HILLS ARE ALIVE
I am a firm believer in ‘Planning’. Paradoxically, I am, also, a firm
believer in ‘throwing all my plans out of the window’… Shall I call it ‘Letting
go’?
Goals and
directions are extremely important in life. I agree. Therefore, before, setting
out on any adventure or a journey, I need to know where I am headed and which
road I should take… Yes, who should accompany me and what I should carry along. But, then, there are those unexpected winds which may disrupt my plans… or, who
knows, may end up bringing to me some ‘windfalls’… Some ‘Manna from heaven’…
Yes, who knows?
The results are out, and many are clueless about what to take up… Which
direction they should take. Yes, like the advice in the ‘Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland’, I, too, often, keep advising them, “Sweethearts, if you do not
know where you are going, any road will take you there’.
Means, you better
be clear about where you are going… and how, with whom, with what… Yes, you
better plan. Else. Yes, else, your will land up ‘anywhere’… not ‘nowhere’. You
will land somewhere…
That 'somewhere',
sometimes – dare I say 'always' – is such an amazing place to land at?
I am serious, Sir.
Plans are
important in life. But, if we are not wise enough to know what ‘letting go’
is…. When to let plans be… (‘Plan ‘B’?)… Yes, if we are not prepared to accept
and embrace that which is unknown, we will have difficulty enjoying life’s
surprises…
Last two months I completely involved with our Summer programme of
Personality Development. We – little kids, young ones and many adults – worked
on a new book by the title ‘I AM GOOD, THE WORLD IS GOOD’. We planned for our annual Certification
programme and the book release, which was to be held on 7th June. We
planned meticulously… and, everything went off well. ‘A grand success’… That’s
how it was described. But, I kept telling everyone… “Be ready to go with the
flow… to throw all your plans out of the window… “Life is what happens to us,
while we are busy making our ‘other’ plans’
Let go. But, not
before you set your goals and prepare your plans. Be totally involved. But,
learn to be detached, too… These are ‘life events’… Not ‘Life’ itself…
Enjoy the moment,
enjoy the first rainfall… even the thunder and lightning, however fierce they
may seem and sound.
Last night, my wife and I were returning from a visit to my doctor.
While we were in the taxi, it started pouring heavily with sky exploding with
thunder and lightning. When our taxi landed inside our housing colony, we
witnessed the hysteria… little ones, young ones and many adults were out in the
open, absolutely experiencing the rain, light and sound… So happy they seemed!
Was it not Life? Was it not happiness?And, is it not how it
should be?
Today, in my
morning class, Angad, one of my students, was describing to us his own
experience last night. He and his family had been for a wedding party… The food
counters were laid out in the open. It seems, it was a chaos… A nightmare for
the hosts!
But, for our
Angad? He said with excitement, “Sir, I left the food alone, went out and danced my blazer and leather
shoes on.”
THE
HILLS ARE ALIVE
The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears
My heart wants to beat like the wings of the
birds
that rise from the lake to the trees
My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies
from a church on a breeze
To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over
stones on its way
To sing…
In Life, we shall continue to ‘propose’, and God will continue to
‘dispose’… I think, that’s how it should
be.
Let’s plan our
open-air party, darling… But, God may surprise us with some rain, light and
sound… That’s His way of teaching us to celebrate, you see…
So, let’s not complain
to Him saying, “God you are spoiling our party’!
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Rekha Srikar Shenoy
Videos: TED x TALKS/KTrW/YOUTUBE/MITHALIA PALKAR
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