the Mullah is a crazy fellow… but, he can surprise us with some of the best solutions!

“Look at the bright side… There are people worse than you in this world… The Glass is half full and not half empty… Every dark cloud has a silver lining… God tests you through your difficulties… Sweet is the pleasure after pain… and, Tough times never last but tough people do...” All these are the ways of a Philosopher… and we all are busy solving our problems by philosophizing… rationalizing… theorizing… 

The Mullah may sound like a quack. But, he can offer some of the best treatments.

One day, the Mullah was talking to a man from another town. The man began to lament: “Look at my tragedy… I have this wealth, but I am so sad and miserable. In desperation, I have bundled up all my wealth and set on a journey to find my joy back!”

As the rich man kept talking, Nasrudin grabbed the man’s bag of wealth and fled with it. Immediately, the rich man began to chase the Mullah until he was completely out of sight.

After a while, the Mullah placed himself behind a tree, and threw the bag filled with money in the open road for the man to see.

The moment the wealthy man sighted his bag of wealth, he turned ecstatic and began to jump in the air with incredible amount of joy. “I am happy, at last… I am happy, at last!’ he kept shouting… “I am happy, at last.”

Watching this strange sight from behind that tree, our great Mullah too was very happy! “Wow! What a simple way to get back our joy!” he concluded, “I just had to grab his bag and give it back to him!”

And, that perhaps will explain to you as to why Mullah Nasrudin had his legendary love-hate-relationship with all the Philosophers of his time.

The Mullah had become very famous and every one was talking about him. Many people preferred to consult the Mullah for their problems rather than consulting the learned Philosophers. Obviously, this did not go well with the Philosophers and they were waiting for opportunities to expose the eccentric Mullah. 

So, once, a famous Philosopher fixed an appointment with Nasrudin to have a scholarly discussion. When the day came, the Philosopher arrived at  Nasrudin’s house as pre-decided. But, Nasrudin was not at home. The Scholar was furious. He immediately pulled a pencil from his pocket  and wrote on Mullah’s door – ‘ASSHOLE’! With that, he left hastily, seething and swearing at his bête noire!

Later that day, when Nasrudin returned to his house, he saw what was written on his door. Realizing that he had missed his appointment with the great Philosopher, he quickly rushed towards the Philosopher’s house.

“Sir, please forgive me for my mistake,” the Mullah told the Philosopher on reaching there. He explained to the learned man, “I had completely forgotten about our meeting, today. But, when I got home and saw that you were kind enough to write your name on my door, I immediately remembered and I came here as fast as I could.” With all the humility in the world, the Mullah bowed his head before the wise man and gently whispered, “I am so, so sorry, sir!”

Yes, let me end with what I had started off with: When I am sad and unhappy, if you offer me two options – either to seek help from a great Philosopher or our crazy Nasrudin, I would bow my head before the Mullah. Yes, any time!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: 1. Hemangi D'Cunha

         2. Shalet Crasta