I WOULD LOVE TO HOST YOU... AMITABH CAN WAIT














“Sometimes, the simple things are more fun and meaningful
than all the banquets in the world ...”
― E.A. Bucchianeri,

Some weeks ago, Shoba, a dear-old-student, and now a dear friend, of mine, who lives in Gurgaon, had posted some lovely pictures featuring fresh veggies from her garden. I loved the way she was showing us the ladyfingers in a plate. I teased her, instantly:
“ Shoba, be warned: Amitabh Bachchan is so fond of 'bhindis', he may kidnap u today along with that plate in ur hand! And, yes, I am planning to pitch my tent next to this veggie garden, too. Love.”

Shoba replied:
“Gerry sir, would love to host you. Amitabh can wait!”

I concluded:
“Ah!!! With those few words of Shoba, my lunch and dinner both done! Yes, for Amitabh, Ash can cook bhindis! Tcre, Shoba... Keep growing more and more of those fresh veggies.”

Now, this kind of conversation really holds no special meaning unless you really pause for a while and reflect on it… Well, should Amitabh really appear in Shoba’s garden, I know Shoba will certainly skip a few heartbeats! But, then, like her, we all know that in life there are moments and there are people – very simple though – who give us great joy when we choose them in place of the celebrated ones…

We all, deep down in our hearts, long to spend time with simple souls with whom we feel happy. Ditto about the work in hand… So many times, I just don’t feel like doing the work I am supposed to do immediately… the urgent and important work. Yes, my heart simply doesn’t find the motivation to do it… On the other hand, I find myself longing to do something that makes me really, really happy – including writing a small blog or watching a beautiful video or listening to some heart-warming speech… I find myself in that space very, very regularly. “The ‘important and urgent’ work can wait,” I hear my heart prompting, “May the ‘blissful work’ bless me!”

So, just as my friend Shoba, playfully flattered me saying, “Gerry sir, I would love to host you… Amitabh can wait,” yes, just as this, I keep telling my ‘big works’ to wait outside my garden, till I host my ‘small and simple ones’…






The veggies Shoba has grown in her garden are hardly sufficient for her few days’ consumption… Leave alone making some money out of this venture… and leave alone the ‘effort’. The effort and the joy are incomparable… Nothing can substitute that… Nothing! I can hear Shoba telling her ‘big works’, “You can wait… I would like to host this simple and humble one!”

Some really ‘big ones’ are waiting outside my gate… as I am 'hosting' this ‘small one’, here!

GERALD D’CUNHA


Pic.: Shoba N Krishnan

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