WHEN THE HOUSES HAVE NO DOORS

“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but, to myself,

I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore,

and diverting myself, now and then, in finding a smoother pebble

or a prettier shell than the ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

Isaac Newton

Sometimes, a thought crosses my mind: Did the Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, Kabir, Sai of Shirdi, Mirabai, Aristotle, Socrates and Plato, Michelangelo, Darwin, Newton and Einstein and so many ‘greats’ like them – ever worry about someone stealing or copying their ‘stuff’? Sorry for making their colossal work appear so trivial to be called ‘stuff’!

Those were the days when ‘Intellectual Property’ was not a ‘property’ yet… and Hashtags, copy rights, patent rights and branding had not found their place in the lexicons… And, yes, yes… those were the days when the houses had no doors… Quite literally!

I smile when I think of this: Some houses, even today, still do not have doors!

Whenever a young boy or a girl scribbles ‘two lines’ – call it a quote or a poem – and adds two dozen hashtags, I smile, too: “What are you worried about, my sweetheart – of someone stealing or copying your ‘stuff’ – your ‘Intellectual Property’?”

The fear of theft is not an imaginary fear… Thieves exist, I agree. But, then, if you get too paranoid about it, you won’t write, compose, paint, design, produce, invent, discover anything at all. So, I go back to my opening statement: Were greats like the Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, Kabir, Michelangelo, Darwin, Newton, Einstein and such too worried about the theft of their ‘stuff’?

“Just write, my dear… Just write as if there is no tomorrow,” I advised a young one who had shared her first short-story with me. I wanted her to simply write, and improve on the craft… Not to get too obsessed with getting her work published, becoming a best-selling author and, above all, getting paranoid with the perennial fear that someone may steal her stuff. “Let your house be a house with no doors,” I added.

Well, someone inside me screams, “Be real… It’s a different world – a man-eat-man world!”

Man ate man even during the days of the Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, Kabir, Michelangelo, Darwin, Newton, Einstein and every great soul… Thieves existed even during the stone-age. So, I still advise young ones not to take their ‘two lines’ or ‘Short stories’ too seriously. “You stole it from someone; and someone will steal from you… Relax… Be detached!

Did I say, “you stole from someone”?

Yes, I did.

Yes, we all steal the ‘honey’; but, we can never steal the ‘art of honey-making’! And, let me make it clear: This analogy is not mine… It’s stolen!

And, what if the Buddha to sue this human for stealing His ‘stuff’?

Hashtag # the Buddha… The Buddha is smiling!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: wallpapertag.com

Videos: 1. Gaur Gopal Das 2. Dare to Do Motivation