I HAVE WHAT I NEED. THAT'S ENOUGH

 

“Earth provides enough to satisfy 

every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

Mahatma Gandhi

 

Just outside our building window, the developer of this building has bought and reserved a sizable plot of land to raise another tower… Probably as tall as this one (16-storeyed), or even more. It’s more than fifteen years, the plot remains vacant. But, he has secured it from all sides by fencing it with tall metal-sheets. From the fifth-floor glass-window of our tower, I get a clear view of what is going on inside that reserved parcel of land… When monsoon comes, the wild vegetation grows on its own, almost as tall as a two-storeyed building… I know snakes have come there to build their home… When monsoon goes, and seasons change to winter, then to summer, the vegetation dies out on its own, and you can see the little grass struggling to survive here and there, the plants dried out and fallen, which once stood tall as strong towers… Now, one can see there half-a-dozen stray dogs blissfully playing, some resting… Now and then, one can see little boys sneaking inside to collect their cricket rubber-ball… I wonder, where all the snakes gone? Whatever happened to the developer’s dream?

This Pandemic has taught us many lessons. One of them is this: We can live decently without all the excess and frills.

The excess and the frills, with which we try to ‘live happily ever after’ are a fairytale. A lie. This Pandemic has exposed all of us… Our weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, baby showers, funeral, graduation or award ceremonies, or prayer services – yes, none of them needs the excess, the ‘fatty stuff’… We all have seen it. Another lesson is this: When the Titanic sinks, all on board, too, do… From those who had reserved the luxury class to those who could afford only the cattle class… ‘Jahan sab, wahan hum!’

All our clothes - the fine suits, sarees and accessories – yes, they all  are changing their form just the way the vegetation does outside our glass window… The schools and colleges, coaching classes, cinema halls, restaurants and luxury hotels, temples, churches, mosques, and gurudwaras, the most pilgrimaged shines and the most revered deities – all have been abandoned. Yes, we can eat, learn, teach, worship and entertain ourselves in a simple, lean way… the most basic way.

In life, success and happiness need regular redefinition. When we drop our stories about them – the fantasies and lies – we suddenly wake up to the truth: “Gosh! They have been always there, right here, while I was frantically looking for them!”

As Lailah Gifty Akita says, we, too, wake up and say: “I have what I need. That’s enough.”

Today, Venkat, my friend and a fellow-learner in our Tai Chi group, had shared this message on FB:

 

 

Some weeks ago, I had blogged about Venkat and his wife Priya… How both of them had long planned to do away with the excess fat from their life style and go back to the basics… Manage with a few sets of clothes, simple things to make their house a home, read a lot, listen to music a lot, go back-packing to the most beautiful countrysides, stay like gypsies with the country folks, and, above all, touch the clouds, pluck the stars and smell the flowers… and, yes, yes, feel  God’s fresh breeze… And, be happy…

I didn’t say ‘become happy’!

Jim Borna sums up this monkey business in life, so hilariously:

“I am a divine being trapped inside the body of a monkey,

with all its wants and needs...

We don’t get along too well.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: Pixels /1. Daria Obymaha 2. Gary Barnes

Video: Dalmo Arten (Dana Winner/Simon & Garfunkel)