LEARNING TO SAY: 'LET THE IMBALANCE BE!"
Pic.: Chetna Shetty
“Man proposes, God disposes.”
“Life is what happens to us, when we are
busy making other plans.”
We make our plans so that our lives should go
on smoothly. None of us likes bumpy rides through our daily journeys, leave
alone big crisis and calamities – either natural or man-made.
Yes, we want our
lives to be stable, as planned... We want our dreams to come true... Our money
to grow and remain safe, too... We want the health and well-being of our near
and dear ones, and our own, to be good - free from any accidents, major
sickness or danger... And, that’s what
we call ‘security’, ‘stability’ and ‘peace’ in life...
On Saturday, I was in the midst of my lecture,
when I received a call asking me to rush home immediately as my aged
father-in-law had a fall at home and fractured his leg badly. My wife wasn't at
home, and my mother-in-law, who is sick, was in a panic.
I immediately
swung into action... called an ambulance and rushed my dad-in-law to the
hospital... Being aged, and suffering from multiple complications, the
operation is delayed... and, post-operation recovery would be a very slow process...
His recovery is important to us, more important than anything else in our lives...
So, when our routine gets derailed and, plans go for a toss for a while... it
leaves us a lot restless, disturbed...
But, then, in
retrospect, we do realize that it is how Life is... A lot predictable... yet, a
lot unpredictable... Many of our plans do go as per our agenda... yet, many don’t.
Yes, it is we who propose them... but, it is God who disposes... And, yes, Life
is really what happens to us when we are busy making our other plans!
So, presently, there
is this sudden imbalance in my life... and, I am learning to gain control over
it... Many things, which I had planned, including my teaching, training and
blogging has either gone astray or not happened at all for last couple of
days... It really keeps me restless at times... But, along with this restlessness,
also, comes the ‘rest’... the ‘silence’... the ‘peace’: “This is how it is
supposed to be,”... “It is not my will, it is Your will, O God,”... “There is a
divine purpose behind this imbalance!”
In our ongoing PD course for the pre-teens, we
have two little-brothers – Yash and Yug. Both are adorable kids – but, Yash is
perfect physically and mentally... Yug is not. He has to be carried to the
class by someone... and he can not sit firm, can not use his hands well, nor
speak properly... Yes, he is a ‘special’ child, differently-abled. His mother
loves both her sons equally... and, she has brought in me that awareness to
treat them so!
Yug is 11. For
all these years, and for all the years to come, Yug’s mother has accepted, and will
accept, her life-situation with grace and dignity. Who will she blame for it...
for the ‘imbalance’ in her life?
On the next bed, in the Jaslok Hospital ,
where my dad-in-law is admitted, there is this elderly patient suffering from advanced
condition of Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Paresh Doshi, one of the renowned
Neuro-surgeon has performed the most modern surgery on this senior gentleman...
The wife and son have shut their home and business, back in Ambala, and have literally
camped in the hospital for almost a month now... The progress seems slow, even
doubtful... I have been watching how challenging for the wife and son to handle
the patient who seems totally out of control on the bed... They can not sleep, can
not even move away when the patient is awake... Now, I might see them for a few
days or weeks more if we happen to be there in the same ward... But, what about
the imbalance in their lives?
I love to write everyday, at least a small
piece. But, for last few days, I couldn't write anything...
I did not know,
I was, actually saying this: “Let the imbalance be!”
GERALD D’CUNHA
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