THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS




“When you start loving yourself, the same old life, which, you had once hated, you now start loving!”


This is what Shashi (Sridevi) tells her French beholder, Laurent, in the just-released movie, ‘English Vinglish’.


“Thank you for helping me/teaching me to love myself,” she adds.


Success, prosperity, happiness – all these are wonderful states a human heart yearns for… In fact, the entire human endeavor in life is to achieve these conditions. However, what is ironical is that, often, in spite of all these achievements, the human heart still dies parching… Yes, as the famous lines go, it is like” Being knee-deep in water, still dying of thirst!”


Waiting for something – love, affection, respect, fame, money or recognition - to come and fill our hearts is, make us happy and fulfilled in life is like trying to settle down in a bottomless pit!


There should be that bottom – the base – in place…


Then, alone, all else will settle down…


We feel another person’s love and affection only when we have felt deep in our hearts our own…


Likewise, the wealth, prosperity and fame too can bring fulfillment when deep within we have felt the security of going about our lives without them…


Yes, it is paradoxical: the things that we chase in life come in us – we feel their presence – only when we let go our clinging for them…




We already have within us 


all that is required to make us feel 


happy, loved, successful, and happy!











So, in the end of her long, lonely search for love, respect and fulfillment, our Shashi finds it, right where it had been, in waiting, all the while: in her very own heart!


Yes, she found in New York the bottom of her own heart…


And, with that, the dazzling beauty of her old world… The world,  which, she had hated, and dreaded to belong, once.



GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Gloria Pinto







Comments

Rajiv Nair said…
Had seen the movie; your article gave a fresh meaning. Fantastic!!
. Rajiv
October 7, 2012 at 7:09 AM
Anonymous said…
Love and respect to self sits at the bottom of our hearts!!! - Priya
October 7, 2012 at 9:59 AM
Baanushree said…
We need to be sensitive to others' feelings. Good post.
-- Baanu
October 7, 2012 at 10:01 AM
EKTA NAIK said…
Inspiring and humbling. Ekta
October 7, 2012 at 10:20 AM
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