THE GRASS ON THIS SIDE OF THE FENCE

 



“The grass is not always greener on the other side

of the fence. The grass is greener where it’s watered.”

Robert Fulghum

 

Just as the grass on the other side of our fences, always, looks greener, everything else in our lives, too, does…

When I was in college, the situation at home was quite challenging… Dad was a mechanic in a local workshop… He was a loving Dad, but was an alcoholic… Mom struggled, every day and all through her life, to keep us above the water…

So, when a young boy watches this situation at home, and feels a lot ashamed and deprived of, what would be running through his mind?

Well, the same situation may not yield the same results… To some, it might motivate to work towards a better living condition; while, to some others, it might leave as bitter, harder and even angrier humans…

I wanted to come out of poverty of all kinds… I realized, early in life, that money was not everything. Though I held Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’ as my Holy Bible, I knew money alone did not make man feel ‘rich’… Amen.

I, also, learnt another thing, early in life: That, if I did not find my happiness right here, I will never find it anywhere else… That, in life, we only chased ‘illusions’, ’mirages’… That, the human nature to stretch our necks out and envy our neighbours' gardens, came from a flawed paradigm of success and happiness.

So what if I was born as a mechanic’s son? So what if my Dad drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney and died quite young? Need I follow the same path, or carve my own?

Yes, I learnt, quite early, much before I read what Kahlil Gibran had written in ‘The Prophet’: that, I had come through my parents; but, I did not belong to them… For, I was the child of Life’s longing for itself…

Yes Sir, the grass is, always, greener where it is nurtured – manured, watered and well-maintained…



This young boy – Vignesh Puthur – is presently in news, and for the right reasons. In his maiden IPL match, he has performed sensationally well… Everyone says, “Hey, despite being the son of a rickshaw driver, and despite not playing any major matches, he has achieved this feat,” Yes, his Franchise owner, madam Nita Ambani, has decorated this boy with a medal… The Legend, M.S. Dhoni, has patted the boy’s back… The whole cricket-loving world has heaped praises galore…

While every bit of this adulation the young boy deserves, my thoughts go to Dhoni, the ticket collector of Ranchi, and Dhirubhai Ambani, the matriculate, who worked as a petrol pump attendant, in faraway Yemen… My thoughts go to Dhirubhai’ children and grandchildren… My thoughts go to Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan’s children…

How harsh can be the comparison between you and your parents, or between you and your children!

“Is he not our village carpenter’s son?”…  Remember people around Him asking, unable to believe Jesus could teach and preach the way He did?

That’s going to be every human’s story, here on earth. It’s pointless stretching our necks to envy our neighbour’s gardens… The garden, right below our feet, needs attention, appreciation and celebration…



Well-done Vignesh Puthur – the Kutty from Kerala, the Puttar who is Life’s longing for itself…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: 1. enjoyenglish.blog,com  2. www.pinterest.com  

Video: Cric7 Videos

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