I AM NOT INDISPENSABLE
Pic.: Chandrasekhar Varier
My
wife and I have just returned from a two-day Tai Chi camp held at Lonavala.
Rakesh Menon, our Tai Chi teacher, doesn’t believe in any rigid rules, either
when he conducts our regular sessions on Sundays or while conducting our annual
camps… Yes, he offers us that choice to ‘observe or ignore’ the unwritten and
invisible rules, which are right there in front of our eyes…
Yes, Rakesh sir leaves it to us…
For two days, when we were at
Lonavala camp, I never heard Rakesh sir insisting on keeping aside our
cell-phones. All of us had been so hooked on to our phones – calls, messages,
mails, WhtsApp, Facebook and Twitter – yes, the thought of living our two days without
touching our phones was not only unthinkable, it was scary, too…
And, trust me, I lived last
two days without touching my cell-phone… Well, I did check once, and made one
call-back…
There were many missed calls…
Many messages… Because my building friend, Anil, had tried my number many
times, I called him back during our tea-break, last evening, Anil told me that his father-in-law, who lived in a flat two floors below mine, had passed away and
they were about to take the body to the cremation ground…
Anil’s father-in-law, who was a
widower, had been suffering from high diabetes. He was 78. When Anil gave me the
sad news, I expressed my deepest sorrow and assured him that I would pay my
personal condolence on returning to Mumbai…
Anil is my building friend. I am
the society Chairman, too. I was surprised to observe how I was responding to news
like this one… Whenever someone expired in our society, I would immediately
swing into action… besides visiting the family, I would make several calls,
ensure it be displayed on society notice board, attend the funeral and, even,
help the family to put together various things associated with the funeral.
But, last evening, I was a lot at
peace with myself… Anil said, “Don’t worry Gerry… Everything is taken care of
here… You focus on your camp.”
Anil was right. Everything was
taken care of in my absence… I was not at all needed there… It was so
liberating to realize the simple truth: ‘I AM NOT INDISPENSABLE’!
Hello, nobody is!
About all other missed calls and
missed messages, the same truth applied…
My immediate neighbours had
called me and my wife both (we both missed those calls) to convey that the guy had
come to deliver gas-cylinder. Today, we came to know that he had to go back…
and would be coming back tomorrow to deliver it…
Niharika, one of my students, had
called a couple of times…. She called up again, a while ago… She has her exams
tomorrow, and wanted me to help her with a couple of doubts… which, I did
today. It did not take even five minutes for me to do that… And, certainly, it
wasn’t some huge emergency!
Sonal had called yesterday… She,
too, called, once again, a while ago. “Sir, Jaanvi's (her daughter), ICSE Board exams
will be starting tomorrow… Please bless her… She is here, sir.”
I took not even three minutes to
make Jaanvi and her mom feel good by a few words of encouragement… They looked
up to me… It was important to them…
But, certainly, it was not an
emergency!
It
takes a great deal of silence within our souls to realize, that ‘Even an emergency
is beautifully taken care of’ if we place our trust in Universe… If we pray,
surrender… Let go!
For two days, my cell-phone was
left uncharged… The low-battery warning did not make me panic… But, I have come
back a lot recharged with ‘Chi’ – the Life Energy… I have come back, a lot
peaceful… a lot lighter…
And, yes, a lot richer with the
truth: ‘I am NOT indispensable’!
GERLAD D’CUNHA
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