WHEN OUR EYES CLOSE... AND 'SEE'

Pic.: Uttam Ghosh

“A simple way to be grateful

is to close your eyes for a minute

and think of those

who never got a chance to open them.”

- Unknown

When I was young, I, too, was an angry young-man! I was angry with God, my parents and the circumstances – for not providing me with comforts which many others around me were provided with. And, I believe, I was not the only young-man, at that time, who was angry for a reason like that…

Young men and women are angry, even today, for the same reason. They have been so, I am sure, for centuries before I was a young man…

Well, as I, always, say, “The end of our anger is the birth of our compassion.” One needs to be angry – pass through those flames – in order to experience silence and peace within…

I did quite early as a young man…

I learnt to be grateful for whatever God had blessed me with… and there were so many things in my life, I had to be grateful for. I learnt to look around me and see how many were far, far less fortunate than I was. I learnt to be more and more grateful and less and less resentful or complaining. I remember, one day, a well-wisher of mine thrusting in my hand a note:

“I complained I had no shoes

until I met a man who had no feet.”

Yesterday, in our PD session, a 16-year-old girl was speaking about the grand Europe-tour which she and her family were to embark upon early this morning. She was, understandably, very excited, and she went about describing to us their entire tour plan… the lovely European counties and the famous sites they were scheduled to visit… She, also, described to us how she and her family had enjoyed a similar tour to the US two years ago. Yes, she filled us with excitement. We wished her a great tour… a great vacation.

The very next speaker was an 18-year-old girl. She spoke about her anger! This girl was the eldest of the three children. She described to us about the plight of their single mother… how difficult it was to run the household… look after two young daughters and a son… How worried and anxious their mother was, how angry… And, how, angry the children were!

The next was 16-year-old young-man. He came from quite a well-off family. A month ago, the mother and the elder sister had turned up to enroll this young-man. But, he seemed to be least interested… One had to coax him, cajole him and even force him to be here. He had consecutively missed three sessions. He had come for this session because I had called him up, tried to prevail upon him, in my own way…  I said, “Tell us, sweetheart, why is that you are not motivated as others here are?” 

The young-man told us about his friends… how they ‘tempted’ him with their plans. “But, I won’t blame my friends,” he confessed, “I blame myself.”

“You do not have to blame yourself, either, honey,” I explained to our young-man gently. “Do you know that the watchmen in this Society will have to do two months of twelve-hour duty to earn the amount of fees you have paid here for the course? Do you know, that they have to fend their school/college-going children or children of marriageable age? Do you know, that right, here, in this class, there are some deserving students who couldn't pay their fees… whose fees were either paid by some kind souls or waived off?... So, dear, if you honestly realize this truth, that’s enough to find your motivation.”

I am closing my eyes for a minute, now… just to think of those who never got a chance to open them… and, yes, those who never had feet to wear the shoes I tend to complain about!

GERALD D’CUNHA